“Did you brush your teeth this morning?”

That is a question I don’t think I have heard since I was in elementary school. 15 years later… I was asked it again! Not by my amazing mother who cares about my safety, well-being, and oral hygiene… NO! THIS time it was asked, in perfect English, by a little 3rd grade Japanese girl. I think it was quite possibly one of the cutest things I have ever been blessed to experience.

Other things that have happened in the last 24 hours?

* I was asked my bra size by 3 very curious 4th grade girls. (To which I told them was a secret, and highly confidential.)

* I was slapped on the butt by a 1st grade little boy. As he was saying goodbye.

* I was asked if my stomach was “full” due to three layers of shirts/jackets that happened to be bunched around my middle.

* I was asked if I was pregnant. Due to the same circumstances above.

* I impressed a group of 2nd graders by listing off the Mario Kart characters. Yep, I am PRETTY cool with those guys now. Oh, and I was able to read complicated Pokemon character names off of a pencil box with ease… the names were, of course, written in English… on the box… they all then proceeded to find random things in their desks that had any English written on it. Apparently, Mitsubishi finds time in their hectic schedules to make cars AND colored pencils. I know this because I had students who asked me to read the writing on their colored pencils: ” Mitsubishi-Colored Pencils [enter random color here; there are probably 52 possible choices after have reading many of them today] ”

* I wowed a group of 3rd graders with my ability to speak a few tongue twisters like ‘Peter Piper picked a peck…” “Sally sells seashells…” and of course “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck….”

* In an attempt to drink as many ounces of water as prescribed as “recommended” I have now increased the frequency of “bathroom trip” from 1 per 3 hours to 1 per 2.5 hours.

I will be going home in about 45 minutes… to my little  apartment in Japan. It is raining outside. It has been seriously raining ALL day. (Times like these that I miss Colorado’s frequently changing weather…) And it is COLD.

A night keeping warm while watching movies is anticipated. It has been a LONG and tiring week already…