Forking time...

Stick a fork in me. I'm (just about) done. :)

Once again, I've let a few days slip by without an update (I know you've all been holding your collective breath in great anticipation of my return. Sorry if any of you have actually turned blue...) :)

So let's see...

On Friday, we went to visit Yasunishi Elementary School in Hiroshima. It was pretty much everything I expected it would be. Upon our arrival, the children performed for us in the gym (quite touching. It made me think of my own students back home, and nearly made me burst into tears. Luckily, I think I managed to hold everything back...ugly, red-eyed, sobbing American me would have certainly frightened the children. :p) After that, we were allowed to observe the classes freely. What struck me most was the lack of direction that the children needed in order to accomplish a task. For the most part, teachers provided basic instructions, then set the kids free to work. The kids would collaborate from time to time, but rarely got too far off task. It is often said that Japanese kids are not provided with the opportunity to be creative. I've not found this to be true...they have TONS of classes in the Arts; however, I will concede that they are rarely encouraged to be innovative. As the teachers walked around and observed the students working, attention was NEVER called to any one specific student. Makes me wonder why a child would ever work to accomplish more than just "enough"...

Also widely divergent from my own experience was the freedom offered the children during recess (and sometimes even instructional) times. Students were allowed to leave the classrooms and run about entirely unsupervised. They played in the puddles and mud, wrestled and threw balls at each other, all without the slightest blink from any of the teaching staff. I NEVER saw a child run crying to the teacher that another student had hit, pinched, poked or otherwise offended (and all of those things happened.) It's all just acceptable as "kid" behavior. Pretty remarkable.

SO...on Saturday, I was picked up by my host family for the homestay visit. The mother, Mika, and her son, Yusei, were super nice and great fun! Mika spoke amazingly good English, and we chatted about everything from politics to Desperate Housewives. :) In the afternoon, we all walked down to the river, and Yusei and I managed to team up to catch a turtle (he had several turtles already back at the house.) The evening was relaxing, and we had some wonderful home-cooked food for dinner. On Sunday, we drove to Mika's parents' house and picked up her dad. Together we visited the Kintai Bridge, and ate lunch at a local sushi place (no raw fish for me, but I did taste test the local favorite...a kind of squished square sushi.) All in all, I think we were perfectly matched.

(Skipping ahead now...too much in between and I don't want to bore you all...)

Well, today is Tuesday. We went to visit the Kindergarten here in Tokyo (oh yeah...did I mention we came back to Tokyo? :) ) And Nadine and I went exploring this evening. A little later tonight, we'll be rehearsing for our presentation (one of the reasons I have to hurry right now!) Anyways, just one more day left! I can't believe it's time to go (despite the fact that it has seemed like a ridiculous amount of time that I've been gone.)

So let's just say...I'm mostly ready. Maybe just one last trip to the Oriental Bazaar... :)