I had the most amazing time in Guam last month, I hardly know where to begin. It was last October when I received an email from Elizabeth Hamilton of the Guam Council of the International Reading Association, asking me if I’d like to come and visit her beautiful island in the Pacific Ocean. Silly question really – of course I would – I even knew where it was as my Father had visited the island on military matters in the 1960s.

The months went by and I flew off to Japan where I changed flights to Guam.

I cannot begin to explain the overwhelming warmth of the welcome I received. As a grumbling Brit from the dark frozen north the warm, sunny outlook of the people I met was a revelation. Guam is actually America, so the culture is different in many ways.

The first surprise was to have a lei of flowers put round my neck. This is not normal in stuffy old Britain! It was the first of many. I visited 17 schools while I was there and was given a lei of one kind or another at every one.

Everyone seemed really pleased to have me there. They were so proud of the island and wanted me to share as much of it as was possible in my short time there. Cyndy and Joe took me out my second day. I was wildly jet lagged but really enjoyed my trip around the island.

They also introduced me to the amazing food on the island with a Vitnamese lunch. There are so many different influences on the food. You can eat different cuisines for every meal. Everyday I visited a school the staff put on the most amazing feasts featuring all the best local delicacies. minced chicken with lime and coconut is what I remember best. I was sent back to my hotel with bursting doggy bags everyday. Lucky I had a fridge in my room. Did I say room? It was a suite with two balconies looking out across the reef, lagoon and soft white sands and an night the bright lights of down town Tumon.

Tumon is a favourite holiday resort of the Japanese who are catered for with shopping malls that feature stores like Tiffany, Bulgari, Gucci, Channel and Dior.

The Cliff in the distance is Two Lover’s Leap where two thwarted lovers leaped to their death with their hair tied together rather than being made to marry other people! Very Romeo and Juliet.

I signed a lot of books while I was there. I had worried how my stories would translate to an American audience. W not only use different words, we have a slightly different take on things and certainly have a different sense of humour. But everything went swimmingly. As the week went by I worked out all the different words and changed them as I went along. By the end of the week I was telling the stories completely translated into American. The last day I was treated to a dramatic performance of the Swamp Man that had me in stitches.

My British accent seemed to get everyone excited. I don’t think many Brits go to Guam so I was a bit exotic. I was often asked to repeat myself just because the person I was talking to wanted to hear me say it again. During storytelling sessions we had a lot of fun with Tomayto and tomahto.

more to come…