Bus Hike 2009

Time sure is starting to pass here. Last Sunday we had our annual bus hike with the kids up in the mountains - now the second I've attended.

Actually, this time round we didn't do any hiking. It was pouring with rain the whole day, and the creek where we'd normally have done the fish-catching activity was running swiftly and looked pretty dangerous. I reckon if we'd dropped any fish in there, they'd have ended up back in the city before us. Not to mention dumping a bunch of 3-year-olds in there as well.

The kids were so disappointed they missed out on catching fish, tearing out their innards with a knife, and throwing their corpses on the BBQ. (These are the types of savages I teach...) I was actually kinda glad not to witness the gruesome process again. But they got into the bingo game we played instead. I was invited to sit down with three 9-year-old boys, all of whom I've taught at some point. I also happened to be next to one of my 5-year-olds, this crazy-cheeky boy named Hiroki.



I don't know what happened to the fish we would've been catching had it been sunny. They sure as hell didn't end up on my BBQ. For some reason I get the image that they're still floating around mindlessly in their plastic bags, awaiting the next horde of savages to come after them with gloves and knives.

After lunch it was up the mountain via gondola. I was still with the boys at this point, we were having so much fun.



Actually, the boys got difficult as the day wore on, though I did see less of them. After we returned from the bus hike, my boss told the boys' mothers of their behaviour. The mums pulled their boys aside individually, and they all looked to be in pretty big trouble.

I think I partly like them so much because they remind me of some of the mischief I used to get up to back when I was a cute Japanese kid. But it killed me when I saw one of them - Keito, the innocent one - end up in tears as a result. I felt like I was watching a moment of my childhood from someone else's perspective.

Click here for the slideshow of my photos. If you click on the photos you can read the captions, too.

It was a really great day, though being a team leader took every ounce of attention and energy I had for the best part of 8 and a half hours. By the time I got home, around 5:30, my head was imploding. I found the couch and fell asleep straight away.