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I just thought I would share this with everyone.

I had a GREAT experience on Thursday of this week (July 14, 2005) in which I went to an Elementary School about 30 minutes away from my university to share a little bit of my culture and time with some young Japanese students. This was, by far, one of the FUNNEST experiences I have had in Japan.

Educating for over 130 years now, this school is one of the oldest in the Tokyo area. This was evident in the way this school truly has a traditional Japanese feel to it, rather than the conventional school system set by other nation’s standards. For one, when you FIRST walk into the building, you are asked to remove your shoes, and put on special slippers that are only used for indoor use. Neat, huh? The first floor was for children with learning disabilities, and the higher floors were for the other students. Of course, there is no segregation between students, whether they are handicapped or not. Everyone is equal. Everyone is taught to respect each other. An IDEAL environment for a great educational foundation. After a brief visit to lessons of in music, math, science and art, we were led to an enclosed sports hall. There were tens of little children, no older than 6 or 7 years of age, playing one of the FUNNEST games in the world - Suikawari! ‘Suikawari’ translates roughly into SMASHING WATERMELONS (sounds like the name of a certain rock band I love). To simply explain the progression of the game; one person is blindfolded and spun around in his/her place three times. Then, he/she is given a stick (in the case of this session, newspapers were tightly wound into a stick form, so that the little kids didnt injure themselves while taking a swing). In front of the person, a JUICY watermelon is placed on the floor. The others around the person with the stick are to scream out the directions to the watermelon, and give him/her the signal to swing the stick at the watermelon in an attempt to SMASH the WATERMELON. Watermelons in Japan are expensive, by the way. It might sound like a waste of food/money, but, this is certainly a LOT of fun! When it was my turn to hit the watermelon with the NEWSPAPER-STICK, the kids screamed to me in Japanese “HIDARI!!!” (TO THE LEFT!), “MIGI!!!” (TO THE RIGHT!), “MASSUGU” (STRAIGHT AHEAD!), “UTTE!!!” (HIT THE WATERMELON!). Can you believe it, I managed to crack the watermelon with a roll of newpaper!! Who ever thought that was physically possible?! After I hit it, the little kids around me said, “SUGOI!!” (translates to WOW! HOW COOL!). When I removed my blindfold, some of the little kids screamed out, “EE! KONO HITO WA GAIKOKUJIN DESU!” (Translates to WOW! THAT GUY IS A FOREIGNER). I guess it’s not every day they see a Bahraani swing a roll of newspapers at a defenseless Japanese watermelon. But, I managed to damage the watermelon, I guess those sword classes I have been taking here are beginning to pay off! Wow, how fun!

Afterwards, I was lead to the classroom in which I was to hear a presentation the students of that class prepared about Bahrain. They seemed to have gathered SO much information about Bahrain… I was pleasantly shocked. They shared different information with each other, such as the population number of Bahrain, the name of the different islands and cities. Then, we played a GAME! In which one person is left standing in the middle, while everyone else is sitting in chairs around this person. Once this person screams out something that pertains to anyone, this person has to run off to a different seat and the person in the middle has to find a seat to sit on. I don’t think I can explain this game well, but, basically, it’s a lot of fun. It’s funny, though. I was NEVER without a seat; I guess those little kids were helping me out. I kinda figured this out when they kept holding seats for me and said “Hasan san! Dozo!” (Something like Mr. Hasan, please have a seat). What nice little children. Something funny, though, was the kids seemed to be happy about the fact that in my culture, it is okay to shake hands. I think I shook the hands of each of little girls and boys a dozen times or so, and there were about 25 kids in my classroom!). It was so much fun. After the game, I pulled out my Oud, and played some Japanese and Arabic music for them. They seemed to appreciate it, they listened carefully and were very polite. After that, there was a “Shitsumon Co-na-” (Question Corner) in which the children got to ask me questions about Bahrain. Their questions were very educated and polite. I didn’t believe that they were only 6th graders.

Then, they gave me a few gifts, all of which were very heart-felt and touching. First, I was given a group of strings on which Paper Cranes (using Japanese Origami) were hung. Each of the cranes contained a small message from each of the students in the class. Paper Cranes have recently been seen as a sign of hope and peace, so I am particularly taken by this image; to receive a sign of peace and hope from truly innocent children in a time in which war and hatred seem to run rampant in much of the world. One of the girls tied a “friendship bracelet” she had made with her own hands - which is just what my lovely sisters used to make with much labor - so, this was also a truly appreciated gift - I am wearing this green and yellow bracelet as I am typing this entry. Lastly, one of the boys in the classroom who asked a few great questions and was very active in preparing for the event came upto me and handed me his baseball. At first sight, one might laugh at such a gift, but, to be honest, to receive such a gift is just beyond valuable. To just imagine that an innocent child would give his ball, which I view as a true symbol of childhood and innocence.. it just blows my mind away. He signed his name on the old beat-up ball, which probably provided this boy and his playmates many hours of precious memories they could reflect back on as life gets more complicated when they grow older.. Wow. Takes my breath away.

After spending my few short hours with those wonderful children, I realize that children - no matter where they come from - have the same capacity for innocence. They seemed to easily accept me into their classroom, with much love, and did not treat me any less just because I looked different and came from a different place. If adults were half as open as those children were, I am sure the world would be a much better place.

On one last note, a friend of mine from Indonesia was in the other classroom, talking about his country and culture, when one of the kids raised his hand to ask a question. Now, just for your information, the classroom’s teacher was a pretty young woman, probably around 23 years of age. Here’s the dialogue between my friend from Indonesia (TEGUH) and this student, translated into English, be the judge of this!

Student: I’ve got a question to ask!

Teguh: Sure! Go ahead.

Student (with a grin): What do you think of our teacher?

Teguh (with a RED face): …!!!!

Student: Do you want to MARRY her?!

Teguh (with a REALLY RED FACE): …!!!

Somewhere between the children’s laughter and Teguh’s embarrassed silence, the teacher exclaimed playfully: Teguh and I will talk about this after class!!

How funny. How innocent.