Our Japanese class in Wakayama

We signed up for a free Japanese language course in Wakayama City. It was called "hajimete nihongo" (Japanese for the first time) and the teachers taught mostly through immersion. We met every Saturday afternoon and struggled through the basics. Many nationalities were represented in that classroom, and it was comforting to see other people who knew as little Japanese as we did. This picture was taken on the day of the “graduation” party.