Enkai & Kindergarten

Last night I inadvertently joined the local taiko team.

This. Is. Taiko.

How did I manage that? Mogi-san told me to bring some money and show up at a restaurant at a certain time, and I did not come to Japan to ask questions. To celebrate the new year and the additional members, the team held an enkai; a welcome feast. It consisted of a whole lot of raw things and a whole LOT of beer. I stuck to vegetables mostly; there were reddish-purplish tubers that seemed pretty safe, though they tasted odd. When I mentioned this to Jeff, Robyn's boyfriend, he said, "That's because they're squid."  Well played, Japan. Well played.

We start practice next week. I'll let you know what happens.

Today was my first day in a kindergarten. There were around 70 kids there, ranging in age from 2 to 5, staring up at me with huge eyes and scattering in all directions whenever I approached. I played outside with them, and when they found out I like frogs they showed me their collection: at least 20 frogs, caught and kept in cups and canteens and tonka trucks. The kids were not very gentle with the poor things; I watched one boy gather several frogs into his hand and then roll them all together like a popcorn ball with stray limbs kicking the air.   I ended up sneaking several of the frogs away and releasing them out of pity. 

As the kids got used to me they lost their shyness and started asking all sorts of weird questions. One girl tried to get me to eat leaves off an apple tree; another patted my stomach and asked if I was pregnant while her friend poked me square in the chest and said, "What's that?" They wanted me to hold all their hands, water plants with them, swing with them, crawl through tunnels with them, make sand cakes with them and show a proper degree of enthusiasm for everything they did. It was fun, but by the end I was wishing I had a "nap time" too.