Teaching the Little Kids at the Pool
Uronta Yoshida of Flamingo remembers his part-time job teaching preschoolers to swim, where a game with colorful rubber stones kept the kids busy.
A part-time job at the swimming club
This story comes from Uronta Yoshida of the Japanese comedy group Flamingo. He looks back on the days when he taught swimming to some very young students.
Whoever picks up the most wins
I'm Uronta Yoshida from Flamingo.
Years ago, I had a part-time job teaching kids to swim at a swimming club. Tiny little kids, three or four years old. They'd call me “Mr. Yoshida” and everything.
One of the things we'd do was play with these rubber stones.
Red, yellow, green, blue…
We'd sink them in the pool and I'd say, “Let's all pick them up! Whoever picks up the most wins.” That was the game.
There was an Indian girl in the class. She only spoke a little Japanese, but she'd really taken to me.
She'd bring me a yellow stone and go, “Teacheeer, banaaana!”
She'd bring me an orange stone and go, “Teacheeer, ooorange!”
Then she brought me a green stone.
“Teacheeer, young spring grass.”
…Wasn't expecting that.
Editor's note: The word she used
The girl's word was wakakusa, meaning tender new grass. It's also a traditional Japanese color name for a soft yellow-green, with a slightly old-fashioned, poetic feel.
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