Storytime at the Market Place

The internet connection hasn’t been set up at our apartment yet, so it’s a constant search for a WiFi connection. While free WiFi is abundant in the states, it’s been hard to come by so far in Kawagoe. There are plenty of paid options, but seriously, who wants to pay for internet access?!

On Tuesday, I found a free trial at the Market Place, a strip mall near our apartment with really nice public spaces. I found a shady spot and started catching up on e-mail, when the local pre-school class surrounded me for storytime.

These little guys climbed on the table right next to me. They talked to me a little bit, which made me feel even worse about my level of Japanese proficiency. But mostly, they listened intently to the story, which contained two chefs consoling a superhero, a box that spit coins on little alien-looking creatures, and some sort of caterpillar, I think.

It must have been a good story because they were pretty excited at the end. In between all of the “so far from home” moments, there’s been a lot of moments like this to remind me that we’re not all that different.