Schools out for summer!

Summer vacation has finally arrived in Japan.  For the next 6 weeks my son will be taking things easy - living the life!  Ha, ha.  He's 5.  There's no such thing as the lazy days of summer for a 5 year old!  Instead, we will be having adventures and exploring.

Our adventures began today with bringing home one of the many class pets.  Ever since my son learned of the possibility, he has been begging to bring home a turtle.  We picked her up today and brought her home in a bucket by bicycle. 

Since turtles are not especially pleasant smelling,  I was planning on keeping her in our courtyard.  It is fully surrounded by cement walls, so there is no chance of her getting out and wandering the town.  We took some old, small sitting mats and made a shady area for her to get out of the sun.  We also put a couple boxes outside on their sides for additional shady places.  I put water in a wash basin and put it in the shade for her to hang out in water if she wants.  The school sent food home with us.  We need to feed her 3 times a day - breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  She definitely likes to eat!

We just need to keep her alive for 2 weeks.  That's all I committed to - 2 weeks of turtle parentage.  Then we can return her to the school and someone else can have the responsibility. 

As part of the celebration of summer vacation, one of the other local kindergartens was holding their matsuri (festival) today.  Even though my son's school matsuri was just a few days ago, we decided to attend.  It had a similar schedule as our school.  It started with a taiko performance.  Then there were games, crafts, and a haunted room for the kids.  It ended with some dance performances.  My son had a blast.  It was very fun for me, too, especially since I didn't have to work (aka I got to spend the whole time with my son and didn't miss any fun). 

The haunted room (which I didn't go through at the other matsuri) was pretty scary for the kids.  I ended up carrying my son on my back and his friend on my front, crawling through tunnels and avoiding people wearing masks sitting in corners.  As soon as we were out, the kids started shouting "I was so brave!  I went through the haunted room!"  Okay kids.  Sure.

The crafts were all summer focused.  Kids made yo-yos and wind chimes.  Then they played games, like fishing, bowling, ring toss, and catching little plastic fish with nets.

I love the festivals.  They are so quintessentially Japanese.  Although I'd never recommend for someone to travel to Japan in the summer (the heat is so horrible!), but it is such a fun time of year.