At a school in Katakura

Early this morning I woke-up and got ready to head to the school where my friend Yasu works, only to find that I wasn't fully prepared, and I really wanted to get the students something that was very American.

Can you think of anything American that isn't food? I sure couldn't, but to make matters worse, the only place open on base when I wanted to leave was the convenience store. There wasn't much there that wasn't food. Emily and I finally decided on  peanut butter crackers. It seems like every American kid has had peanut butter crackers as snacks! Thanks Emily for buying the snacks. I'm sure that if they are approved by the principal of the school, that the kids will really enjoy the snacks! :) 

Yasu has about 24 students in her second grade class. It was a very small class compared to other schools in the area and in Tokyo.

One thing I found amazing is that the classrooms are very low tech. With all the technology in Tokyo just a few hours away, this school didn't even have white boards, no less computers.

Yasu told me that because of a lack of funding, they're not able to get new books in their library. They're asking people to donate books. They have a few books in English for English lessons, but it sounded like not too many.

We learned about centimeters during math hour. It was good. :)

After math, the two second grade classes were put together to introduce me. Yasu was my translator, but I could tell the kids wanted to talk with me. I wish I spoke Japanese.

After being introduced in Japanese,I introduced myself in English. I told them that I was born in California, but really enjoyed the outdoors, so I moved to Alaska. "I also like to travel, see new places, meet new people, and learn about different cultures. That is why I am here."

I then thanked them for having me and asked if they had any questions. The questions, which were translated by Yasu, included;

What job did you have in Alaska?

What is your favorite color?

What is your favorite food?

How do people in Alaska get around?

What is your favorite animal?

What is your favorite insect?

What is your favorite sport? (They loved that I answered baseball!) :)

How many countries have you been to?

What was your most exciting experience in Alaska?

I told them a bear story for the last question. They were also amazed that some students took a plane to school every day.I got the biggest response when I told them that I had worked with bears, near volcanoes and near a glacier.

Because they didn't know what a moose was when I told them that it was my favorite animal, I showed them a picture after the question and answer session. They seemed pretty excited about it. :)

The last thing they did was sing the song "BINGO" to me in English and Japanese. I didn't understand all of the English words but it was still pretty good. I enjoyed hearing it in Japanese. Too cute!

By noon it was time to do origami. The kids helped me make a cat face. Hehe... It was very cute!

After origami, it was time for lunch, but since I didn't bring one and they weren't all too prepared to have me, it was time for me to head out. I really did enjoy being there and it was very interesting.. I hope it was for them too.

I spent the rest of the day doing a little bit of gift shopping and relaxing. It was nice to hang-out with Emily for a little while.

It was a nice day.