There’s an old saying that goes, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”. I’m convinced this saying was also meant for me. The pile above was lovingly picked and lovingly traded by a class of grade three children. The jam was also made by the children and they presented it to me. The gesture tugged my heart.
****
“I will trade you this big strawberry,” I waved the strawberry by its stem in front of the little boys. One of them scrunched his face in contemplation. “I will trade it for three of those medium sized ones.”
“Deal!” I made the exchange with the little boy Kou who grabbed the strawberry and greedily stuffed it in his mouth. With little red sticky fingers he gingerly took three strawberries from his plastic container and placed them gently on my pile. “Shank chooooo!” He and the other boys ran off, squealing, one of them tripping over and smearing red stains of fruit pulp on his cargos.
It was only moments before I was just sitting on my desk, ostensibly occupied with important matters when all I really was doing was pushing paper, doodling, or attempting to balance a pencil on the space between the nose and the upper lip.
“Do you like strawberries?” The sudden English question struck me as odd. I looked up from the paper and pushed it aside when I realized the voice belonged to the vice-principal.
“Yes, I do.” I answered. “I like them very much.” He looked pleased with himself with his obvious success in communication, waved me along and said, “Good. Get coat and be in the front. Five minutes.”
Now I found myself in the middle of the madhouse of strawberry fueled children and I saw myself turning into a similar red sticky fingered madwoman. I loved it.
at 9:32 am
Though I’m not a fan of berries, I cannot help but second your opinions Re: food.
at 2:33 pm
What a warm and fuzzy episode. So sweet!(not only boys, but also strawberries.;p)
at 2:08 am
Great writing!
at 12:28 pm
This reminds me of…
http://bit.ly/cwqdlh
at 1:18 pm
I would have to agree with you on your food comment! And for all those who have never eaten a Japanese strawberry, the Canadian ones PALE in comparison (they are actually pale in the center now that I mention it, while the Japanese ones are red and sweet all the way through).
I would so trade 3 crates of Canadian strawberries for 1 Japanese one.
lucky you!
at 2:03 pm
I stumbled upon your blog through Maria’s (Chasing the Now) blog. I love your blog, it’s super cute!! Btw, this post made me
at 2:16 pm
Alberta strawberries are nothing in comparison to Ontario strawberries. Are Japanese ones even better?
at 2:42 pm
@Kristine: They ARE the best little people in the world. Then the hammer comes down as they grow up and then some of them become something else …
@Elya: My region is famous for strawberries. I hit the jackpot with this one. Seriously, if you go to Izunokuni and the surrounding cities and DON’T have strawberries all the Japanese people will gasp in horror and shock.
@Marc: Soon, you will be able to compare for yourself.