This morning I taught English at the Shiraishi kindergarten. Nothing like a little chaos for breakfast. This class is so active, I recommend teaching kindergartners as a way to lose weight. Just walking into the classroom, I can feel the calories leap from my thighs as they realize I will soon be engaged in the "Hokey Pokey," "Ring Around the Rosey" and my disco version of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes."

This class has improved over the years, perhaps because my herding skills have improved. I used to spend a lot of time retrieving 4-year-olds who had bounced out of the classroom while playing Red Rover. The class used to be like a kettle of boiling water, steaming and whistling. Now I can manage to keep them at the point where they are letting off steam but not quite whistling. This could be because the class used to have 13 kindergartners and is now down to two.

So this year, I teach the kindergarten and elementary school students together. After our exercise session, we usually sit and play games that involve passing objects around in a circle. Though an effective teaching method, in the autumn it makes me nervous. Autumn is the sniffly season. Passing things from hand to hand is conducive to spreading viruses such as colds, which "go around."