So, we're spending the evening at our friends' home in the Hinterland of the Sunshine Coast. We're sitting outside around the brazier, toasting marshmallows and sipping wine. Jeff, Oli and I are excited at seeing our first possum in the tree above us, as well hearing various unidentified 'rustlings' in the surrounding darkness... then Jeffers asks, 'Where is Hiroshi?' (H= Japanese exchange student)...
We all look at each other, with the sudden realisation that his seat around the brazier is empty...
Panic ensues. Bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchens are checked along with sheds and garages being upturned. Bushes and shrubs are poked and shaken... and then... we find him. Lying flat on his back in the middle of the large garden and he's not moving...
HAS HE EATEN TOO MUCH BBQ MEAT AND COLLAPSED??? HAS HE BEEN MURDERED BY ONE OF THE 'UNIDENTIFIED RUSTLINGS'?
No.
He's actually totally enthralled with the clear sky's display of stars... He explains to us that as Tokyo is so jam-packed full of lights, he has never seen the stars and planets before!
Good Grief. Thankfully, he's still alive and kicking, although slightly miffed as he's missed out on a 5th marshmallow.
I couldn't help wondering how I would have explained to the school and his parents that the Friendships had 'lost' their Japanese exchange student? Hmmm...
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