Day 50: Wingardium Leviosa

The girls beat me outside to the taxi this morning, and to my surprise, the taxi pulled away just as I came out of the gate! The taxi rounded the corner and I thought for sure it was gone, but it stopped around the corner and came back for me. It was a little scare to start off the day. At school I sent the postcards that I had written and got to work on my blog and emails. I also met with Uriyama Sensei to discuss the details for our departure to Mie prefecture for the long-distance swim camp.

Miko, Afrela, and I taught the second grade classes today, practicing adjectives. Similar to the lesson with the first graders, we performed a skit in which I was a wizard while Miko and Afrela were witches. I think that I have perfected the art of deceiving the children when I “change” one object into another. The best was the small eraser, which I turned into a penguin eraser. I made sure to have the penguin eraser in my hand, asked some of the kids to blow on my hand to help perform the trick, and then I opened my hand to show the kids the magic I’d just worked. Only a few kids throughout the classes caught me switching the objects. For the most part, the students were captivated and engaged in the lesson. Afrela kept trying to use the phrase from Harry Potter, “Wingardium Leviosa,” but always seemed to say it differently. It was fun to listen to every time, and the students know all about Harry Potter.

After my classes today I met with Mr. Yukita to help with the editing of the Discovery: America DVD. He has edited most of the material, but wants my help in creating the final frames of the movie. Many people in the United States, including Notre Dame Sisters and host families, made the trip a success. Naturally, Mr. Yukita wants to put in a thank you to all of those people, and that is what I will write for tomorrow.

Yoko Arai picked me up after school, and we headed to her jewelry store, Joy. The kids were already waiting there. They study at the store and Miyuki is getting extra geometry lessons from one of the employees in preparation for her exams.

From the jewelry store we headed to a French restaurant called Le Bouchon, where we had dinner reservations. We had dinner with two friends of the family: Mr. Kamai and his son, Tomohito. The Kamai’s actually live in Utah and are visiting Japan. It was a fun a delicious meal. The kids took pictures of their funny faces again and some of mine as well. It is always great to share meals with new people and get to know them a little.

Back at home I said hello to the dogs and went to my room. Before bed I prepared my bag for our upcoming trip to the Mie prefecture for the Enei Gaashuku (long-distance swim camp). Some of the other teachers and I are sending our larger bags on the supply truck tomorrow instead of carrying them with us when we ride the train on Wednesday.