The week for Connor to start attending Daiichi full time has arrived! I have been (I mean he has been) looking forward to this day for quite some time now. The day before his big first day the school had their annual Bazaar event. It's when the school displays all the kid's artwork they have made so far in the school year for parents to walk through to view and enjoy. They also have a little thrift shop fundraiser where people can shop and buy donated items to the school, as well as they make fresh home made yakisoba, curry, and other delicious food to buy and eat there. It's a fun event, and very low key. I volunteered to help at the second hand thrift shop, but since I can't speak Japanese, they put me on bagging duty. So once people bought items I bagged them and handed the bag to the buyer. Pretty simple, definitely doable.
Perhaps my favorite part of the bazaar is watching both Connor and Abby's faces light up when they find their art work (Connon had some art work from Hiyoko Gumi on display as well) and point it out to us. They were so proud, and I just love that this school has art classes designed in their curriculum cause it not only teaches my kids a great skill, but gives them confidence in their work.
The next day was Connor's first day and he woke up early and all excited. He felt so big and important as he put on his school uniform for the first time. At drop off there were no tear, just big old grins and a face full of excitement. When I picked him up at the end of the day his Sensei said he did great and didn't cry once! She said he was well behaved, and fit in perfectly with the other students. My momma heart was just bursting with pride! The whole car ride home I loved hearing him talk to Abby in the back seat about his day and the songs they sung, games they played, and food they ate for lunch in his class. This little boy is always wanting to keep up with his sister and do everything she does, and now they have Daiichi to bond over. Abby was pretty excited to show off her brother at school as well. I just love that little dynamic duo. They are the best of friends and always are supportive of each other. I don't know if it's the fact that they are only a year apart, but I love the fearsome bond they have together. I hope it stays and only gets stronger the older they get.
We have officially hit panic mode when it comes to doing items on our bucket list here in Japan. We realize that we only have a couple months left, which means only a couple weekends left to go out and explore this beautiful country. There is simply too much to see and not enough time. The hard part is Kyle also likes to have his weekends be super lazy and recoup from the busy work week. I don't blame him as he is currently deep into the IPUG, which he is doing great in by the way! This Saturday we decided to compromise and have a lazy morning followed by an active afternoon. The kids kept me entertained at home in the morning as they decided to have a dance party to the pandora background music I had playing throughout the house.
For the afternoon we decided to head to Oirase gorge and hike by the water and view the beautiful fall leaves. We did this our first year we were here and really enjoyed it. The kids all slept in the car on the way out, so it gave Kyle and myself some nice alone time to talk about the upcoming move and other important things. Oh I almost forgot, we also brought Sandy! She loved the car ride and loved the family hike even more. We really hope to bring her along and do more things with us once we get to AZ where it's warmer and we have a bigger car. We will see though.
The hike was beautiful and fun, but boy was it chilly. We made the most of the biting cold and tried to appreciate it since we know our fall next year won't look or feel like this. After 30-45 minutes we decided to call it headed back home. The kids were super chatty on the ride home, and Connor insisted on telling us about school over, and over, and over again :)
Since we are trying to soak in these last couple months here, on Monday I decided to take the long detour way home from picking the kids up from school. Our wondering and exploring lead us to a beautiful shrine tucked away in the woods that made me realize how much I love Japan. I love the bright orange tori gates that symbolize a gateway into a more sacred place. I love how serene these shrines are and how many of them are all over the place. This country is beautiful! The people are beautiful! This culture is beautiful! I am beyond grateful that we live here and have gotten such amazing experiences in this country. Here's to making the most out of our time left.
No comments:
Post a Comment