The Kids Are Alright

3/11/10

Today was all about the kids. I got up a little earlier this morning to go with Mari to a local elementary school for the sake of getting a feel for Japanese school-life and for a chance to practice my Japanese. We were greeted by the school’s principal and I successfully introduced myself without looking like a バカ外人 (at least he seemed pretty impressed). We then stepped toward the building, took off our shoes, and put on slippers before moving to a conference room where some of the parents had gathered with picture books, apparently planning to read to the younger kids for the first few minutes of class. I introduced myself to each person, told them where I was from, and answered whatever questions they had to the best of my ability (though I needed Mari to translate a few times).

After watching a couple parents read to a class of second-graders, Mari and I visited with the principal some more in his office. I was surprised to discover that he knew quite a lot about Pittsburgh’s history (apparently he did a report on the city when he was still in school). After chatting and sharing a cup of tea, he gave me a tour of the school, allowing me to stand in and watch a few classes. The reactions from the kids varied, but they all stared at me when I walked in the doors, some with their mouths a-gape. I think my two favorites were a sixth-grade class and a first-grade class.

When I walked into the sixth-grade class, all heads turned and looked at me and some kids muttered things to each other. I can only assume they were commenting on me, either how weird I look or why a foreigner was in their school, etc. The teacher gave a small introduction, then Mari encouraged me to introduce myself. The conversation then went as thus:

Me: Hello, my name is Kat. I’m from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but my college is in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Kids: Eeeeeh~?
Boy1: Can you show us on a map?
Me: Map? Where…? (now looking for a map in the room)
Boy2: Ah! Her hair is pink!
Me: Yes, it is. Ah! (scurrying across the room to grab a globe on a shelf) Pittsburgh is here. (Pointing in the general direction of Pennsylvania). And Minneapolis is here. (pointing in the general direction of Minnesota).
Teacher: Everyone, grab your geography books and see if you can find them.

Cue all the kids scurrying to their cubbies to get their books and open a US map. I peered over a girl’s shoulder and showed her where the two cities were. To my surprise, Pittsburgh was marked on the map, but Philadelphia wasn’t. Interesting, since it’s usually the other way around in America.

In the first grade class, we walked in on the kids working on a project where they had to make a small structure out of straws and clay. After I was introduced to the class, I had a brief encounter with a little boy and girl in the class.

Girl: (in a very 元気 voice) I like the color of your hair!
Me: Thank you!
Boy: Cool!

Nice to know that the kids appreciate people with weird colors in their hair.

After the tour was done, Mari and I thanked the principal and were on our way. We stopped and had lunch with her father, who seems reserved at first glance, but actually likes to talk quite a bit. Then we returned to the office where I worked until 3.


For my excursion, I went out to Ginza, which I would liken to the Fifth Avenue of Tokyo. While Harajuku is home to funky clothes catered to a specific style, Ginza has stores that are more high-end and mainstream in style. I did laps around the main street for a while before stopping at a place I visited last time I was in Japan: Toy Park.



Four floors of toys, including adorable stuffed animals, action figures, puzzles, trading cards, toy race cars, and snacks featuring anime characters.


In the basement floor of the shop is where you’ll find dolls. Luckily the only Barbie dolls they had were of the limited edition variety, since the rest of the floor was covered in merchandise for Ricca-chan, Japan’s equivalent of Barbie.


Like Barbie, Ricca-chan takes on many occupations and has lots of outfits. Everything from school uniforms to cosplay to professional uniforms. Ricca-chan also has a set of friends, just like Barbie. The significant difference between Ricca-chan and Barbie is that Ricca-chan’s proportions are much more realistic. Her feet aren’t tiny and pointed, her waist is typical of a Japanese girl’s, and her chest doesn’t look like it’s gone under the knife.

Bradley was hoping to find members of his clutch at Toy Park, but alas, no luck. Their Pokemon stock is surprisingly low. I picked up a chocolate truffle sample for him in a department store on our way back to the station to cheer him up.

There are a lot more pictures in my Photobucket account, so please go and browse!