Sports Day for Claire-chan

On October 3rd, Claire's Yochien celebrated their Sports Day.  The second Monday of October is the National Sports Day.  In Japanese it is called Taiiku-no-hi.  It was established to commemorate the 1964 Olympic games in Tokyo and it is a day to foster healthy minds and bodies through physical activity.

Claire's event was held at the Kawashimo Elementary School.  We got there at 8:30 and it was from 9:00 - 12:00.  Unfortunately, it was raining so it was held indoors in the gymnasium, but it was very, very nice!  Mick's Saint of a secretary, Miss Mina-san, drove from her home an hour away to go to it with us, since Mick was out of town.  She would sit with the big kids and play with Gigi when I wanted to go get a picture of Claire or when it was my turn to participate in an event.

I ♥ Miss Mina-san! She even participated in the Grandparents' event!  

The entrance portion was very impressive!  You would have thought the drummers and cymbal crashers were a high school marching band, not kindergarteners.

The younger classes filed in after the drum march, lined up and sang some songs.

Claire's the cute little blonde on the right without a hat.  I brought the fedora, not the red play cap.

Claire didn't sing or dance much...well...really, if I'm to be truthful....not at all. 

She and her best bud, Ryu (pronounced Rye-oo), in front of her, are the youngest kids at the Yochien.  Ryu's Mom is Japanese, so I'm hypothesizing that he can understand a bit more than Claire and Claire hasn't caught on for lack of sheer repetition yet.  She has only been there a month!

She was happy when she was dancing with Sensei Ai 

or me (there were a few parent participation events). 

And I must say, that when I was out there dancing with her....it IS awfully overwhelming to be looking around, trying to follow, while listening to the Japanese music.  I'm very proud of my Claire Bear!

She was proud of marching around with Ryu though!

The best moment of the whole Sports Day (I'm probably a teense bit biased, but there was a collective "AHHHH!" from the crowd) was Ryu and Claire's "obstacle course" event.  The bigger kids' class had a pretty elaborate obstacle course and the bigger brothers and sisters a more complicated one still.  Claire and Ryu's event consisted of them running to the center of the gym and picking up a paper mache craft and then running to the finish line.  And while ALL of the rest of the kids were completely focused on trying to break the finish line tape first, our little Claire Bear, well....watch!

You're a SWEET little girl, Claire and SUCH a good friend!!!!!! (Oh and sorry about the frog in my throat!)

All in all, it was a super fun and very cultural day!  

Thank you Miss Mina-san for coming with us 

and thank you Kawashimo Yochien 

for such a wonderful production!!!!!! 

The Letter From Yochien

Life in Japan is a confusing adventure at times!!!!!!

 

 

Yochien Reassurance

So my little Claire Bear has been dragging her feet once in a while in the mornings before Yochien and I got a bit nervous.  Mick probably will not confirm or deny a freak-out in the realm of "I don't know what she thinks!  She probably doesn't understand they're speaking a different language and just wonders if she has gone into Absurdo world!"  So I digress.....I took her one morning and asked Ai Sensei "Is Claire doing okay?" and then mimed tears running down my cheeks.  Ai ran and got Chisano, another Sensei in an older class who speaks English pretty well, and I told her that Claire has cried a few times before the bus.

The next morning, when the bus came, the Sensei (a different one takes her turn on the bus each morning) hopped out of the bus and gave me a letter.  All written in Japanese.  I call Mick in a panic, immediately going all the way to "I fear they are telling me she's not assimilating and we need to withdraw her, but I need to get Gigi to daycare and get logged into my online class, but I NEED TO KNOW WHAT THIS SAYS NOW!"  (I try to keep positive at all times, but hey...I'm human and I have been sending my 3 year old out in the big country of Japan for a month without really knowing what's going on.)  So, God Bless Mick, he jumped in my cute Mazda Miata and came home to take the letter back to his Saint of a secretary, Miss Mina-san to translate it for me.  (Mick accidentally took the letter with him to the States....did I mention he's gone for 10 days?  I will post a scanned copy of the letter in a later post.)

Miss Mina-san calls me ten minutes later and tells me that this long letter is all about how great Claire is doing and how she plays so nicely and has fun and smiles and while they know she has cried a few times, once she gets to Yochien, she is so happy!  And it can take a few months for kids to adjust and to please not worry.  Or something like that. 

And then they sent pictures home that afternoon.  And I love Sensei Ai.  And Sensei Chisano too.  The next morning I took two large bottles of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing for Sensei Ai and two 12 packs of Dr. Pepper for Sensei Chisano because my good friend Kristen, who sent her kids to this Yochien four years ago, tipped me off that those were the American things they loved.  And bowed deeply and said "Arrigato Gozaimas" and mimed taking a picture.  Okay, here are the pictures.

Claire has loved these pictures to crinkles and tells me this is her favorite one.  ☺

This one CRACKS ME UP because Japanese people pose with the 'Peace" sign in the pictures and you can see her friend Ryu doing that and Claire giving the "Hook 'em Horns!"  Is she her Daddy's girl or what????

They have two different hats they wear each day.  A summer or winter beret that they wear, from what I can tell, from the bus to the school in the morning and then the school to the bus in the afternoon.  ("Why?")  Then they wear their little caps (different color for each class....Claire's is red, obviously) when they go outside to play.  When Claire sees this picture she says, "That's me playing in the sand!"

Just my cute girl, but isn't it the SWEETEST that they took all of these pictures on the day I was worrying and then sent them home the next day?

I was talking with the CO's wife of the MAG and she told me her son went to Kawashimo last year.  She said that she didn't know what he did, but he just came home happy and with his face dirty every day.  She said she went to the open house or something in January and was ASTOUNDED by all they accomplish there every day.  These kids are BUSY, doing crafts, playing and learning! 

There are only 2-3 kids in Claire's class, depending on the day.  I thought Ryu, shown here, was pure Japanese because his nametag was only in Hiranga, but I met his Mom and Dad at Sports Day (such a long post needed about Sports Day....another day) and his Mom is Japanese, but his Dad is a Marine from Miami.  Claire and Ryu are BEST friends! 

See?  ☺  This one is my FAVORITE!  She loves Ryu!

Claire and Ryu doing crafts

I love this picture for so many reasons.  Click on it and blow it up.  Ryu, of course, is such a good friend.  But then the shoes!  Look at all of those orderly shoes behind them!  The Senseis don't do that.  That's the kids, putting them in so perfectly!  But finally, Claire's beautiful eyes!  She has these crazy light blue eyes with this dark blue rim around them.  She's sooooooooooo pretty!!!!!!!!!

I saved the best for last!  LOVE this one!  Rya and Sensei Ai doing the "Peace" sign and Claire doing the "Hook 'em Horns!"  ☺

THANK YOU KAWASHIMO!