example: on december 6th, st. nicholas day, i decided to give my essay class a little lesson about the holiday. i ducked out at lunch to buy bags of chocolate, and during class told them about our tradition of putting candy in shoes. i then had a hilariously staged/awkward conversation with my sensei, saying things like "toooooooo baaad people in japan don't celebrate it. maybe st. nick stopped off, though!" it was so painfully obvious and funny!
oh, i should have mentioned: this class is held in a carpeted classroom, which means that everyone must take off their slippers before entering. there are shelves outside for the slippers, so before i headed into class (i always come after their quiz), i found 40 pairs of shoes innoculously waiting for me. i stuffed a chocolate in each shoe, and saw a rogue student wandering in the hallway. she saw me, looked puzzled, and i hissed, HIMITSU! (secret). she looked scared and scampered away. oh well!
anyways, after class, the students slid open the door to put their shoes back on. i was packing up my stuff, and almost dropped my computer due to the bloodcurdling screams from the hallway! the students went completely bonkers and just kept screaming and screaming and clutching their chocolates like they were winning lottery tickets. amidst tearful shrieks of "SANK YOU, SANK YOU, RIRIII!!!" i made my way back to the teacher's room with a very happy (and bemused) heart!
the next day, i was really dragging in the morning. i slogged into school, and opened up my slipper cubby, only to find this:
my shoes, filled with candies, and a note that says "4 U from St. Nick." i die.that week was the week of my epic haircut, as well as a fun christmas party in miyazaki city culture plaza with a bunch of fellow jetters and japanesers. the next day, some fellow jetlings were kind enough to host a christmas luncheon at their home, which featured turkey, stuffing, irish stew (mm, wonder who made that?), pizza, and pecan pie, among other deliciosities.
last week was largely colored by my rehearsals with tanaka sensei, the music teacher, for the bonnenkai (year-forgetting drinking party). we were to sing "amazing grace," and "rudolph the red-nosed reindeer"....in japanese. i was slightly worried about this, then really worried when i found out that i would have to wear a "seckusi santa kurasu" outfit.
but last tuesday, i forgot my troubles by dancing the night away with tracey at the infamous hip-hop class. besides looking totally goofy in my bootleg dance gear, it was a blast! a butt blast. i was sore for days after!
and on wednesday, i was lucky enough to go to a christmas party at japanese mama's house, complete with a way-too-civilized japanese gift exchange, some bomb tomato soup packed with sausage, seafood, veggies, and various grains, and a round of karaoke. since there were only four of us (all women), it was super laid-back and pleasant!
thursday was a nobeoka international christmas party at the community center, which meant tons of homemade food, christmas games, lots of broken japanglish, and me waltzing out with some new friends and a box of heating pads. yippy-eye-oh-kai-ay!
friday, it was time for the bonnenkai. it was at a toity-toity joint down the road from me, and featured some very fancy food! unfortunately, i hadn't drunk enough beer by the time tanaka sensei and i performed, so i was pretty nervous. however, the "seckusi" outfit ended up going down to my knees, and i sang decently enough, despite voice shakes. it was an early night that night, seeing as i got home at 9pm, but the next day i hit the train tracks and got into saito!
stay tuned for details on sunday's airshow. for now, i must be off to maintain a facade of productivity at work, and to leave you with these touching and hilarious messages first year students wrote on their worksheets.
last week was largely colored by my rehearsals with tanaka sensei, the music teacher, for the bonnenkai (year-forgetting drinking party). we were to sing "amazing grace," and "rudolph the red-nosed reindeer"....in japanese. i was slightly worried about this, then really worried when i found out that i would have to wear a "seckusi santa kurasu" outfit.
but last tuesday, i forgot my troubles by dancing the night away with tracey at the infamous hip-hop class. besides looking totally goofy in my bootleg dance gear, it was a blast! a butt blast. i was sore for days after!
and on wednesday, i was lucky enough to go to a christmas party at japanese mama's house, complete with a way-too-civilized japanese gift exchange, some bomb tomato soup packed with sausage, seafood, veggies, and various grains, and a round of karaoke. since there were only four of us (all women), it was super laid-back and pleasant!
thursday was a nobeoka international christmas party at the community center, which meant tons of homemade food, christmas games, lots of broken japanglish, and me waltzing out with some new friends and a box of heating pads. yippy-eye-oh-kai-ay!
friday, it was time for the bonnenkai. it was at a toity-toity joint down the road from me, and featured some very fancy food! unfortunately, i hadn't drunk enough beer by the time tanaka sensei and i performed, so i was pretty nervous. however, the "seckusi" outfit ended up going down to my knees, and i sang decently enough, despite voice shakes. it was an early night that night, seeing as i got home at 9pm, but the next day i hit the train tracks and got into saito!
stay tuned for details on sunday's airshow. for now, i must be off to maintain a facade of productivity at work, and to leave you with these touching and hilarious messages first year students wrote on their worksheets.
sorry that it's sideways! "Thank you for your teaching! You are a distinguished teacher." O RLY?
totoro. saying "I love Lili teacher." however, my favorite is the bottom: "I can't good at use English sorry."and who could forget the memorable worksheets in which students said they wanted to go see the movie "Hally Pooter"? i don't think i'll ever forget.
lilly
your student drew a totoro.
ReplyDeleteYOURSTUDENTDREWATOTORO!!!!!!!
Hello Lilly! I only just saw you have a blog and I stalked the shit out of it. I'm following now hope that's okay! Have a good break!!
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