Oh, the Joys of Playing Catch Up!

May 7, 2019

Dear Mom and Dad,

It’s our first day back at school, and some of us were a bit confused: Do we have gym class? Is it Miyashita Monday? Oh, wait– it’s Tuesday!

Some of our friends were not yet back to school and have extended their holidays. Nevertheless, free play time was very interesting, even though we miss some of our friends. We have a group of friends playing with the babies– they were trying to feed it but they told Kiki, “It doesn’t want to eat!” Later on, they were trying tio change its diapers. On the kitchen area, some friends were preparing a pancake party– they were inviting teachers to come over, but they were pretty busy. The library was busy with a mini– class going on; we had friends pretending to be the teachers as they sat on a cushion and read a book to everyone.

After snack time, we were supposed to go to the park, but we spent a long time catching up with each other! We told each other what we did during the Golden Week Holiday…..

“I see dolphins– same as J!” S said. He added that they went together.

“Me too!” L quipped. “I see dolphins– S, J, and me!” He added. “In Jiji Baba’s house, I go, there is big watermelon balloon.”

“I saw B in Roppongi Hills,” J told us. He added that he said “Hi” to her.

“Did you see her big brother? Did he say ‘Hello’ to you, too?” Pauline asked.

“Yes!” J replied. “He said ‘Hello’. A little bit,” J said.

“Hmm.. I don’t know. Oh, I went swimming!” H remembered.

“Small pool?” L wanted to know.

“It’s a big pool but it’s not so deep,” she replied.

“I play with J. We play with babies. We played in J’s home. Jess gave me popcorn and cheese and crackers!”

“And we baked cookies! So many cookies!” J piped up.

“I didn’t go to school anymore. Then I don’t remember. Daddy was flying the airplane, and I stayed with mommy at home,” S said.

“I go to Karuizawa!” Y said excitedly. “I eat lots of food then go to super.” she said.

“Market?” R asked.

“Oh yes. Supermarket,” Y said.

“I just play with mommy and daddy at home,” E said.

“I went swimming with Yuiko in the pool.” J said.

“Our swim teacher is Tammy!” Y added.

“Daddy went to baseball,” B said. “I just went out one time with mommy and Lane.”

“Yesterday, I went to swim in japan. It was a little bit deep, but it was not up to my face. It was up to here,” E said, motioning to his neck. “I have a swim coach. I play in the water,” he told us.

“I went to Akita with mommy, daddy, and Cosmo. I went to the onsen. Akita is colder than Tokyo,” M said.

“Did you see some snow?” Pauline asked.

“There was snow… just a little bit. But it wasn’t falling from the sky, it was just from the ground,” he explained. Sayaka then told us that she lived for some time there when she was a kid, as it was her Mommy’s hometown. She said that winter is rally cold there!

R, H, and Kiki then shared some tidbits on what went on during their Cambodia trip….

“What did you like about Cambodia?”Kiki asked R.

“I saw animals. There were cows on the green grass, and they were eating grass.” R answered.

“The dogs and cows were everywhere in Cambodia. There were so many cats when we ate at a restaurant,” Kiki said.

“I saw a cat! I said ‘Meow’ to her,” H said.

“And what did the cat tell you?” Kiki asked.

“She said ‘Meow’ back!” H said.

“Scared?” L asked them.

“Hmm.. I;m not scared of the dogs and cats,” R said.

“I’m not scared of them,” H replied.

“Lots of skinny chicken walking.. Walking .walking. They were sad,” R said.

“Oh, and we went to the school!” Kiki said. What did we see there?” she asked R.

“No toys,” R said. “They have no toys. So we give them Ohana toys.”

“Wow… we’re s lucky!” Pauline said. Most of our friends echoes her sentiment, and that we should be thankful for what we have.

“I remember in the picture that it was a tall school,” M said.

“It’s actually not so big– the school is just as big as Petals’ classroom,” Kiki said. “R, what do you think of the Cambodia children?” she asked.

“So nice!” R said.

“What about the toilet?” Kiki asked.

“No toilet paper… and Cambodia has no good beach. We went to a boat and saw so many garbage. Garbage is everywhere in Cambodia, but so many mango and pineapple.”  R said.

“Oh! And you know what? We went to the market at night,” Kiki said. “And we saw…. Bugs! Cockroaches! Grasshoppers! Maggots! They were for snacks!” she told us, and we all gasped. OH MY! But Kiki told us that this is what they’re used to in Cambodia, so we have to respect it. She showed us a video of the big snacks she took, and of the special Cambodian dance the students performed for the Ohana group.

Tomorrow, we look forward to seeing all of the Cambodia pictures up on the projector, plus the videos they took. We’re excited to hear more about their Cambodian adventure!

Love,

All the Curious Georges in Petals Class