anyway. today i went with a bunch of people from ICU to volunteer at these two kindergartens. the first-year students went to kindergarten #1, and the second- and third-years went to kindergarten #2. we were split up into twos, and got to play with the adorable, bright-eyed little children. i was paired with shota (as always...i have no idea why. it's always very awkward because the WORLD is convinced i have a thing for him, which i don't. we're just good friends because we were september-kids together. blahh. oh well. seriously. we're together for EVERYTHING), and we were to play with the kids in the "koyagi" class...the "little goats". ahahahaha. so cute. the other classes were named after animals, too - pandas, little birds, bunnies, etc. the "squirrels" class was special; they were the kids with autism. that's the cool thing about these kindergartens. most of the kids are "normal", for lack of a better word, but about a sixth of them have autism. although they usually study in a separate classroom, a few times a day they go and join other classes. pretty cool. the awesome thing is that the other kids learn to treat the kids with autism just as they would treat anyone else. They understand that sometimes they say or do things that aren't necessarily considered appropriate, but instead of being all "Why the hell did he just bite me" or "Why is he waving his arm around like a maniac", they simply accept it. They also grow to be very protective of their friends with autism, getting defensive against anyone who dares be insulting. it's so cute. and really nice.
anyway. so the little goats had playtime and PE during the few hours we were there, so shota and i took them outside. ahhhhh. omg. i adore little kids. they are actually the cutest things on the planet. i love that they're so immediately trusting, and will grab your hands and jump all over you. we played tag, and i was surprised to see that shota was uber good with kids. it was actually very cute.
after playtime, a bunch of them needed to pee. taking them to the bathroom proved to be a full-on project. as we were ushering the last of the goats into the room for PE, one of the kids with autism arrived to join our class. he was kind of chubby, very loud, and extremely adorable. upon seeing the other kids, he screamed "let me plaaaaaaaaay" at the top of his lungs and proceeded to barge into the circle of little goats. haha. and the little goats all shifted to accommodate him. this little kid apparently had a weird obsession with heights, and throughout PE, he'd try to climb on the tables and chairs at the sides of the room. but it was really nice to see them all playing together.
shmehhh. when it was time for us to go, all the kids freaked out and like. flung themselves at our legs and hung on for dear life. i nearly died from all the cuteness. but now, i think i sort of understand how parents feel. taking care of kids is ridiculously hard work - making sure they don't hurt themselves, being kind but also firm when necessary, figuring out how to teach them right from wrong. but they are so adorable, and the fact that they need you so much makes everything worth it.
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