Original Japanese quoted from the weblog of St. Timothy’s Support Center
The English below translated from the original Japanese by Heeday
The English translation edited by Rev. Dr. Henry French, ELCA
On Friday, January 22nd, St. Timothy’s Kindergarten held an outing to the Civic Center, Hitachi, Ibaraki (some 110 miles NNE of Tokyo). Financed by donations collected to help children affected by Fukushima Daiichi’s meltdown, this outing was held in addition to the kindergarten’s regular outings, to enable the children enjoy a good retreat from all the negative impacts of the meltdown. The large bus carrying the kids stopped before the railroad station in Hitachi, and the kids exited the bus with excitement.
The Civic Center lets visitors learn through the experience of science, especially physics and chemistry. One attraction was a bubble show. As bubbles, small and large, as well as combinations of bubbles, appeared on the stage one after another, the children cheered aloud.
On another stage, an industrial robot made drawings of the mascot character of Hitachi City. The children waited in a long line to receive a drawing made by the robot, which they wanted to take home.
The happy ending came too soon. On the bus ride home, most of the children were fast asleep. Once they were back at the kindergarten, however, they woke up and cheerfully told their parents about their happy experiences at the Civic Center.