I Will Never Not Maybe Return
On Friday as I was leaving elementary school, a group of second and third years caught me outside and jumped on the hood of my car to keep me from leaving. I told them I had very important things to do (like go home and sleep for 13 hours, as it turned out) and they finally crawled off my car. One of the girls gave me a persimmon seed and told me to come back very soon. Now, a persimmon is way too close in my mind to a pomegranate, and, although I know this girl knows nothing about the Greek myth, that didn’t stop me from being weirded out and endeared by the gesture all at once.
If my experience in this country were a song, ambivalence would be the melody, confusing one thing for another would the refrain, and the lyrics would be a lucid mess of half-coherent words in Engrish.
The first years at Ogawa JHS crack me up. I made conversation sheets for them so that every time they talk to me in English outside class, they get a stamp. Fill the sheet and they get a prize. There is only one rule: we must have a different conversation every time. One boy is very clever about asking for a stamp in a different way every time. "Marie, stamp goes here please." "Marie, I like stamps. Do you?" And the latest: "Stamps are my happy. Give me happy please." I always look forward to the next permutation.
I swear this sheet is making them more confident about using English in every day life. Today the teacher announced that she would be returning the tests that they took the week before. One girl, sure that she’d gotten less than stellar marks, yelled: "The paper goes in the fire!" I couldn't help it and I laughed openly. The girl turned to the rest of the class and said, in Japanese: "I made Marie laugh with English! I'm a genius!" She got 10 out of 100 on her test, though. It just goes to show that tests don't measure ability. I hope her score doesn't affect her view of her English ability, but I know it will. Such is the nature of modern education: you're not so much striving for success as you are dodging failure.
It's exactly two weeks until vacation now! You know, the closer it gets, the happier I am that I don't have any plans. There are no tickets to buy, reservations to make, packing to do, or budget to follow. It'll just be me and my kotatsu for thirteen days of complete freedom. I will sleep when I want, cook all my meals, and finally beat at least one expert song on Guitar Hero. Most of all, I'm looking forward to writing and reading for hours on end with nothing to do before or after. I can't wait.
Last night my best friend's boyfriend sent me an awesome recipe for authentic British cherry raison scones. I can't wait to try these! I love scones and haven't had one in over a year. I'm ecstatic that I can actually make them myself now. If the batch turns out well, I'll make another for my coworkers.
Now I just need some good British tea, crumpets, tiny china tea cups and a few stuffed animals to complete my scone-eating vision.
If my experience in this country were a song, ambivalence would be the melody, confusing one thing for another would the refrain, and the lyrics would be a lucid mess of half-coherent words in Engrish.
The first years at Ogawa JHS crack me up. I made conversation sheets for them so that every time they talk to me in English outside class, they get a stamp. Fill the sheet and they get a prize. There is only one rule: we must have a different conversation every time. One boy is very clever about asking for a stamp in a different way every time. "Marie, stamp goes here please." "Marie, I like stamps. Do you?" And the latest: "Stamps are my happy. Give me happy please." I always look forward to the next permutation.
I swear this sheet is making them more confident about using English in every day life. Today the teacher announced that she would be returning the tests that they took the week before. One girl, sure that she’d gotten less than stellar marks, yelled: "The paper goes in the fire!" I couldn't help it and I laughed openly. The girl turned to the rest of the class and said, in Japanese: "I made Marie laugh with English! I'm a genius!" She got 10 out of 100 on her test, though. It just goes to show that tests don't measure ability. I hope her score doesn't affect her view of her English ability, but I know it will. Such is the nature of modern education: you're not so much striving for success as you are dodging failure.
It's exactly two weeks until vacation now! You know, the closer it gets, the happier I am that I don't have any plans. There are no tickets to buy, reservations to make, packing to do, or budget to follow. It'll just be me and my kotatsu for thirteen days of complete freedom. I will sleep when I want, cook all my meals, and finally beat at least one expert song on Guitar Hero. Most of all, I'm looking forward to writing and reading for hours on end with nothing to do before or after. I can't wait.
Last night my best friend's boyfriend sent me an awesome recipe for authentic British cherry raison scones. I can't wait to try these! I love scones and haven't had one in over a year. I'm ecstatic that I can actually make them myself now. If the batch turns out well, I'll make another for my coworkers.
Now I just need some good British tea, crumpets, tiny china tea cups and a few stuffed animals to complete my scone-eating vision.