laughing in Japanese

Today Mari and I went to a local pre-school to 'audition', I suppose. It's designed as a tour of the place, but I got the strong sense that we were being vetted as well.

In any case, it was a singularly amazing experience. The kids—even the smallest ones—were all surprised to see a big foreigner lumbering through the place (I was taller than the doorways), and everything stopped wherever we went. The kids would stare, or would drop what they were doing to gather 'round.

Especially when I crouched down to show them little Kenny. The adults as usual cooed over the 'cute' hybrid, while the kids were delighted with his special appearance and his wide-eyed staring around the place. There were other babies there his size, but of course it was the larger kids we interacted with.

They wanted to know where I was from. One of them announced that she knew Canada by its maple-leaf flag. Another told me "thank you for coming to Japan" after I'd stammered out "I came to Tokyo from Toronto".

When one expressed amazement that I spoke English, I corrected her, saying, "no, only a little bit."

"But you laugh in Japanese!" she exclaimed.

Overall, I was blown away by the place. The kids seemed so happy, and well-behaved.