3.7.23
Some of the wisest and best lessons I have gained in this year abroad have come from my little preschool kiddos. They give me such joy in all the random, wonderful spirits they share. So, today I come to you with another list of preschool happenings. I have already forgotten too many so I attempt to dedicate this page as a recurring library of kiddo moments for whenever future you or I need Yakage Yungin vitamins.
- K-kun still bursts with a "ONE HUNDRED SIXTEEN....ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEEN....ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEEN...ONE HUNDRED NINETEEN...ONE HUNDRED TWENTY" whenever we greet each other in the morning.
- M-chan made a drawing of her friend and her favorite anime character, Anya, dreaming of a banana/grape/strawberry playground while under a sakura tree, and the friend is crying because the beauty of the sakura moved her to tears.
- Five boys were fooling around and started playing soccer with their indoor shoes...which ended abruptly when H-chan's shoe flew straight into Ko-kun's face, eliciting immediate shock followed by tears.
- When asked what he liked most about himself, I-kun said his face. Why? Because he knows he's handsome.
- When asked what he liked most about himself, N-kun said his legs, and proceeded to exhibit his long, elegant legs to all of his peers and teachers in the audience.
- My hands get to be super cold during winter, and I keep from giving high-fives or holding a kid's hand because I don't want them to have to be surprised by a jolt of cold. But T-chan grabbed my hand, inspected it, remarked how they are so cold, then held them with both his hands while saying "let me warm them up for you because my hands are warm." That melted my heart.
- H-kun kept on excitedly updating his status of lunch with each bite..."I'm full but I think I can finish" "look Kai-Sensei, I only have this much left of my rice!" "Look Kai-sensei, I only have this much left of my soup!" He ended up being the last to finish, and I think his many exclamations were to blame. But all in wholesome "I can eat like a big kid" vibes~
- S-kun and I are best friendos to the point that when I was leaving, we started talking in Cat together: "Kai-Sensei, are you coming tomorrow, meow?" "You betcha, S-kun, meow! Are you, meow!?" "Yes, meow!!"
- Today S-kun would randomly come up to me and press his finger to my forehead then run away. ET? Voldemort? Who knows....
- Today R-kun finished our last English class by saying "wow I'm going to miss you so much, I'm on the verge of tears!"
- K-kun showed me a thing of blocks he made that was black, and he said since he didn't have brown, it just had to be a burnt piece of poop. The sheer creativity of these kids.
- Shou-kun told me his favorite member of his favorite band (that he was singing and dancing to all day...)
- I asked Sou-kun what he heard when we were at the creek. I was expecting a description that names and decides the identity of the sound source: "the waterfall" or "the wind moving" or "the bird calling" or the "grass blowing." But instead, he said "pasha pasha!" and "potsu potsu" and "gasho gasho." It reminded me that we don't have to place our titles on the world around us...sounds can just be sounds. It took a child's openness and freeness, his innocence to the world of rules, to remind me of this. I hope to describe my world around me in such pure and raw form more often.
as of 4.13.23
- I-kun told me that in his heart was the "star-shape" when answering my question, "what's in your heart?"
- When I asked the kids "if you could live in a fruit, what would it be?" a girl answered "hmmm...a strawberry because if you turn it upside down, it can become a proper roof for the house." I asked if a grape would be reasonable, which she said "no, because it would roll around everywhere."
- Today, while eating lunch (sawara fish teriyaki, kodofu, broccoli, and egg drop soup) J-kun started saying "I can see a fish above your head! It's invisible! You've got to catch it!" OMG SO RANDOM.
- J-kun also does this thing where he wordlessly and randomly runs up to me gives me a hug then runs away.
- M-chan saw me outside and came up to me with a bouquet of flowers. We ended up playing chef together, and she made me a rainbow juice. Perhaps it tasted florally fruity?
