The Wonder Year
Chapter One
"Class, I would like you all to give a warm welcome to our new exchange student friend from America who will be joining us for the year. Please introduce yourself." The middle-aged woman offered a kind smile to the American teen standing next to her at the front of the classroom. The teen politely smiled back at her teacher before regarding her fellow first years classmates. Feeling thirty-some pairs of eyes trained on her, the girl grew a bit nervous. She self-consciously brushed an errant strand of chestnut brown hair that had fallen in front of her face, pushing the wavy locks back so it hung down to the middle of her chest.
"Hi everyone! My name is North Anna and as Tachibana-sensei said, I am an exchange student from America. I look forward to getting to know you all, please take care of me." She finished her introduction with an easy smile and bow. Her classmates politely clapped and she was relieved. Anna North wrote out her Japanese introduction a week before and had been practicing every day so that she introduced herself flawlessly and with a little embarrassment as possible. Her Japanese wasn't great, but everything she knew was self-taught. Her school didn't offer Japanese, but she found the language and culture fascinating, and figured that the best way to learn was to come to Japan. She had watched enough anime and studied enough on her own to get the gist of what people were saying most of the time, but she could read very little kanji and would probably need a tour guide to find her way around her new town and school. Perhaps she would just ask one of her host parents or host siblings. She at least hoped that her introduction left a good impression so she could make a few friends.
"What a wonderful introduction, thank you, North-san. There is an open seat in the back for you. On behalf of the class, welcome to Raijin Academy, and welcome to Ikebukuro."