Kidzania

Last but not least....so we went with some of our friends and their girls to Kidzania.  I hear there are other Kidzanias around, but I have to say that it really seems like a Japanese idea (not something that would make a go of it in America).  So, our Dutch friends reserved tickets for all of us (Kidzania is so popular here you must reserve tickets well in advance)--the tickets were expensive, about $100 for Sid, Sam, and I. 

Basically, Kidzania is a place where different companies have sponsored career booths aimed at little kids. The whole place is full of these little booths where kids learn and try out different jobs--mailman, ambulance paramedic, fireman, Yamata shipping dude (sponsored by Yamata Shipping), service station attendant (Sponsored by an oil company), pilot/flight attendant (sponsored by ANA--All Nippon Air), veterinarian, surgeon (no kidding--they have a fake but real looking body and the kid uses instruments and technology to extract a tumor), pediatric nurse (with anatomically correct babies), make up artist, barber, business card maker, banker, painter, rescue personnel (the kids climb up ropes to the top of a burning building to save someone), etc. 

 

Here comes the bus!

 

Uh, Oh! Where's the fire?  These puppies actually drove around Kidzania City.

 

Don't worry--it's not my child up there. Can you tell that there are far fewer lawyers here in Japan than in the US? Can you imagine?

 

This looks just like the real Yamata Shipping places.

But, before you can try out a career, you must go through extensive training. Sam got his driver's license and, just as in the real world, he had to wait in line, pay for instruction (the class was about an hour long), take a road test, and pay 5 Kidzos for his license.  (They earn money on their jobs and deposit it in a bank where they get an ATM card!).  Like in real life, Sam had to wait in the DMV line. And, his driver's license photo makes him look crazed!  But, it was so cute.  Sam was a driver and other little kids wiped his windshield and pumped his gas!

 

Learning to drive--notice the car with the hood up in the background:  another career option is auto mechanic.  I should have sent Sid to that one!

 

Sam, having lived only in the land of self serve gas is befuddled as to what to do when someone else is attending to the car.  Wow, I bet he has never even seen Sid or I clean the windshield. Those of you who know us know what our car looks like!!!

 

Hmmmm.....why can't I just drive off?  I might mention that Sam also had to use a credit card to pay for his gas.

Sam also decided to make pizza.  That's what the girls were doing. :) And, Sam is much skinnier here, but he still loves food!

 

Making pizza.  

 

Making pizza.

 

Making pizza.

 

Just made pizza.

 

Learning about making pizza.

 

Still learning about making pizza. I got these out of order!

 

Eating the finished product.

So, it sounds like fun--and it is--but I kid you not, the training for each thing is like a half an hour to an hour. So, you only get to do 2-4 different jobs during your afternoon at Kidzania.  I guess like real life, it's a whole lot of waiting and a whole lot of working for not enough Kidzos!