Ok, so one or two of you may have been a little worried at my Facebook post yesterday. There have been a couple of things that have happened over the past 24 hours that have got to me. Not quite in the same way as say, the March 11th earthquake, but as a parent of a young child, a teacher and a former teacher of preschool children, the last 34 hours have been tough.
Yesterday in Shiga, there was a car accident. Link below.
https://japantoday.com/category/crime/Car-hits-group-of-preschoolers-in-Shiga-Pref-2-dead
Even trying to find this article, there were a handful more articles about teenage suicide attempts and bullying, but this hit hard.
My son enjoys exploring the world around him. This kind of accident can happen anywhere, and working as a preschool teacher for three years, I was in constant fear for the safety of the kids.
Today, there was talk of a robot at school. The kids seemed excited. A teacher mentioned a robot and that a student enjoyed English. I couldn’t really understand what was going on.
It turned out that a student I’ve taught for five years, an absolute star and someone who made my job that little bit better because of her enthusiasm and energy, has been hospitalized and requires a bone marrow transplant.
This little robot sits in her place. As I asked the class ”are you happy? Hands up!” the little robots arm raised. I see almost 1000 kids a week, but the students name rang a bell. The lesson ended, I realized who it was. I went back to the teacher’s room and I cried.
Two minutes later, next class.
The show must go on.
I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but I’ll do my best.
Eigotaku design. 