Thursday, August 11th: The last day :)

Our last day.  WOOT!  It was a slow day with only 9 kids and 2 teachers we haven't worked with much, but still a pretty good day :)  Morning playtime was spent singing "Who is the King of the Jungle" over and OVER and OVER again!  We didn't even use the recording or do the dance....the kids just sang bits and peaces of it, sounding like a broken record.  But they absolutely love it :) Oh, the power of music!

Origami throwing star up the
nose...cuz honestly, where else
would it belong?

During water games, I played with the kids that were supposed to stay dry....emphasis on the supposed to.  They had lots of fun covering Emely Sensei's lap with water using my bottle.  Which then turned in pouring the water all over their shorts...oops.  It was still fun!

My last obento lunch in Japan!
I was way more excited than
Hana chan was...but then again,
she was eating ketchup on rice
and tamago (egg) so I don't
blame her for that face.

A post-naptime sleepy
version of Toshiya kun:)

Lin Sensei and Aika chan reading together!
They have the same Japanese reading level,
but Aika chan can actually understand it :)

Kanami chan conducting with her
Japanese peace signs

Aika chan and Lin Sensei...this girl
has loved Madelyn from day one :)
She sometimes wears a paper watch
she made so she matches Madelyn!

Kento kun, Emely Sensei, Haruka chan,
and Aika chan :) The kids LOVE getting
their picture taken, but they don't
understand the concept of smiling
and looking at the camera.

One of the teachers taught the kids to make an origami inu (dog).  Japanese dogs go "wan wan" instead of barking like American dogs.  So yeah, I wanted a picture of one...but when you take a picture of one inu....everybody's inu needs a picture:

Aika chan

Noriya kun (his dogs ears
look more like a beard and
flop upward apparently)

Toshiya kun...his dog was
abstract looking :)

 

Bratty girl's dog.



Last time clocking out!
(gotta love the post-work hair)

Tonight we went out to dinner with Minako, Dr. Shin, and his wife Keiko Nishimura.  They took us to eat Tonkatsu which is basically fried pork.  It was pretty good :)  Apparently it's a "win" food, which I translated to meaning it brings good luck.  People eat it before important sports events and exams to help them to do better...we ate ours to help our travels go smoothly tomorrow.

Tonkatsu.

Afterwards, Minako Sensei took us to the Big Hop mall once more for a surprise.  She wanted to take us on the giant ferris wheel before we left Japan.  It was really nice of her, but I had to chicken out.  There was just no way I was going to get on that thing and go that high in the sky.  I was freaking out at the thought of it.  I felt bad, but Madelyn went and I took a picture so it's okay:

Lin Sensei and Minako Sensei....I sat on
a bench and sang to myself out loud :)

Before heading back to the school, we stopped by Majelyn Sensei's house to say goodbye to her, Naomi chan, and Nono kun.  In true Japanese fashion, she got us something to drink and eat because she had to be the good hostess.  Normally, I'd insist that it wasn't necessary, but we've learned that here it's better to always accept because saying "no" is rude.  But we were able to give her a CD mix of American dance music that Madelyn and I compiled for her birthday.  A good combination of Gaga, Katy Perry, country, and since we know how much she likes Justin Bieber's "Baby", we had to include that!  She was so excited and I'm so glad we were able to give her something special, just for her since she has been SO wonderful these past 7 weeks :)

After showering and packing
more, we enjoyed our last
waffle ice cream to celebrate
our last night in Japan!

Everything is packed.  Both suitcases way about 48 lbs.  Please keep praying that my mini-scale is acurate and they aren't any heavier!!  WOO-HOO for getting it all in, though!!!!
There was a slight change of plans and miscommunication about our plans for tomorrow (nothing surprising there!).  So we are actually leaving the kindergarten at 7:30 am.  Slightly different than the 9am departure we were understood before.  Yeah so we pack up at 7:15am, leave at 7:30am, depeart from the bus station at 7:50am, and arrive at the airport at 9am.  Yup.  Normal people get to the airport 2 hours before take off....we'll be there over 6 hours early! :)  It's a little much in my opinion, but I don't even care because I AM GOING HOME!!!!!!!!!!

One! Ichi! Eins! Uno!