Perhaps because I didn't interact with small kids much back when I was in the states, but I swear the kids here are amazing. I see so many kids day in and day out, and sometimes it's tough to put names with faces. Despite this though, most of them leave a lasting impression on me, and some of them manage to draw my attention more than others. One student in particular at one my schools astonishes me, as she manages to have a rather intriguing personality even though she probably isn't older than my Nintendo 64.
The first time I came to her school I did my self intro. The second time I came, she came up to me and told me she was surprised to hear that my family was from Nigeria as she had just been to the neighboring Niger with her parents a few months prior. Most of my conversations with other students (hell, other adults) tend to stem from (and end with) the fact that I am relatively larger than them. She wants to talk west African countries. Instant favorite kid.
Every time I visit this school, she manages to approach me with some question or comment, and we have a 2 minute conversation. Last month, she asked me about the difference between "See ya" and "See you". Today I found out that she plays piano because she was playing something by Bach. Mind you, she's maybe 7 or 8. Today, she also asked me if I had gone to the local shopping center a few weeks ago as she thought she spotted me. After I confirmed her hunch, she let out the most adorable cry of satisfaction that I nearly passed out from cuteness poisoning, not before having considered stealing her and raising her as my own daughter. I managed to recover somehow and told her to just come say hi if she happens to see me out and about again.
The other thing, are all kids made to be this cute? It's amazing. I think my cohort in this town can attest to this fact. You'll be walking about, just having a normal day. Maybe you're at the grocery store grabbing some milk and juice or something, and then you see some adorable ass kid, and your jaw just hits the floor, all your speech reduced to "Oh my God, that kid is adorable!" and other incomprehensible jibberish.
But yeah, I really do enjoy my elementary school visits because of the interactions I have with the young kids. Last month, I had an impromptu "Make a Funny Face" showdown in the middle of the lunchroom with one my students. Much to my surprise, the teachers were encouraging us to continue. Yesterday I angered a first grader with my terrible puns based on name of the yogurt we had with lunch to the point where she put her head on the table and refused to listen to me anymore while the other boy present just laughed along with me.
It can be stressful at times planning the lessons for these visits, but these moments I have here and there with the kids are well worth the bouts of frustration along the way. I think somewhere I'm hoping that they'll all grow up a little more willing to accept people that are different from them, and slowly eliminiate that idea out here that the world is made up of two types of people: the Japanese and the Foreigner... well probably not, but here's hoping. In the meantime, I'm gonna work on some new faces for the showdown next week.
