Wakarimasen: My Birthday...

..was wholly uneventful. I spent it at one of my chugakko ('K' Junior High, aka The Governor's Residence), where the celebrations were limited to the English teacher quietly wished me happy birthday. The day after my birthday, I went to 'N' Elementary, aka The Valley School. This is it:

Pretty, ne? A two story, modern building with it's own gym and playing field. With 22 pupils, which amounts to slightly less than 4 kids per classroom. It's an interesting place. There's not many schools where you teach every student in a single morning. (That's a lie, actually - I've got 3 of them.)

Anyway, this was only my second day there all term. The teacher with the best English had somehow found out it was my birthday, and informed me before my 1st class that 'students have made card for you, so lesson is 10 minutes shorter today'. I thought 10 minutes for presenting a card was a little excessive, but hey, I'm not going to complain about having a longer break, so I stopped the class 10 minutes early. It turns out the kids had indeed made me a card. And a special envelope for it, with my name spelled out in stickers sealing it closed. And a very complex paper chain attatched to a heart-shaped card medallion with a picture of the class on the back. And they'd learned a rather sweet 3 minute-long song on how love and friendship are really quie spiffy. And the teachers had bought party poppers and a large slice of cake for me.

I really don't have the words to describe how this makes me feel, so I'll post a picture instead.