Oh, hey there.

Let me just apologize right off the bat. I never meant to neglect my blog for so long! I totally dropped the ball! My bad. I promise it won't happen again.

So, where should I start..... much that happened since the last blog entry. Ok, I'm going to just talk about today, and slowly update about all that other stuff over time. It's mostly pictures anyway.

Today I went to an elementary school that is very far away. I have to wake up at 5:30 to catch the 7:12 train (it takes about 20-25 minutes to bike to the station), then after a 45 minute train ride, I take a bus. Then I walk short distance more to the school and arrive after 8:30 sometime. But I don't mind the journey. Why? Because this school is magical.

Behind the school is basically woods, but the children are allowed to play back there. Once you get past the first few trees and shrubs, there are secret and magical worlds back there. I'm serious. The first time a group of adorable 8 year-olds grabbed my hand and shouted that we were headed for the "stage" I had no idea what was going on, much less why we were headed directly for the forest! I'm pretty outdoorsy though, so I kept my cool. HA. I couldn't even type that with a straight face! My first thought was of spiders, snakes, and ticks! I didn't even have bug spray! Good lord. But they led me with such enthusiasm that I couldn't disappoint them. I had to go in to the woods, and I'm so glad I did. The children led me to a beautiful moss covered outdoor stage/amphitheater. We played tag all over it (the rules to which the kids spent 10 minutes explaining, as if I didn't know how to play tag...heehee). The stage and the moss covered steps looked like they came straight out a movie. Particularly a Miyazaki movie.

Today, a youngster who looked like Russel from "Up" spotted me from across the jungle gym and decided that we should be best friends. He didn't care one bit that I suck at Japanese and that all he can say in English is "my name is..." He grabbed my hand and led me straight into those woods! He assembled quite a group to show me around. We climbed these old stairs that the kids said were a hundred years old, and we came across this cool rope and pulley ride. Russel kept insisting we press on, assuring that where he was taking me was really wonderful. All the while, the students went ahead of me, clearing a path for me. Once I freaked out over a spider, they all started yelling "SPIDER" in English every time we saw one! They kept using sticks to clear the webs so I could walk on. It was ADORABLE. Did I mention that these kids are 6 years old? Super cute. ^_^ I want to adopt all of them. Especially Russel. We didn't have enough time to reach the "super wonderful location" that was promised, but I told them I'd be back soon.

Going to that school makes me love my life.

The one with the round face in the center is Russel. This is the group I played with today.

The kids who killed me in Tag. You can kinda see the stage area behind them.

The little tan one peering over my right shoulder is adorable. She even tried speaking English with me. She's 8, and so are her friends.

I feel like I'm in My Neighbor Totoro when I play with these kids in the woods.