Maybe That IS What It's All About!

A month ago ago or so, I had a discussion with my dear cousin Heidi about the Hokey-Pokey. I don't exactly remember how we started the discussion or the actual point of it, but the resolution, at least on my side, was the "Hokey-Pokey" actually does teach some life lessons. I mean, so often (and especially here in Japan) we have to do the "right" thing and follow societal rules. But, occasionally it is okay to just wave your arms and dance freely and do the "Hokey-Pokey"! This past Friday I was asked to teach a special class to the fourth graders on English "play" songs. Needless to say, we learned the "Hokey Pokey" along with "BINGO" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" Now, I usually don't teach this young of an age, but I wish I did because they were so much fun -- so energetic and so oblivious to societal "don't express your true feelings" mask that most of my kids have developed. Here are some pictures of our fun... (and if you look closely you might notice my fashion changed during the course of the day as I attempted to stay as cool as possible during the 4 hour straight "Hokey-Pokey" dance routine -- boy did I feel old and stiff when the day was over!)

The kids also taught me some Japanese "play" songs including...

"the Bottomless Soup Pan"

the Japanese version of "One Potato, Two Potato"

the Japanese version of "Red Rover, Red Rover"
(which involved sticking out your tongue and making an ugly face -- sorry no pictures! -- and accidentally flying slippers)

A crazy bounce the ball, clap your hands, kick your leg, turn around game...

...needless to say, I spent most of my time chasing my ball and avoiding kicking it into one of the kids faces (I was smart enough to remove my slippers by this time!)Then as a special treat, the in-coming first-graders visited from the local kindergarten
(in their masks of course!)