Last Saturday, January 22nd, we held our annual Beanstalk International School Sports day Festival.

Many schools throughout Japan hold their sports festivals in October during regular school hours, however we decided to hold ours on a Saturday so that as many hard-working parents as possible could attend.
Happily for us and the children, many mothers, fathers, siblings and even grandparents were able to attend and participate in many games and races.

In the afternoon the parents and grandparents were treated to a display of athletic ability as the children showed off what they have learned on the horizontal bars and mats.

After the games were over we had a drum performance from the Beanstalk Drum Company where they played some favorites we have heard before but also debuted a new song that they practiced just for this event; Glen Miller’s “In the Mood”, it was a fantastic rendition complete with cute little dance moves.

We ended the event with a fun dance party where all the students, their families and the teachers danced together for a number of songs. It was a great time and we can’t wait for next year’s sports day.

Tuesday December 14th was the last preschool day at Beanstalk International School for 2010, and we held our 2nd annual Christmas Concert on this day.

Once again the children worked very hard throughout the year, up to and including the final days before the concert. They had some great surprises for the parents who were waiting anxiously to see what how well their children would perform.

First Half

The Beanstalk Drum Company kicked off the show with some classic pieces, starting with Minuet by Bach, followed by The Nutcracker, and finishing with a bang with a new piece, from the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila,
composed by Mikhail Glinka.

Second Half

After a short break the drums were put away and each class performed festive songs for everybody to enjoy.

Missy Mouse sang Feliz Navidad, followed by Must be Santa, performed by Robby Rabbit and Deedee Deer. Next, all the classes sang Jingle Bell Rock.

One of the highlights of the was the hand bell performance of Silent Night, by the Robby and Deedee classes.

今日は中秋の名月お月見団子作りです。まずはお部屋を片付けて準備開始！

In Japan, September is well renowned for the beautiful view of the full moon. During the full moon in September, we make dumplings filled with sweet bean paste and roll them in fine soybean flour. It doesn’t sound very nice when you explain it in English, but they are actually quite tasty.

初めてのコネコネで最初はびっくり！でもやってみたら楽しかったよ。

毎年やってるから慣れた手つきでしょう。
We do this every year so the older Deedee Deer students take the lead and show how it’s done.

When all the dangos were made, we posed by our creations with a lovely September themed flower arrangement and then ate then for our mid-morning snack.