Angry Cows and Ogres

8.27.07
Wastashi wa Nihon ga suki des! Ananata wa Nihon ga suki des ka?

I like Japan! Do you like Japan? Today was my third day of teaching, but realistically, it was more like my second day since the first day was so short. My classes have well and the kids have responded positively for the most part. Often, it is difficult to judge the skill level of the students, especially the younger ones, even with the brief notes from the previous teachers. Most of my first lessons have been spent trying to figure out the student’s strengths and weaknesses.

Sheila Sensei's Notes and Schedule

Monday was my busiest day with five, one hour lesson. Here’s how it went:
Sample baby lesson at 11am – Mothers brought in their 2-3 year olds to see what the school was like. These kids were seriously the most adorable thing in the world.
Lesson with Ga at 1:30 pm– Ga has an amazing imagination. I asked him how he was feeling and he said that he was happy. I asked him if he was sad, drew a sad face, and then crossed it out. He added to this by drawing an angry cow (that’s what he said it was) and crossed it out as well. Leah told me he likes the Hokey Pokey so I’ll have to work that in next week.
Lesson with the brothers at 3pm – These two little brothers named Shogo and Yuki enjoyed running around, throwing things, and saying caeru (say “kie-eh-lu”) instead of “frog”. The lesson turned around when we started writing. Many of the kids are mesmerized by writing; it makes them focus.
Lesson with the 4 year-olds at 4pm – These guys were so cute and so strong! I had them put the alphabet cards in order and then I took a few away and was sitting on them. When they found out that the cards were underneath me they started pulling them out with all their might.
Lesson with the 8 year-olds – These guys were a little challenging to teach simply because they did not know me. The girls kept chattering in Japanese and looking at me like I was an alien (Well I suppose I am but still…geesh!). They are just starting to act independently and question the authority of grown-ups like me! I’ll have to think of some things that they would have more fun doing for next week. Once I’m on their “cool list” teaching should be easier.
Lesson with Sao at 7pm – If I had any negative thoughts about my classes today, Sao’s lesson wiped those all away. She was very well spoken and we had a good conversation about her love of gymnastics and my love for skating.

By the end of the day both Lauren and I were feeling drained and a little delirious as we sat in our living room and giggled over our make-shift dinner. We had something like taco salad, but because we weren’t able to find tortilla chips at the store, we used toasted bread. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep.

8.28.07
Since I didn’t have a lesson until 1:30pm, I slept in until 9am! Hiroko picked us up at noon so we could go get my mystery package at the post office. Thank you Ali (shout out!)!! I shared the chocolate with Hiroko and Lauren. Hiroko laughed when she read the saying on her Dove wrapper.

My lessons made me really happy today. Yesterday had felt off, but today was great. I just had to be myself. I taught a new student named Ririka the birdie song. Her family is moving to the U.S. soon so she will be having two lessons each week in order to prepare for her new home. I felt like a big goof singing by myself but she really loved jumping around. Hiroko was giggling at me while I sang and Lauren came out from the back just to watch. Thanks guys!

I had a bunch of 11 year old boys today and I was able to hold their attention relatively well despite their desire to crack jokes. All it takes is a good competitive game involving two teams (New Yorks vs Japan), a white board, and a race to write down the correct answer first.

Leah found some lemonade called “Lemogre” and it had a big hand grabbing a lemon on the carton. We laughed about it. When I went into the convenient store with Leah the other day she pointed out the orange chocolate and melon chocolate KitKats. She also told me that they have a cherry blossom ones during the spring. Oh, they have grape Mentos and specially iron fortified cheese (that is advertised as such) here too.

"Fe" + Cheese = Yum!

Did I mention that I saw a man in a business suit riding a metallic pink, three wheel bike with a basket in the front today?

:)