Hoards of Children

A friend of mine recently emailed me and gave me a nice setdown about the fact that I haven’t updated this blog in  a few days. It’s nice to know you guys are reading!!!

Anyway, two things to cover here. Apparently I did not do a box update…I am a horrendous child. Thanks mom and dad for sending some of my winter clothes here.

There’s my sunshine!

Plus the essentials…you know, chocolate, laminators, etc. You guys would literally NOT believe how much chocolate chips are here. It should be a crime. You can get a handful for almost four dollars….I am not kidding.

My hoodie of WARMTH! And CHOCOLATE! What else do I need?

Why this laminator is called the Purple Cow, I don’t know.

As a side note, did you know that in the word ¥en, the “¥” is SILENT?!

Who knew…that’s a rhetorical question of course.

The other thing I wanted to mention, is that sometimes, while doing this job, while being here in this capacity, there are moments that literally take my breath away in joy. On my walk home this evening, in the bitter cold and biting wind, I met a few of my students. I’ve been at Takatsu since September and the kids are finally really warming up to me, but sometimes, you just never know how much they like you until you see them outside of school. Aside from the fact that I was bundled up in the above California pullover hoodie, which, lets face it, is not the MOST attractive warm article of clothing I own, they kept riddling me with kawaii‘s, cute’s. I laughed at them and we chatted on for a bit about dinner, boys, and candy or ame in Japanese. Scaling the language barrier gets a little easier every time I think.

The best part though, was when I first saw them. I jovially waved at them from about fifteen feet away. My heart did a little summer-like flip-flop as their hesitation turned into joyful squeals of my name. They ran at me, literally. It was like I’d unleashed a torrent of feeling that had been held at bay by politeness and their shy uncertainties of reception. They hugged me en mass and I huddled their little dark heads closer as the wind attempted to toss us all into the street. It might have been really cold outside, but in our little huddle, it felt as warm as sunshine on an upturned face.

Maybe I am suppose to be a teacher…Maybe I’m suppose to be a professor…Maybe a butcher, a baker, a candle stick maker? I’m sighing over here, still unsure.