Days 6 & 7

Day 6 in Japan
Trevor: We had pool today for PE and it was fun.  We got to play games.  We did a dance in the water.  We had veggie chips (not like the American ones) for snack and I liked them. 

Eli: Today at school, we changed the big sand mountain into a slide (the teachers put a tarp on it and ran water over it so it was like a water slide).  We had to take our shorts off and slide down it in our underwear. 

Mom: Unlike America, in Japan there is no shame/embarrassment about kids' nudity, so at Eli's school, after the kids get all muddy and wet from playing, they strip down, hose off, and change into clean clothes (both boys and girls all in the same place, same time).  I realize it's very different from America, culturally speaking, but there is nothing obscene, shameful, or predatory about it.  The teachers at Eli's school are all female.


Day 7 in Japan
Trevor: There is a girl named Anri in my class who tries to play with me all the time but I don't play with her.  The English teacher, Susan, had lunch with me today.  I walked home from school by myself (without help). 

Eli: Today, we walked a place with lots of plants and found tadpoles.  I had never seen them before.  They were cool.  I did not touch them but the other kids caught them and put them in a bucket that we took back to school.  It was a dirty bucket with water.  I stayed at school (mom left after drop off) and did nap time after lunch.  Oh yeah, the first thing we did at school today was play "capture the tail."  Someone hangs a towel from the back of their pants, and everyone chases the person with the tail.  I got the tail three times (from the person who was wearing it).  It was cool.

Mom: I took the boys to Mr. Donuts for snack today.  They loved it!