sayonara dairyland: My favorite kind of bird...

I’ve been swarmed by a hungry flock of seagulls on a Florida beach. I’ve been attacked by a herd of angry Canadian geese on Lake Eau Claire. So when I saw a sparrow flying down the hallway of my school last Friday, I’ll admit I made a bit of a scene in front of a couple seventh grade boys. They seemed purely entertained, not at all concerned that there was a bird inside the school. I was not a fan of this visitor, however, so I rushed to the teachers’ room, looked up “bird” and “inside” and made an announcement—“Tori naibu!”—to the head teacher (and everyone else in the vicinity). Mr. Kimpara replied, “Honto?! Doko?” and I was so surprised that he understood what I’d said on the first try, and that I actually knew what he said in response: “Really?! Where?” But then I felt incredibly silly when I took him back to the hallway and we couldn’t find that stupid bird anywhere…

Renge-ji-ike Koen is an expansive, lush park in Fujieda, with forest, flowers, playgrounds, overlooks, hiking paths, a pond, and the longest slide I've ever seen. I'd hiked to this park with the Okabe seventh graders, but didn't get a chance to play much, as I was busy being a responsible teacher that day. So I took Davin and Jackson there on a weekend a couple weeks later, and we got to do the activity that really caught my eye during my first visit.