preschool visits

hate Mondayitis. that feeling on Sundays where you're dreading the next upcoming week of work seems to be exacerbated in Japan, when we seem to be travelling or doing something huge each weekend, and while friday and saturday are fun, it's usually the sunday that involves being tired and making our way back home, that doesn't make it that much more fun.

Last weekend, we ended up visiting my friend who lives in Shirakawa, a village that's normally about 2 1/2 hours drive north of my area in Gifu. after having a chilled weekend, filled with sights, fancy beef, and an addictive PS3 game that involves dancing sack people, we ended up leaving his place at around 4:30, hoping to make it back by 7. Unfortunately, the expressway that separates his place and mine just happens to have a part that normally clogs and becomes a traffic jam for 11 kms or more, and chuck in a couple accidents, and it makes a normally tolerable 2 1/2 hour drive into a 4-5 hour one. After getting home at 9:45 I really wasn't in the mood for school the next day.

Which is really a tragedy, since I'm always feeling like this about Mondays even though I'm aware that Mondays is usually the most fun of the week.

You see, Mondays are preschool visit days. This school year, I've been visiting three different preschools in the area. While the thought of dealing with a whole classroom of 4-5 year-olds was daunting at first, I'm now actually enjoying it.

the thing I like about teaching this level at preschools is the fact that I'm kinda like an uncle/aunt visiting their nephews - I get to play with them and do all the fun things, without the responsibility of feeding them and looking after them. So, while I have to teach each class for like max 30 minutes a day (the 3-year-olds only have 10 minute lessons) the rest of the day is essentially spent playing with them. One preschool actually gives me my own "rest room", complete with cushions and a table for me to sit at and have my own nap time while I wait for for kyushoku, or school lunch.

Oh, and school lunch! I can't remember if I blogged about this before or not, but kyushoku is awesome - from preschool to junior high, kids get kyushoku - it's a meal that a city lunch center makes and ships to each of the schools while it's still hot, and kids in class dish out the food to everyone in class. Since it's supposed to be nutritionally balanced, it's easy to see how they've kept their obesity levels so low... that being said, there's always at least one kid in class who will eat everyone else's leftovers.

So, while I'm used to school lunch at junior high, it's more fun at preschool. Granted, the seats are smaller...

... but it really does stroke your ego when kids yell and shout for you to sit at their table. And, it's a bittersweet moment when a kid cries because you don't sit on the table, like awww, I made that kid cry, but yay! they're that upset they didn't sit next to me! Evil, I know. But it's hard not to think that...

And while I do eat the same amount as my kids at junior high, it's not quite the same as in preschool.

Kid's lunch:

My lunch:

and this was one of the days they went easy on me.

And after lunch, if I'm not rubbing 3-year-olds' bellies to help them sleep during nap time, I'm playing with kids, or joining in their activities, be it colouring-in, or making glasses, like today.

Urgh, I hate Mondayitis. My job on Mondays is essentially playing with kids and colouring in with them, and Mondayitis makes me dread it. Maybe preschool would be more exciting if it was on a Tuesday or Wednesday...