“Haroween Pahti”

Today was the Halloween Party at Okuganaya Elementary, and it was one of the most fun days I’ve had there yet. Last night I made finger cookies (like the one’s Nana makes, only smaller), which took me around 3 hours because I had to use my little toaster oven because that’s all I have. They actually turned out pretty well, which was a pleasant surprise. As soon as school started Takahashi sensei and I started making Apple Cider in the school kitchen. She seemed pretty interested in the ingredients, especially cloves because she had never heard of it. At one point she tried tasting the powdered cloves, which was pretty hilarious. She tried to spit it out, and then said “not good”, but couldn’t really talk because of the taste.

Then all the kids met in the gym to make Jack-o-Lanterns. Since pumpkins are very expensive, we used small squash (also called pumpkin in Japan), and just drew the faces on. After that was the “quiz rally”, which was trick or treating, but they had to answer questions in English as well. Then everyone went back to the gym for Apple Cider and candy. After the main party was done the principal and I went over to the Kindergarten building to give them some of the extra cookies. They said “sugoi!”, but then were hesitant to actually eat something that looked like a finger. Even the teachers poked at them and smelled them until finally one of the kids bit his in half and everyone knew it was alright.

Finally, just before the end of the day one of the roku nen seis (sixth graders) came to the office and said the usual “shitsurei shimasu” (it means like excuse me for entering or something). I was the only one in there, but every student says that when they enter a teacher’s room. Then she said “Drew sensei?”, which sorta caught me off guard because no one is ever looking for me. So I asked her what she needed, and she said “My father has a written a letter for you, here you go”. Now I assume her father told her how to say that, but I was still super impressed because not only did she pronounce everything perfectly, but she said it all from memory. As it turns out, her father speaks English and wants to talk with me for practice. A couple weeks ago I commented to this student that her English was very good, so she told her father (who is the reason she speaks so well).

Anyway, here are some pictures:

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