はにまつり。

I actually wasn't planning to post today but I realized I would probably not get another chance until Sunday. This weekend I will be attending a small English Teacher conference in Shikaoi of Tokachi teachers. Thus the news of my day will be slightly abbreviated (and there is a lot of it too).

A good day. I was out at Urimaku Sho Gakko. I think the eighteen students in the three/four split are the funniest kids ever. I think I have mentioned it before but it is worth repeating: These kids love to dance. I am also jealous of Kevin because some of my awesome grade sixes will be moving to Shikaoi Junior High School come April (and thereafter be under his supervision).

March third is Girls Day in Japan, also called Hina Matsuri. I'm not sure of the origins, nor its exact goals. Such is the nature of my busy week that the details just blew by me. I do know there is a corresponding Boys Day on the fifth of May.

Today I had the good luck to be over at the Urimaku kindergarten while they were celebrating the festival. While I was there we sang and ate bento. I'm sorry I only managed to get one photo of the morning. A lot was going on and the teachers were happy to have an extra set of hands. There is not much time to think about photography with these genki kids. One illustrative example of Girl's day,since I really have nothing else to go on, is that while setting up for the meal, the Girls didn't have to do anything, they were allowed to sit. It was up to the boys to setup the chairs and tables. During the meal, the girls sat at one long table at the front of the class. I would also like to point out, since my mom never had any girls, they were all wearing their best dresses. I would also like to note that I have also made great strides in my relationships with the two year olds at the kindergarten. While the older kids (three, four, fives) are very friendly, the two years olds normally want nothing to do with me. I don't know what has changed, but today they were more than happy to play with me (again freeing up the teachers for a couple of precious minutes).

I want to apologize for my horrendous editing on the last post. I would not fault you for thinking I didn't proof read it. I was very tired when I wrote it, and while I did proof read it, it looks like a lot of errors went through. I cleaned a lot of it up yesterday and it should be smooth reading today. Nice and sunny here. The snow is melting. Blair out.