special needs

Today I visited the special needs class at school. There are six kids in there, two with downs syndrome. They were so sweet! They introduced themselves to me by telling me their name and what they like to do. Then they asked me questions like,"what is your favorite color?" and "what sport do you like?" We played a card game called karuta where the teacher put cards with Japanese characters (very simple ones) and pictures on them face up on a table and then she would have cards in her hand that she read from. The kids are supposed to match the first sound of what the teacher says to a card on the table. Sumire, a girl with downs, sat next to me. She kept asking me simple questions in Japanese instead of playing the game, but she was so cute. At one point, she laid her head in my lap and gave me a hug. So sweet! She had a little pink stuffed dog that she was holding and petting in the first part of the class. The kids asked me what my favorite animal is and I said dog. She got so excited! I've had a long, good day today. I think I am starting to get it. In other news... I can't remember if I mentioned it, but I am on a women's soccer team now. Can you believe that? We had our first practice on Saturday, which was really just us learning the basics since most of us have never played before. Towards the end of practice, we went into a gym and did some drills with a bunch of Japanese girls and guys. We actually got a lot better by the end of practice, surprisingly. This Saturday we are going to watch a soccer game at the stadium here in Sendai to "get a feel for the game." Yeah right, who are we kidding, we just want an excuse to watch a game and drink beer :-) Ok, that's all for now...