A smile to my heart!

Today was WONDERFUL, i need to blog about it now! This morning my sensei, Eiko-san, and I went to a local elementary school to volunteer. We taught English to two first grade classes. I was already overly excited when Eiko-san told me about the opportunity. As we were waiting in the teacher's lounge, Eiko-san went over an ideal schedule for the class. We were going to teach the children the numbers 1 through 10. The door opens at the teacher's lounge and one sensei with 3 first graders greet us. They were so adorable. They proceeded to say "Hi, how are you?". I almost melted. They directed us to the classroom and 40 first graders were in rows of 5 awaiting us. After arriving in the classroom, one girl said something in Japanese and everyone stands. Then she says something else in Japanese and the class says "Hello and nice to meet you!" Again, a little more melting of the heart. After the intro, they sang a song..."BINGO". They were so precious. After the song, Eiko-san proceeded to introduce me and explain a little bit about our lesson plan. The first activity was saying the numbers 1 through 10 and having the children recite after me. I could see them making a big effort to watch how my mouth is forming certain letters as they don't have "f", "v", or "l" in the Japanese alphabet. They did great! We did several of activities and the time flew by. After about an hour our time was done with the first class. We said our goodbye's and see ya's and the teacher along with 3 first graders walked us back to the teacher's lounge. Awaiting for the second class of first graders, I could not tell Eiko-san enough how thankful and enjoyable the opportunity was. *the door slides* "Hello, yoroshiku onegai shimasu!", the second class of first graders come to pick us up and again directs us to the classroom. At first, they seemed a little more shy, but after moments of getting to the classroom it was all fun and games. We did a similar lesson plan as the first class, but there were more students in admiration. They would look at me with fascination, maybe it's because I am a native English speaker, maybe they were just attentive, or maybe they were thinking why does this Asian girl not speak Japanese. I would like to think it was the fact that I am a native English speaker and Eiko-san said that this may be the first time that they have met a native English speaker. Regardless, their beautiful faces made me smile. As I left this class, they extended their "see ya" into the hallway and they seemed so happy. I can't even describe in words the emotions. Just know that they were wonderful and I can't wait til next week to do it again. Eiko-san said that if they see me at the local grocery store or mall, don't be surprise that they will come running to say "hi". I hope that happens. I feel so fulfilled. I will get pictures next time. I didn't want to creep them out. =) *thank you Eiko-san for giving me this opportunity!*