The Cutest Day of the Year

Rikkyo university offers a lot of different opportunity and programs to either visit the city or get include in a community. We receive tons of emails every day concerning concert, events, …

I, therefore, try to sign up to as many as I can, but so many people apply we can not always get into all of them. But the one I really wanted to be include into is the one with the kids. Rikkyo is not only a university it is also connected to an elementary, middle and high school.

The program I signed up for was with the elementary school and consisted on spending a few hours with the kids around lunch time. Yesterday was the day. I show up to the school. I met the other students participating and then some kids arrive they all come to me, since I am the only non-japanese speaking person and ask me to follow them.

I arrived in a class full of 3rd graders, all boys (it is a boy school). They guide me to a table where I had lunch with them. Then we went outside to play for a few minutes, where they killed me. I haven’t played those games in years and I don’t know where they found so much energy. After this we went back to class to study mathematics. I pass. The teacher is having fun asking me to say the numbers in French, to make the kids play French games,…

An hour pass and the teacher ask me to get out so that the kids can change. So they have dress up outfit for when they come and go from/ to home and another one for PE, playing outside and class. When they are finally ready, they worked on their Kenji.

I had such a wonderful time with those kids. I see them everyday, because I live next to the school and I already found them so cute with their uniforms but spending a day with made me love them.

Sensei teaching mathematics, in Rikkyo Primary School, Ikebukuro, taken by Audrey BALLY on November 19th 2019.