I call her that because she reminds me of all the Japanese ghost women that you see in movies. She just has that look, as though she is regarding you with a cold, calculating stare. Well, not necessarily cold in this girl’s case but I always get the feeling that she is assessing me and thinking carefully before she speaks. Not because she is afraid of saying anything wrong, or bad, but because she has a curiosity for how things work, one that stretches to people. Perhaps it is like the look on the face of a cat that has yet to decide what it’s going to do with the mouse. It’s one of the qualities I admire about her. She always seems very calm and has the calculating demeanour. She’s quite beautiful as she traipses about in her own little world. I mention her and these qualities because they are qualities I would like to have myself. I don’t mind thinking about things so much if its for a good purpose, not the kid of hectic build up of anxieties I usually get. No, a proper assessment and curiosity for the world would be better.

She has sparked my curiosity a few times before, but today I got to spend substantial time with her and I was pleased to see she is actually interested in English. I took her quiet act for a lack of interest, but since I joined her in watching the other kids do sports today (she was sitting out because she had injured her hand on a tree), so spent a good hour talking to her, on and off, I learned that she has a good command of English. She wasn’t shy at all to speak and she was able to tell me quite simply why she wasn’t joining in. We talked about movies and anime, sports and friends. What tickled me most, and quite literally, was when she surprised me to tickle me from behind. She never seemed playful before, though I did not doubt that she liked me, but I realised she is just a child too. If I described her correctly to my assistant, it seems she doesn’t open up to many people either. My assistant was very surprised that she had tickled me.

I spoke with some other kids as well, glad to hear that some of them were really happy (they told me so!) and I joined in a hurdle race. It was at ghost girl’s suggestion and I didn’t ask the teachers. I just ran. All the kids from the different groups saw me go and I noticed there were lots of cheers from all over. The teacher at the other end, with the stop watch was a bit surprised but she expressed that my time was a good one, even though I started late (I was watching the wrong person for the signal!)

The girl is in 5th grade (so she is 9 or 10 years old) but she moves with a superiority that she has seen it all before. She really stands out in a huge crowd of lively, chaotic children and I really like not only that she acts so, but that she does so without other people bothering her. I want to take that on board and try and approach life in her calm, slightly aloof way (would make a change from my high energy, chaotic approach). I never really understood before about how people say they can learn from children, but today, I get it.