Only this time in Japan. It all started when I mistakenly used the students’ bathroom instead of the teachers’ (a defining moment - now I’m one of them).
Today, the hallways of Nagahama Kita High were a gauntlet of rowdy (genki, as they say) teenagers - all dressed the same (dark hair, white shirts, dark trousers and skirts), all teeming with this weird kind of energy that’s going to take some getting used to. On the way to the wrong bathroom, I met a group of boys who all had hilarious nicknames (how should I know? I don’t speak their language), which they repeated to me over and over until I was forced into a chuckle. Then they asked all kinds of inappropriate questions, beginning with the not-so-bad, Do you have a girlfriend? to the taking-it-a-little-far, Do you have sex with her? (That was when I said, Nice to meetcha, and moved on - quick like.)
After that catastrophe, the day began to look up. While I was sitting at my desk, devising some kind of “plan” for the first two weeks of school, these three boys came in to say their Hello’s. One, Kenji, was amazingly friendly. He was wearing the largest belt buckle I’d ever seen (a Florida state license plate was strapped to his waste), and he wanted to know the names of some Japanese people whom were famous in the United States. That stumped me hard, but I was finally able to come up with a few White Sox baseball players from Japan, which seemed to satisfy him. Then he named a whole slew of American “fighters” who were supposedly huge in Japan but completely unknown in the States. (BTW: Japan is a great ego boost if you’re ever feeling down. Another student today told me I looked just like the soccer player Mike Owen - very handsome, he said.) Kenji’s comrade, Yuta, is essentially my new best friend. He’s 17 and speaks English amazingly well for only having studied abroad for two weeks in Vancouver during his first year of high school. He wants to go to university in California or New York, and I’m going to do my damnedest to help him get there (and perhaps he’ll teach me some Japanese in the process...).
Oh, I also met the president of the English Language club today - a very studious gal named Ai (I think). If I’m sitting in a chair, she and I are the same height exactly. Next week the club members (all whopping six of them) are taking me on a bike tour of Nagahama (been there, done that), which I’m looking forward to. I’ll make sure to document that event fully.
In closing:
My face hurts from smiling so much.
10 minutes till lunch.
Should I or should I not concede to playing field hockey with the rowdy boys after lunch?
2 Comments for this Entry
Ryan
awesome! you are the sexiest american teacher ever! i like the idea of wearing a license plate too, though i wonder how comfortable sitting is. keep writing, it's so much fun to follow! i can't wait to visit...
Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - 07:33 AM
mexi-nugget
I hoped you busted out the hockey stick, you snooty American!
Saturday, September 2, 2006 - 08:44 PM
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