A Day in Osaka

Just a couple of pictures I took yesterday in Osaka (where I work). A small butterfly enjoying a flower and a cool little alleyway.

Playing Outdoors

Playing outdoors and learning outdoors are things I have been thinking about a lot lately. As both a teacher and a parent, I understand how important it is for not only my son, but also my students to have as many meaningful and fun experiences outdoors in nature as possible.

Sadly, many people out there don’t seem to agree with me. In Japan as well as in my home in Canada, children in general are becoming disconnected with nature. Children are spending more time indoors and often, their parents do little to encourage them to get outside. Many find it convenient if their kids are downstairs playing a game as opposed to being outside running around where they may not know where they are. The growing fears of “stranger danger” lead many parents to keep their kids “safe” by keeping them inside the house.

On so many occasions, whether at the local playground or on a family field trip at school, I have seen too many parents scolding their kids for getting dirty or getting upset when they touch a bug. I’ve been witness to parents teaching their kids that dirt is bad. Bugs are bad. Playing with mud is bad. Running around in the woods is bad. Eventually, these kids will start to believe what their parents are saying. Parents are of course the most important teachers in a child’s life and if these negative messages are being sent to them by the most important of teachers, they will believe them!

As a teacher, I am fortunate enough to have large park within walking distance of my school. It is filled with fields, gardens, ponds, stream and even a small forest. I am lucky enough to get my class outside on an almost daily basis. We wander through the park and explore it on a regular basis. We run, play and learn about nature. My students are becoming bird watchers and love to collect insects. I encourage my students to get their hands dirty and discover the things that live under leaves and rocks.

I grew up in a small town in Canada and the forest was in many ways my playground. I am already encouraging my young son to play with sticks, rocks, leaves and other things he find outside. Hopefully, with lots of exposure to nature and playing outdoors, he will love the world outside as much as I do. 

My son (about 6 months ago) exploring a patch of nature close to our house.

Connecting Kids and Parents With Nature

I grew up in Eastern Canada. I grew up in a small town surrounded by forests and the ocean. I grew up in nature and to this day I love nature. I suppose as a child I really took it for granted that I had beaches, craggy ocean-side rocks, forests, lakes, streams and ponds as my playground. I never realized how lucky I was until years later when I moved to the large cities of Asia. Once I lived in the rat race and was surrounded by a severe lack of nature, I realized how important it was and is to me.

I have lived in Seoul and Busan in South Korea and now I live in Kobe, Japan. At a population of 1.5 million people, Kobe is the smallest of the three cities. I suppose I am quite lucky that due to the geographical layout of Kobe, nature (Mt. Rokko) is close, but I am still in the big city. I live high up in an apartment building in the middle of the city. I long for a back yard. I long for a front yard to go with that back one! I also wish I was within walking distance of the Great Outdoors. At the moment, those are not part of my reality so I make the best of the situation. I try to run by the water when I do run and try to spend time in parks when I can. There is nature to be had within any city if you are willing to look for it!

You probably all know by now that I am a teacher. I've taught in language schools in Korea, public and Catholic schools in Canada and private schools in Japan. Schools and the students in these countries have many things in common and of course many differences as well. One common trait that all of the students I have taught (most of them anyway), have in common is the fact they have very little contact with nature. They spend the majority of their time in classrooms. They study all day and in the case of some Japanese students and most Korea, study into the night at private cram schools. They have no opportunity to have contact with nature. Their Canadian counterparts have the luxury of more free time, but choose not to go outside, glued to TV's, computers and gaming devices.

Responsibility cannot be placed solely on the gaming industry and the TV networks. Parents have a massive role to play in their children’s lack of exposure to the natural world. Recently I was listening to a radio series that David Suzuki did for CBC Radio in Canada called The Bottom Line. In Episode 10, Dr. Suzuki discusses the concept of biophilia and nature deficit disorder. It shocked me to think that a lack of contact with nature can have a series of harmful side effects on children. As I sat back and thought about it though, as someone who grew up in nature and now the teacher of many children who have no contact with it, things made sense.

Children who have more contact with nature have less trouble learning. They can focus more. They seem to have better problem solving skills and confidence. Children who have a deeper connection to the world around them respect it more and will grow up to be adults who respect it more. The problem is, there are fewer and fewer children like this. We have modern middle class parents telling their children that getting dirty is a bad thing and insects are something to be feared as opposed to examined and celebrated. We have a modern generation of parents who find it far easier to throw in a DVD or Xbox game than take their kids to a local park. We have a new generation of children who have up little connection with nature and will grow up to be adults who simply care less about it!

As a teacher and a parent I think about this a lot. It is something that bothers me more as I get to know my students, their parents and others around me. I have no plans to run out and hug a tree tomorrow, but I am a fan of nature. I grew up exploring and living within it and I hope my son (I plan on it) will have the same wonderful experiences I did as a young boy.



Reconnecting children and their parents to the natural world has become a big interest for me. I’ve decided to focus a lot of my energies in this direction. You will definitely see this theme popping up from time to time in my writings as well as my video blogs on both my BusanKevin and jlandkev You Tube channels. I’ve also decided to channel some of my social media knowledge and experience in the classroom to helping an amazing organization that makes a difference in the area I am passionate about. I plan to do my part to help the David Suzuki Foundation (based in Canada), an organization dedicated to sustainable living, protecting nature and wildlife amongst other things.

I have joined the community leadership program for the Foundation. I will try to help as best I can through my knowledge of new media and education.

Expect to see more to come!

Big Bug Season in Japan

It's that time of year again! It's Spring going on Summer and in Japan that means that it's time for kids all around the country to break out their bug nets as well as start nagging their parents to acquire some large insects for them.

Every store from Izumiya to Toys R Us is stocked with large beetles that kids take home for the summer to nurture and love. Although a hobby I can't really see catching on in the United States or Canada, here in japan,it's a hit!


This is a beetle that a student in the class across the hallway from mine brought in last week as a class pet. the 4 year old student, dubbed this fine animal, "Snoopy." That's right....Snoopy! When I think black, slithery beetle....the size of a cell phone...I think Snoopy!



I wandered into the local Toys R Us this afternoon and what did I see? I saw the entire large bug display area. This particular critter, about half the size of my hand (I have small hands) was going for about $45.00 Canadian. Then you have to buy all the cool bug accessories such as the bug cage, woood block (for lounging) food gels and wood chips.


On a non bug note, but more of an amphibian note...I took my class to a local park this morning in hopes of collecting life. I snatched this over sized tadpole for them to investigate. It is actually the biggest one I've ever seen, let alone caught.

This beastie is spending the night in my classroom in a small aquarium, but I will release him in the same pond I caught him during my lunch break tomorrow. GOOD TIMES!


Here's a REALLY OLD video....from more than a year ago.....I caught these Japanese giant beetles getting it on!