Stranger Danger

A young woman very touchy-feely in the yard with multiple kids. thought she was an unidentified mum at first. Chief expediently called end of playtime & UFO vanished (back to the hospital, she thought. Any peril? Best not take the chance & find out the hard way.

Snow flurries all the way here, & continuing. Chief chatty (but blue?) & gave me a coffee while a class practicing in the hall. Much better option. She's making a silk ball for Juan. In class, legs11 involves me with telling the date & weather, ok which she warns everyone tomorrow will be even colder - minus something when we wake up. The horror!

Y apparently did listen yesterday & started to negotiate with Boss wrt schedule 2015/staffing, and thought about price. Asks me to hire domestically, now, familiar with Japan etc...as she doesn't want to be here all the time (why would that be?). I flat out refused to countenance idea I do any more, as it is killing me. Put on weight, drinking late while trying to catch up, can't do must do stuff, don't get to email & don't plan any lessons/follow up properly, spend time here stressed about Luna classes, junk food wrong hours for snacks & too much booze.

Rant over.

Stodgy lunch = I was last to finish on my table ;(  Straight to the bog!

Offered more coffee while prepping Jim Xmas Time. iLeader already made cards. Surprised myself drawing semi-decent Santa face for SANTA song, as well as nice A4 letters. Awesome me, later embedded a Chatterkid video of me singing 1st verse with Aurasma. Left Santa up with message, he's watching you.

Dec Jim Xmas Time 

1. Hello Hello clap your hands intro song + TPR

2. SANTA song to Bingo tune + gestures, letters on wall.

3. What do you want for Xmas (Xmas version) - ball, yo-yo, bike...

4. Chairs for tables + crayons, 

draw what you want for Xmas & colour Santa. 

Asked Legs11 1st, she wants a car. 

Time limit, and we write names on each & fold for them. 

Blank inside = too bad - didn't plan that bit.

5. Other version What do you want for Xmas (rocket etc) with actions

6. We wish you a Merry Christmas - words on wall

And it is still trying to snow.

Did I just dream December, or was it really cool?!

So, that was December...as usual a bit of a scramble at the end!

Treated to fine blue skies in Matsumoto, plummeting temperatures but perennial cheerfulness at Sasabe. See all the smiles and so much more in this final slideshow of the year.

Christmas Eve at a Kindergarten - who are you going to call?!

Does my tummy look big in this suit?

Santa gets gee'd up for his big entrance!

 Readers will excuse my bad language in the previous posting, but to be let down on the eve of such a big event for an entire kindergarten of children is unforgivable. Not a phone call or an attempt to offer up a replacement, even. Extremely poor show...and perhaps understandable that I have been a bit busy in between visits here to remedy the situation without having to don the red suit myself. Any wonder why school owners tend to have no hair?

Don't get me wrong, I love being Santa - it really is a lot of fun if you do it nicely. But, if the kids know you it is not much of a surprise treat for them and a lot of hassle for Santa - beard pulling etc.

Eternally grateful then that our Santa arrived from Singapore (he's a busy bloke!) and brought a couple of elves with him as well. A bit of hanging around, as we did not know the exact schedule, but eventually beckoned into the hall by a VERY expectant crowd!

Father Christmas makes new friends!

Then the shocked silence when The Secret Kindergarten Teacher entered the hall as well! 

Oh my word! Must be the real one then :) and with elf-help, proceeded to give away presents to all the children. The teachers needed presents too, we thought, but they are often left out when in fact they are the stars of the show. Some of the children were asked if they had been good - must have asked the right ones because they all said "Yes!", before interviewing some mums who said they mostly wanted 'cake' for Christmas. We did not have any in the sack to pass around, I'm afraid!

So here it is, Merry Christmas, everybody having fun!

Posing for class photos was jolly, but all to soon we had to escort the Big Red Man and his helpers back to their preparations for the very big night ahead of them...of course, everyone knows he has to start his deliveries in Japan!

Without the kindness & support of the Hogan family, today would have been a disaster. Thank you for bacon-saving heroics!

Merry Christmas everyone!