“It is my meaning,” announced Bogey this morning, “to turn your Japanese speaking into true Kansai-ben!” Bogey is my highest level student. We have had classes together for months but only recently has he caught on that I am studying Japanese with some success. My lust to learn creates a whiff around me and I […]
Month: January 2008
Mukatsuku and Haiku, Too
Yesterday, at the end of Japanese class, Himalaya-sensei slid a sheet of paper across the folding table. I narrowed my eyes at it but it didn’t help me read it any faster. “Last year … class … one year ….” I mumbled, passing my fingertips over the text. Himalaya-sensei came to the rescue; it was […]
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Beautiful Mhuinteoir
An bhfuil cead agam dul go dti an leithreas ma se do thoile, a mhuinteoir. This impenetrable phrase (plus several accent marks my computer failed to produce) means “May I please have permission to go to the bathroom, teacher?” in Irish. Like all Irish schoolchildren, Sean and his classmates were required to recite this phrase […]
Coming of Age Day
Last night, I went down to the 1st floor of my building to visit Sean, who I found sprawled on his bed next to a large open box of decadent Swiss chocolates. Before he noticed me lingering at his door, his face was a mixture of beatific contentment and chocolate lust. “What?” he asked. “They […]