October 19 , 2006 - page 2



sizes too small while an ever-expanding crowd of wide-eyed fourth graders assembled themselves across from us.

The children here are usually some of the friendliest people I meet, often rushing up to me outside to say, “Hello!” and wave enthusiastically before darting back to their friends. Today was no different, and we caught lots of shy smiles and friendly greetings from the students as they clustered together in their white and navy uniforms. To break the ice

we taught the kids how to say hello in our native tongues, and played a game of “fruit basket” using words for different fruits in Japanese, Spanish, English, French, and Korean. The game is a little bit like musical chairs, and our frenzied rush for empty seats had us all laughing and chattering excitedly. Occasionally the crowd would swell as other classes stopped in to gawk at the foreigners and join in the games. Not surprisingly, part of the festivities included a game of “Janken,” the Japanese version of “rock, paper, scissors,” that seems to be a requisite for any casual social gathering.