Elementary, My Dear.... You Know the Rest

	Look kids! Internationalization! See the wacky gaijin stil decked out in his work clothes!
	Here I pose with three of the kids they pay me to hang out with with excessive cheesing, in traditional Japanese style. A bit of background, the one nearest to me is named Myu (I think) and while reluctant to talk to me initially (there's a rather huge language gap, after all) she warmed up to the idea and has become my unnoficial Japanese teacher. She even taught me some (rather complicated) kanji the other day when I said they were difficult. The other two I should know... I think the one next to Myu is Keiko or something like that. The one in the background I just met this time.
	Let's play knights! I get to be the horse! Ow! Don't hit your horse in the head! Seriously, I'm like one big jungle gym to these kids. It's pretty great. The one riding me in this picture is Erika - no relation to the Erika of Shimotonbetsu. Hidden behind me is a boy who made a surprisingly long lance out of paper. That thing hurt.
	There's Erika again on my lap. The girl in pink is an interesting one - she doesn't say much even in Japanese (I think she's substantially younger than the others who try to hang out with me) and she loves being held. Even more than the others who seem to pretty much be all over me constantly.
	And here's the same pose a bit later. This is us calming down and listening to the wrap-up "speech" by the guy in charge of the play group. Yeah, not terribly focused, but hey, no one really expects it to be. Still a job getting the kids to stop talking to me and listen to him for even a few minutes. You'll also note the shoes I'm wearing - I bought those a few years ago in a failed attempt to get something similar to slippers (they hurt when not wearing socks). They are, however, great for indoor shoes which are very much necessary. Those complimentary slippers they provide don't so much fit the standard gaijin foot.
	Here are the kids practicing the Soran dance that's apparently very traditional around here. It's the one that's an interpretive dance of fishing and was performed at both junior high school festivals. Some of those students (from Hamaton) are the ones teaching the kids. The success is... mixed... but the kids still seem to have fun.
	Another shot of the dance, more grainy. The two kids in the foregroud (red hat and red shirt) are the two most sinister kids at the iki-iki. They seem fully aware that, being kids, they can get away with a lot. Fortunately, I credit aikido and frisbee with making me fast enough to catch the kancho-ers in the act.
	Screw the grains, we want blur! This shot would have been cool only a half second earlier when they were all in position
	Yeah... blur's good, but we want MORE of it! Seriously, I think this one looks pretty cool. Especially the kid in the middle who's moving so fast he looks like a ghost.
	Here's Tanahashi-san (the adult) who works at the desk behind me. He's pretty cool, but doesn't drink so he can't stay at social events for the office very long. He's talking to Kaisei-kun, an ichi-nensei at Hamaton Elementary. Kaisei-kun seems a bit behind the other kids, and can't really be herded into participating with the other kids for long. I wouldn't guess he has any learning disorders though (not like I'm an experienced judge of this)... I think of him kind of like a young Calvin: he just doesn't see the point in playing well with others when he could be having a perfectly good time doing what he wants to do by himself or with those willing to enter his world. Across from him is a toddler whose name I don't know. Her mother brings her to the iki-iki fairly often to socialize with the other kids.
	Here's something Tanahashi-san taught the kids how to make: snow candles. They look pretty cool, but a really hard to make and really easy to knock over while building them.
	The beginnings of a mass bike ride
	The rain made things less pleasant than they would have been, but it was still fun.