Feb 6, 2008 10:30pm – So Tired…

Today was my first full day at the daycare. I spent the day with the 4 year olds in the Aozora-Gumi (literally “Blue Sky room”). The kids absolutely love hanging onto me and using me as a chair. It is really interesting because they do not do that with the other teachers. Probably because my Japanese is not good enough to discipline them. I leave that to the other teachers. I am really amazed at how well the kids follow rules. Sure there are the troublemakers who will not do anything according to the teachers discretion, but for the most part they only need to be told once not to do something and then they follow that rule for the rest of the day.

I got to experience music time, lunch time, and nap time today. The kids all had these piano’s that worked like accordions. You blow into a tube and press the keys to make noise. The harder you blow the louder the sound is. I was surprised at how well they could play them. The entire pre-school practiced a couple of songs and I was blown away by how well they did. I do not remember being able to play any instrument that well as a child.

Lunch time was just like the school lunches that I learned to hate. It was the same crappy food (although Japanese style). I got to help dish out the soup while the other sensei I was working with handed out rice, salad, and this egg / meat / vegetable dish. Then at nap time, I got to help put the kids to sleep. Some of them were really stubborn and refusing to shut up, even when the real teachers yelled at them. Nap time is one of the few things I remember from daycare and I know I did the same thing.

I went over to the daycare after all the kids were asleep. There I got to help make paper flowers, a cardboard dinosaur, and even got to practice my calligraphy. The kids said my calligraphy was really good, but I think it was just because I was writing kanji that they do not know yet. I personally think it is terrible. Hirai sensei took me home eventually.

Along the way we picked up food for dinner and a cake. Today is Tamaki’s birthday so we had an excellent dinner and cake afterwards. Also on the way home we got to pick up my drunk host father from the local sushi place. Apparently he hangs out there a lot as he and the sushi guy are best friends. It was good for me too because my host father also bought sushi for dinner. I must say that it was the best sushi I have ever had!