I think I mentioned before, but we had an idea (before leaving Japan) that running a homestay for Japanese people might be a good idea after the new house was finished. Nadia set up a homepage and I made up some business cards. The homestay was not designed to make money - just to cover costs. What we really wanted was to keep our links with Japan as strong as possible.
Mio was our first real homestay guest and she came over from Osaka at the beginning of December, staying for six weeks. That's a long time in homestay parlance (the average being a week or two) and she came at a time when she was thinking a lot about settling down, getting married and giving up her carefree existence. I think that these considerations coloured her experience to a considerable degree and perhaps she didn't enjoy herself as much as she might had her mindset been different.
We did some pretty fun things though. We took her camping down at Kangaroo Valley (no kangaroos, just cows!), spent a week in Bondi and did the tourist trail in a number of places. But I think she never really got into the swing of things, being a little homesick and somewhat lovesick too. I guess that's life.
On her last day with us, we took this shot. She seemed happy enough that morning and that's how we would like to remember her. We hope that this big year is a real blessing for her.
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