Quick elementary school post

I’m back in schools now – I’ve taken a very different last-minute contract offer and now I’m hopping elementary schools like there’s no tomorrow.
It took me a while to decide whether to take it but I get more money, I get appreciated for the work that I do, the people are actually nice, and I almost get my Friday’s off! AND I can leave as soon as I finish around 2.30pm. The only downside is that I won’t really get to know any of my students but it will only make it easier to leave when I come home next April…
In Japanese elementary school the ages are 6-12, there are 6 grades, and only the latter 2 have actual English class. This is all going to change from next year onwards, but I don't really see how that will help if the people doing the teaching can’t actually speak it themselves.
The students are SO CUTE! They are super happy. I can be as stupid and idiotic as I want and they’ll still have a great time. Most of the time it’s playing games with greetings so far, like “how are you? I’m fine. And you? I’m fine too” with the occasional hello and goodbye song and for the slightly more advanced, I’m happy, I’m hungry etc. it’s great because I can just start chanting along to clapping, I can make them run around playing a kind of musical chairs and all of that stuff.
They come and ask if I can have lunch with them and they try and talk to me in Japanese (and I try to talk back) and they have all these interesting questions if I know this and that and the other…. And at lunch (this is adorable) they dish out the hot meal, for which there are set students, and whilst they do this they wear white coats and special hats to make sure the hair doesn’t fall in the food, and they make sure the other kids are listening and get all the food. It’s like they’re playing kitchen except for that they are actually giving food.
Also some kids occasionally set the trend by asking me for my signature. I feel like a famous person! Why on earth they’d want it I don’t know, but it’s so endearing.
I can tell this year will be much different from the last…