Sights and Sounds

Our Spanish Mission style house has many sounds that we are getting more familiar with. Indoors they include the rice cooker, the hot water dispenser for tea anytime, the very high tec. toilet, the little ionizing washing machine and yes, the air conditioner. (We needed it on to deal with 39 degree heat which was finally broken by the typhoon that blew through).


Outdoors is more interesting. Our house is on the edge of Kwansei Gakuin University campus on a treed street. We have several large crows that spend their days in the big trees around the house and we hear several other bird sounds that we haven’t identified yet. The cicadas (large locusts otherwise known as heat bugs) are very busy humming their sound during the day and when they rest we hear a chorus of crickets all night. We have very tiny bats but they don’t make a sound.

Lucas spotted a very large praying mantis and was very proud and excited about it. He catches caterpillars and tries to feed them leaves and protect them from the birds that would love to eat them for lunch. He and Eleanor spotted a Heron in a garden pond on campus. The university grounds are quiet for now as classes resume in mid September.

 

Saiwa Kindergarten is noisy at drop off and pick-up time as there are five classes of children under seven attending. It is the most amazing learning environment I have come across. The architecture is open style with a large roof eaves to protect classes from elements. The halls are outside under this roof and each class room is made mostly of windows allowing for natural light and good air flow. The classes are set up Montessori style with stations and there are aquariums and terrariums in each. The amount of plant life both indoors and out is impressive. Eleanor came home after her first day with seeds that are black with a white heart on them. The outdoor play area is under the trees and is incredible. All wood tunnels, houses and climbing structures with suspension bridges are so well done. Flowing through the middle of the play area is a stream whose sound is so soothing and cooling on these very hot days. The stream flows into a pond of water lilies and goldfish which the kids are able to feed.

Our walk to the kindergarten is twenty minutes along quiet residential roads where peoples flower boxes and pots overflow onto the sidewalk. There is not much grass around but those who have a tiny strip keep it well tended. Every day we see a new species of butterfly and some are really big. The dragon flies are amazing too and yes, they are also large as the bugs here tend to be. We see a few rice fields mixed in with the big houses and I have learned that the city gets a tax break if people use their land for this purpose. There are also large plots of vegetables. My neighbour informed me that this is a rich area and people own more land than most.

We hear the airplanes as they fly to and from Itami airport but the bullet train makes no sound as it goes by us underground. The kids have commented on the number of bicycles there are everywhere and how exciting that is. Eleanor has been gifted a pink bike with a basket to carry her toys. It is great to see people of all ages getting around this way (helmet free). Many mothers ride with two child seats, one on front and one behind. I am looking for one second hand to try out. I am ready to become a mommachari rider.