We became better acquainted with some children, unlike the many others
whom we met only in passing. These children were either the sons or daughters of
friends, our "Japanese daughters'" children or neighborhood children who became
our friends.
We became special friends with these two little girls. They stayed with
their grandmother at her tofu shop on our corner while their mothers worked. They were
very friendly and were eager to communicate with us in simple English, as we tried some
simple Japanese. They were the same age as our granddaughter and it helped us to
have them around. At first we thought they were twins, but later found out that they
were cousins.
Although
it seemed that formal daycare is fairly rare in Japan, we did have a small daycare center
just around the block from us. The sight of the children being taken for a walk in
this "crib on wheels" became familiar to us.
Some of the children we became most
attached to were children of some of our "daughters." This is a picture of
Fumi's daughter as we ate lunch in a private room at a very formal, traditional
restaurant. Notice her posture. And of course she could put us to shame with
her expertise with chopsticks. When we left her and her mother at the train station,
we could hear her calling very plaintively, "Good-bye, good-bye,
good-bye." It broke our hearts and her sad voice echoed in our ears for a long
time..
This is Yohei He was in first grade when we left Japan.
What a delight he is! He may be the most irrepressible child we have ever
met. He is adored by his older sister, Chika, and a treasure to the whole extended family.
He is at home whether he is playing the Taiko drum, performing at his piano
recital, brush writing, or just hamming it up in his own unabashed style. Here is he
at our apartment showing us how limber he is, and proudly posing in front of his work at a
calligraphy exhibition. We are not certain which one in the background is his, but
he did win an award that day.
You may have noticed with many pictures of children and adolescents, and
sometimes even adults, that making a "peace sign" is a very popular
gesture when getting one's picture taken.
Turkish and Russian Children
