IRASHAI IRASHAI!
That was the team spirited cry of team GREEN! We tied our green bandanas on our heads and people said it looked like the old ladies that run the ramen shops, so our battle cry was born. This past week Krystal and I went to volunteer at a youth hostel. And what a “hostel” experience it was. We got invited with one of our Brit friends here in Kyoto to help him staff a weekend kids’ camp. It sounded like fun so we decided to go.
We left home early Saturday morning to go to the northern part of Kyoto City. It s was a 40 minute bus ride and we ended being 20 late. We will forever be in Hawaiian time. Anyway kids started coming around 1 and they were the coolest kids on Earth! Where were these kids when I need them in my classroom? You had your cute little third graders and you’re sassy sixth graders, all playing together and living in harmony with a couple foreign camp leaders.
Right off the bat I tried to get to know all the kids, because I know the secret to reach kids… make them your friends and everyone else’s enemy. For example you befriend the sassiest girl, most athletic boy, cutest kid, and one smart kid. And then you have the makings of the highest honor amongst all kids… “Cool guy.” We had a lot of fun this weekend. We played dodge ball, sick ball, capture the flag, Coalditz, Twister, and even danced the hula. Coalditz is a really cool game where you set up a room completely dark and have a small maze/obstacle course. Then you have a guy that plays the watch tower who gets a flashlight that can spot sneaky people. By doing so you get the kids out. The kids in turn have to sneak around you and get a set of keys that sits helplessly underneath your chair. The kids and staff loved that game! In one of those assessment surveys the kids rated that game really high. Some kids even made higher scores than we provided.
By the time Sunday afternoon came I was starting to miss those kids. At the very end they had an exchange of message cards and the cards I got were so touching. You know you made an impact when they say that it was best thing to meet you. That’s the kind of stuff that makes me want to be a teacher because everyone once in a while a child will say something so cool because you made an impact in their life, even if the smallest impact. Even Krystal was a little sad that the weekend was coming to an end. She was so proud of the kids when they all learned the hula dance she was teaching them. All in all the weekend was cool.
Kudos to all the people that went skiing this past weekend. It sounded like so much fun. I’m still debating whether or not to go this weekend. It would be nice to play in the snow one more time. But we are moving this month and already the budget for the month is super tight. We’ll see …
Still tired from the weekend but I think I can make it through the day... just four more days until the weekend…
Break it down!
We left home early Saturday morning to go to the northern part of Kyoto City. It s was a 40 minute bus ride and we ended being 20 late. We will forever be in Hawaiian time. Anyway kids started coming around 1 and they were the coolest kids on Earth! Where were these kids when I need them in my classroom? You had your cute little third graders and you’re sassy sixth graders, all playing together and living in harmony with a couple foreign camp leaders.
Right off the bat I tried to get to know all the kids, because I know the secret to reach kids… make them your friends and everyone else’s enemy. For example you befriend the sassiest girl, most athletic boy, cutest kid, and one smart kid. And then you have the makings of the highest honor amongst all kids… “Cool guy.” We had a lot of fun this weekend. We played dodge ball, sick ball, capture the flag, Coalditz, Twister, and even danced the hula. Coalditz is a really cool game where you set up a room completely dark and have a small maze/obstacle course. Then you have a guy that plays the watch tower who gets a flashlight that can spot sneaky people. By doing so you get the kids out. The kids in turn have to sneak around you and get a set of keys that sits helplessly underneath your chair. The kids and staff loved that game! In one of those assessment surveys the kids rated that game really high. Some kids even made higher scores than we provided.
By the time Sunday afternoon came I was starting to miss those kids. At the very end they had an exchange of message cards and the cards I got were so touching. You know you made an impact when they say that it was best thing to meet you. That’s the kind of stuff that makes me want to be a teacher because everyone once in a while a child will say something so cool because you made an impact in their life, even if the smallest impact. Even Krystal was a little sad that the weekend was coming to an end. She was so proud of the kids when they all learned the hula dance she was teaching them. All in all the weekend was cool.
Kudos to all the people that went skiing this past weekend. It sounded like so much fun. I’m still debating whether or not to go this weekend. It would be nice to play in the snow one more time. But we are moving this month and already the budget for the month is super tight. We’ll see …
Still tired from the weekend but I think I can make it through the day... just four more days until the weekend…
Break it down!
posted by Chris at 6:20 PM
2 Comments:
That was the pun but like yousaid teh expereince wasn't hostile at all.
The sassy girl is usually either the youngest girl or the oldest girl. If it was the youngest girl, yes there would be crying. But the girl that I had being one of the older kids, she was so cool and if she didn't get her way with the other leaders than they got kicked in the shin.
Well the front of the flashlight was taped strategically(?) so hat the area of the most concentrated light was small. That was teh only part that could get them out.
And yes Krystal did have a lot of frilly hands and I believe teh circle of the hands were not for the sun but for a lake or something.
hey cool kid-- iinaa... i wish we had that kind of program here!
Post a Comment
<< Home