Interview with Jackson

We thought it would be fun to do a little interview with Jackson and share his thoughts on our upcoming year away. He's not really much of a keyboarder yet, being only 7 years old, so we did it this way instead. Here is our chat . . .

So Jackson, how are you feeling about our trip? Fine

Can you elaborate? Tell me more. Um, fine, happy.

(A man of few words, like the other men in this house).

Okay, so what are you looking forward to the most on our trip? Meeting Longiro.

(This is interesting - was not expecting this response - Longiro is a young boy we have been sponsoring for a few years through Compassion Canada. He lives in Kenya and we are trying to arrange to visit him and his family with the help of the staff at Compassion).

Wow! Meeting Longiro, that's great. Are you excited about seeing Kenya where he lives? Yup.

What other countries are you excited to see? New York . . . and . . . the USA . . . and Australia . . . and, um, France and the place where the zebras go . . . and . . . Russia and Sweden.

(Huh? We are not going to Russia and Sweden - this may be overflow from the "Hockey Heroes" book he has been reading.)

What are some things you want to do on our trip? Watch TV (stifling a giggle).

(He's trying to push my buttons here. He knows we won't be in close proximity to TVs very often).

Hmm, what else Jackson? Play on the computer! (full-blown giggling, definitely trying to push some buttons).

Okay, what do you NOT want to do on our trip? Sleep in the mud.

Sleep in the mud! Do you think you're going to be sleeping in mud?? Of course we will! Longiro does.

(Aha, starting to unravel his thought process here. A long time ago we had talked about the kind of house Longiro probably lives in and I did say something about a dirt floor - amazing the things that stick in a child's mind. We talked about this for a little bit more.)

Thanks Jackson. Is there anything you want to ask me now? Yes, will they have pizza on our trip? Absolutely. Even in Africa? Maybe. And can we go to a Japan baseball game? Um, sure, if we hear of one. Any other questions? Can I have some toast?

That's it. We hope you enjoyed this chat with Jackson! Breaking for toast . . .