Last Friday Victoria and I got invited to a dinner with some "delegates from Egypt and the U.S." We didn't know anything about the dinner, except the TCA invited us to it, it was free, and where it was. It turns out the delegates were all about 20-30, and were part of a Japanese program called the Ship for World Youth. I had never heard of this program before, but apparently every year the Japanese government decides a list of countries that it wants to improve relations with. Then it invites about 10-12 people from each country to have a free trip around the Pacific on a cruise ship. This year the countries included Egypt and the U.S., along with many others. They start in January and then end in March. Since they just started, they were in Tokyo for a bit, then the delegates went to different prefectures around Tokyo to do a two day home stay. Toyama just happened to be where the American and Egyptian delegations were sent to. The dinner served to introduce host families and the delegates. Anyway, it seems like a great program. Apparently only about 40 people applied in the U.S. last year, because it is not well known. It might be fun to do in future. If America is picked again, I would consider it.