My Adventures in Talking to Japanese School Children on the Bus

8/13/2019

Kids and Kaleidoscopes

Two weeks ago, an intern, Mark, gave me a kaleidoscope, and I’ve kept it with me since. Nearly every other day for school it’s been in my suitcase, but I decided to put it in my backpack to show my students today. Our usual morning meeting was moved, so I ended up taking a later bus to school. Lawrence, another fellow intern, and I caught the bus the moment we arrived at the stop. 

Lawrence sat in the front and I stood near the back. I pulled out my phone to check a text and hear  “American?” in the tiniest, Japanese voice ever. I see a little boy (around 7 years old) sitting next to two friends of his same age. He is grinning widely at me while his two friends are punching him and laughing. I point to myself and say, “Yes! Los Angeles.” They laugh and nod in earnest because they recognize city name. They continue to talk to me in the little English they do know (which is “hi” and “your name?”). I then felt a tap on my shoulder and turn to see a row of little girls sitting behind me (same age) and realize that the bus is filled with school kids. Their teachers are standing in the aisles in front of my seat, and I have a conversation in broken English with them, explaining that I am a Toshin teacher working with Japanese HS students to learn English. The boys continue to talk to me, and I play a few games with them (slap and high five- to their GREAT amusement).

 I then remember that I have the kaleidoscope! Taking it out of my bag, I show the boys how to use it. They immediately start jumping with joy and lose their minds. The confident boy who tapped me initially and asked “American?” is having a BALL. He tries to (very respectfully) to give it back to me after he’s done playing, and I tell him that I want him to have it. His face looks incredibly shocked and he profusely thanks me :) I tell him the one condition is that he must share, so he shows his friends and makes sure that I’m watching him share for the rest of the bus ride. Their school stop comes and the teachers thank me for the conversation, kaleidoscope, and kindness. They also apologized for the kids bothering me, and I assure them that I loved being around them. All the kids get off the bus while giving me high fives, and I wave from the window as the bus drives away. 

This 15 minute interaction left me smiling. It was so fleeting. At first, I had an inclination to take out Snapchat and take pics of these ADORABLE kids and their interest in me being American, but looking back I love that I simply got to enjoy the moment. It all seems like a fluke but thank god I happened to get on THAT bus and have the kaleidoscope on me. This high kept me going for the rest of the day, and I cannot help but smile when I think back on this simple yet magical moment with Japanese school children and a kaleidoscope. 

By Marisa Sashti, 2019 Intern

UCLA