Tuesday, March 6, 2012

At Least the Kiddies Love Me

I thought there was a kindergarten lesson today. I'm not surprised there wasn't one. Instead I played with the kids outside while they watched rice get pounded into plump balls of soft gelatinous mochi. The local fire department also came and gave kids rides on their truck. To top it all off they connected a fire hose and let the kids spray it, complete with silver fire coats and hats. Somehow in the process of watching this I became a chair for 3 little girls. One on my left knee and two on the other. I guess fear of foreigner prevention education does work after all.

We play a keyword game, too often probably, with fifth graders. There are vocabulary cards on the board and I pick one of them for a keyword. Then they are supposed to grab an eraser between two people when they hear the word. In the mean time I say all the other words and the students repeat the word and clap. I try to trick them by pointing to wrong words and emphasizing words like I'm calling out the keyword. They usually know my antics but I caused an uproar today. I never call a keyword at the beginning because the whole purpose is for pronunciation practice of all the words. Well, you should have seen the looks on their face when I yelled the keyword yogurt right at the beginning. Most didn't have time to react by the time they realized their partner was stealing the eraser. I was proud of my upheaval.

Some students stay later after school because their parents are probably working. I don't know the real reason but I dropped by to see what was going. Some were doing homework, some playing with Legos, and some drawing pictures. I asked a 1st grade girl what she was drawing and she quickly hid her paper with her entire body. A little later she wasn't so shy as we casually chatted about kanji and the mysteries of Japanese. They were easily impressed by my lackluster skills of kanji. Another 1st grade girl enjoys playing with me and while I was sitting down she invited herself up on my shoulders to sit down. How cute. She called me a horse with glasses. The other teacher didn't tell her no so I didn't say anything either. The girl drawing a picture suddenly confessed, "I'm going to marry Shota and this picture is for him!" Isn't it funny how little kids have no perception of marriage and in a short time will revile the opposite sex? I then asked the little girl sitting on my shoulders why she was sitting on me. I should have realized it sooner. She said, "Because I just want to marry Blaine sensei." The girl drawing was like, "Oh she confessed!" Those kids are too cute. I regretfully told them I was much too old but I'm sure the impossible makes no sense to them anyway. I'm still fair game in her eyes.

To round out the day, one 2nd grader boldly proclaimed, "I want to learn English!" I hope she doesn't forget that. Learning a language can be fun. That is what it should be. I pray she doesn't meet an English teacher in middle school that turns her to the dark side.

Sometimes they forget to turn a light off in the hospital in front of my house. The warm glow from the window conjures up all kinds of imaginative thoughts. I dropped down to take a look in the window. Alas it was the fogged over kind that emits nothing more than strange shapes of light. I was a bit startled when I saw this gate which was almost completely black. The little heads sticking out were unsettling.

Kowai Gate

The pots out front always catch my eye. I'm glad to see color which reminds me of spring and the summer to come.

Pots of Spring

1 comment:

Thunder Heart said...

I enjoyed the stories about the kids and got a good laugh at how cute they can be. I am sure this was one of the better days. The primrose is the first hint of spring. Nice color!

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