The new school year has begun, and my two strongest impulses of the week were to, first, kidnap my extremely tiny, waddling 2 year olds to keep as pets and, secondly, to string the sock monkey puppet up by his neck with a sign attached to his chest reading: “Goodbye, cruel world.” There are brand […]
“Teaching” English
If I May …
… for a moment be a tad less cynical: from Reisuke, Kazuyuki and Ren. Adorable Reisuke was my most zealous 4-year old depantser, the one who so uncannily reminded me of my brother at that age that I often had to keep myself from patting his bowl-cut. As the year has gone on he […]
Like Ships Passing Through the Night
It’s the last week of classes for this school year, which means we are in the midst of a company-wide schedule shuffle. In many cases, this means we will no longer be teaching at certain schools, which, in turn, means that farewells are in order for both staff and students. Teaching three days a week […]
Changes
The train doors always open to intense blasts of yaki nikku-perfumed air in Kankokumura Station; the rich, spicy aroma of charred Korean barbecue that used to delight and taunt me as I rode my bike through Kankokumura on the way to work is now the delicious smell of home. If my pocketbook is on the […]
Cards and Coal
Classes are winding down this week before the winter break starts. We make Christmas cookies out of construction paper and stickers; snowflakes for the windows, and cranberry chains that result in pricked fingers. I inform the adult students that chocolate “Christmas cake” is a Japanese invention and that Westerners wouldn’t even dream of eating KFC […]
La la la la
A student asked me: “When do you reave to New York?” “Watch my mouth,” I said for the fifth time that lesson. “La la la la la,” – taking extra care to visibly flick my tongue between my teeth. “La la la. Leave.” “Ra ra ra ra.” said my student. “Watch me. La la la.” […]
Coins
There is a hole in the left pocket of my black slacks and today several coins fell through it while I was teaching 7 year-olds. The children pounced, but I was faster. “Misette*!!” they demanded. *Show it! I offered a quick flash of a few 100 yen coins. “Ehhhhh!!!” they screeched. “Japanese money!!” cried Mia […]
Gobble Gobble
Despite having moved around a lot during my 27 years, I can count the times I have been homesick on 2 fingers; once, at age 9, when I went to sleep-away camp in Lake Tsala Apopka, Florida and again at age 24, when car wreck injuries kept me in Guatemala for 3 months. Both times, […]
Classroom Hoe-Down
Attention, English teachers in Japan! Are your young students suddenly disrupting your classes by doing something that looks like this? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpr6vTGfbqo&rel=1] If so, blame this man: His name is Kojima Yoshio and, apparently, he’s a “comedian”. His shtick involves appearing in public clad only in a Speedo bathing suit. His act […]
Time Machines
Some pretty pictures from yesterday’s visit to The Open Air Museum of Old Japanese Farm Houses in Osaka …. On the way in – Paradise of Kids! All the world’s a stage …. A lovely afternoon of solitary wandering amid the pretty leaves … I’m one of those people who feels slightly bummed when summer […]