I have been with the new five- and four-year-olds for two weeks. All the kids are in new classes now. Everyone moved up a grade; that was a surprise! There are new babies in the baby class as well! They are so precious! Since this was my first week back since being sick, I was still in recovery. I had headaches almost every day, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. The five-year-olds found some handbells while I was with them. We sang Do-Re-Me from The Sound of Music and taught the kids the different hand signals for each note. They loved it! Another fun activity I participated in was a relay race with the five-year-olds. They needed me to even out the teams. The girl I passed my baton to was the fastest kid there. I was so impressed! One of the five-year-olds is fluent in English! I am not sure why; she told me her parents speak it at home, but she doesn’t know how they know English. Even though I was able to use more English, my Japanese is still something I am working on and improving. I had a broken, but understandable, conversation with one of the five-year-olds during lunch one day. It was cool to have a kid that I could communicate with easily. I have learned that my Apple Watch can be a translator, so I have started using it to understand simple words that I hear repeated by the children. We took the kids on a field trip to the park. This is not unusual, but it’s always a surprise what work we go to because it’s different each time. The one we went to this time was a far walk. It had me reflecting on how American schools don’t have this same luxury. Not only due to the lack of pedestrian streets, but also because many big elementary schools are on a large plot of land, and it would take 10 minutes just to walk from the entrance to the school to the sidewalk to go anywhere. The four-year-old class I was with had many students I had not interacted with before. In early childhood fashion, many of the new kids were testing their limits with me and how they could play with me. I had a little difficulty with some children climbing on me and similar behaviors because I did not have a good and consistent way to communicate boundaries with them. Thankfully, after a slight learning curve, I have figured out how to set boundaries with them. Now that everyone is familiar with who I am, the classes get sad when I have to leave and swarm me for high-fives and hugs. It is bittersweet because I am happy I have made a good impression, but it is sad to see them sad to see me leave.
Music therapy was extra fun this time! I introduced a new game with the five-year-olds. It targets their divided attention and listening skills. I lined them up into two lines and placed an egg shaker between all of them. Then we all started singing the Japanese version of head-shoulders-knees-toes with the motions. The catch was that if I replaced a lyric with the word “shaker,” they had to reach for the shaker in front of them. The first person ot catch it won that round. It also helped the kids work on teamwork, because the kids who got out got to cheer on their competitor. After the first two rounds, the teachers wanted to join in too! The four-year-olds had an absolute blast with freeze dance! They have even started requesting it, they had so much fun. We worked on their colors in English and Japanese, which was needed. They have made progress, though, and that is exactly what music therapy is for!
I have started eating my lunch in the park near the nursery school since the weather has been so nice. Now that I’ve started, I can’t stop! It’s such a beautiful park, and it’s so peaceful eating there every day. It gives me a nice chance to clear my head and relax. Since the park is a public setting, I can call my friends on my lunch break! I talked to my besties Emma and Allie to catch up, and it was great.
One day, on my way home, it was raining very hard. On my walk, I passed a mother with her young daughter. The daughter’s umbrella popped inside out, and it made the young girl laugh so hard. Her laughter was so contagious! It was nice that something so simple made a nice moment with some strangers, especially something that would normally be a bother. Children help show me the whimsy in life.
My host brother Souta bought a goldfish. I am not sure where the fish is in the house. I have not seen it since he bought it. It seemed like the whole family was excited when we went to pick it out, so I am sure it is well taken care of! Hinata got a new game for the DS. It’s a game I recommended she play, and now she plays it all the time!! It makes me wish I had brought my DS, but I did not want to overpack, so I only brought my Nintendo Switch. Since it was Easter season over the weekend, I decided to fast for half of the day on Friday and then study the scriptures in the park on Saturday. While I was at the park, I met two guys who requested to take a video of me giving some kind words to their friends who are getting married. They showed me their project, and they had all kinds of people wishing their friends happiness, mostly foreigners. They asked me because they figured I was a Brazilian, but when I walked by them, I smiled, and that let them know I was an American. Smiling at strangers is an American giveaway. I ended up hanging out with them. It was nice to feel like I had some friends in Toyohashi, especially since one of them was fluent in English. On Easter Sunday, my (now-ex) boyfriend and I went on a break. It made it incredibly difficult for me to concentrate the following week. However, I pushed through it, and the kids at the nursery helped keep my mind off it. Then, the following Saturday, I was broken up with. It is gut-wrenching going through this in another country. However, it is showing me how strong I am. Although it makes it more challenging, it has not hindered my ability to show up and do volunteer work for the kids. The day after getting dumped, I went to Ghibli Park. I had bought my ticket months ago, and I was not going to let a man ruin my plans. I ended up having a great time! I made a new friend that I met through an English speakers group chat I am a part of. I had an extra ticket, so she used it. We both had a wonderful time and have a lot in common. We both love The Secret World of Arrietty. I bought so many souvenirs as well, and I cannot wait to decorate my place in America with my souvenirs.