"Theresa-sensei! You're that white ghost blob thing in Super Mario!".......

Sept. 14 Monday

YAY! I'm back to teaching my beloved Sakura class/gumi. I love these kids and have memorized everyone's names! hehe. They're the only class where I know everyone's names and face by heart. And they have only 17 students...so it helps. Plus it really really helps that they refer to themselves in third person all the time. I think it's absolutely adorable like that. But please don't do it when you're out of elementary...it's disturbing. Nagomi-chan for example would go "Nagomi wa ne. Nagomi ne. ne." lol They use alot of ne's and sa's lol That's why sometimes I'm not sure what they want to say to me or what they are saying to me. =P

Anyways, so today my beloved Ikuma wasn't there which I was sad. I had prepared sticker sheets for all of them where they get cute smily face stickers everytime they do their best in class. They were so excited for it!! And incredibly happy! It was just a little index card with grid lines that I had drawn on them and a smily face sticker in one box. They said they were going to show their parents and everything. hehe. I was happy for them. I still gave Ikuma a sticker even though he wasn't here. I'm pretty sure he would've wanted one anyways. And he does participate and listen to me in my previous class. So he would've earned it. I'll just say it was a sticker from the first time I taught class.

Today I started off with review of "Hello. My name is..." to which all of them remembered very well! I was so proud! And then we moved on to colors. I showed them crayon colored pictures that I had drawn of animals and items, etc. that had different colors on them. Trust me, my art wasn't the greatest but the kids liked it. lol I had a blue pig on there too because I wasn't exactly sure what to use for blue and I didn't want fruits because I had too many already. So blue pig it is. Hey, it's like the blue horse in "Brown Bear" okay? Totally legit. I made them repeat after me and would say it a couple of times alternating between loud and whisper voices and posture. The kids remembered everything. Very good. ^_^ And then they got excited when I told them to go find the colors I ask for in the classroom. They kept trying to get my attention to show me everything of that specific color that was in the class...."THERESA-SENSEI! BLUE BLUE!!" it's very hard listening to about 12 little things trying to tell you what they have or where the color is and then having them tug at you and stuff...haha Then we went out to play red light green light to which they were all very excited to do. At lunch the half child wanted me to sit at their table with him so I did. And he talks soooo much. The other kids around him barely had a chance to talk so I had to constantly momentarily pause him and let the other kids speak. The girls actually take turns talking while the boys just jump on in and start talking regardless of who originally had the right of way. lol hmmm....

So after that I headed over to the elementary with absolutely nothing that I needed to do. All I did was prep for my lessons for the next day. I didn't really even get to see the kids. Actually, I'm not too sure if they even care to see me all the time. I started to sit in less and less in class as an experiment to see if that affected their attitude towards me. And it did! The less I sit in on their class the more they seem to be happy to see me when I just pass by on the occasions. haha. I think it's because they might get too used to seeing me be all silent and still in the back of the class and then it wouldn't be as exciting to play with me anymore because all they'll have is that image of me in the classroom standing still all the time. I'll try this for a couple more days and see if it's still the same or what I should do as a tactic to get them excited whenever they see me so that they know it's happy english class time.

Sept. 15th Tuesday

HAHA! I just saw a commerical right now that was advertising a club/party somewhere and it was called Disco&Blackmusic Party with "Boogieland" playing in the background!!!! lol It's terrible.

Anyways, so today is a seriously busy day at the elementary. I first start off teaching the 3rd graders during 2nd period, 4th graders 3rd period, and then 5th graders during 4th period, then lunch with the 4th graders. This will be my first time teaching the 3rd and 4th grade kiddies. I'm excited yet nervous cuz I'm not sure how it'll go. But as long as I stay myself and be super genki, the kids will just feed off my energy and go with that. I hope...

So first, off to the 3rd graders and Ootani-sensei. I had wanted to use the projector and computer for my self-intro but Ootani-sensei had forgotten it and the thing wasn't working for some reason. So no powerpoint. Luckily I had brought my pictures with me...but only some of them, so I had to just draw most of it on the board and let them guess. haha. Then I did a chant of "Hello. My name is Theresa. Nice to meet you." Because they had all forgotten how to do the basic intro in English. I swear I think I sounded like a cheerleader. Even the kids laughed at how oddly genki I was when doing the chant. Everyone did real well. Afterwards we did the gokiburi game in which they had to use the intro phrase stated above. They first started as as cockroaches (gokiburi) then evolved into frogs, rabbits, cats, dogs, monkeys, humans and finally an angel in which they all pretended they had died...and were flying with their new wings. Every time they evolved into something they would do the action. Everyone finished quicker than I had thought. So we played Simon Says. Haha, the kids love this game. I was super hot and sweaty after this. Seriuosly, sweat was drippin off of me. It didn't help that the windows were closed as well.

Then off to 4th grade. The kids in this class are so genki and wonderful. I even heard some of them go "I'm really excited and happy." When asked why, they said "It's because it's English class." I don't think they ever have it except when with me. So they were excited to have it. I'm super glad for that. ^_^The powerpoint worked perfectly this time. And all the kids really enjoyed seeing my home in the states. =P The agenda was the same except we were much more active and had a lot of fun as well. A couple of the boys also kept callling me the white ghost blog thing that's in the Mario Bros. series games...lol I'm not sure if that's because I'm a lil chubby and pale or if that is just what they wanna call me, but I didn't mind. I laughed and thought it was funny and would just go "EEEEHHH!!??" And the kids were excited that I would have lunch with them today and kept trying to get me to sit at their tables during that time. I also was sweating like crazy in this class...it was hot and I did alot of actions.

Last was the 5th grade class, but for some reason everytime I go into this class my genkiness leaves me and I feel stuffy and restricted. It's not the problem of the windows being closed or it being hot in the class, it's the atmosphere somehow. The windows were opened in this class too. It didn't help that the kids looked very disinterested. I think maybe because they just came back from walking from the Storybook library so they must've been tired. But I just couldn't teach properly like I did the other two classes. Or maybe it's just Hisakawa-sensei that's emitting this bad aura. I'm not sure what I just couldn't be my normal self and felt unable to teach. I was unable to explain the first activitiy properly resulting in confusion and awkwardness for a little bit. Then the second activity which was interviewing was okay. But we barely had time for color basket because we had to move to another room to play and we only had 5 minutes left. They had played this before but some of the kids still had problems. And one boy was being stubborn and didn't want to call the one color that hadn't been called yet. Anyways, I'm just not too sure how to handle this class. I'm pretty sure now that Hisakawa-sensei has a terrible impression of me now. I do so well in 3rd, 4th, and 6th grade, just not this one. And it really is causing me some worry. Let's see what'll happen next time I guess.

At lunch I went and ate with the 4th graders. The kids were really happy to have me here and I was happy to eat with them. I was able to sit next to Aika-chan. She's one of the students in the class who has a mental disability. It's almost the same as Lawrence's and so she reminds me of him. She's also very sweet and gentle. There are 3 children in this school with mental disabilities and i enjoy spending time with them as they remind me of Lawrence. It comforts me to play with them and I just feel super comfortable with Aika. She doesn't really talk to much but is always happy to see me as well as the other child with the same mental disability in class. SHe responds to all my questions and will sit quietly with me in class and i don't feel pressured to have to speak with her. There's just something about this child that I feel very 安心 about. And the nice thing is the other 'normal' children in the class don't sneer or laugh at them, but actually try to help them out and clear things up for me when I don't understand what Aika-chan or the other boy is talking about. In the states at this age and elementary these kids would've been made fun of like Lawrence was, but here they are the exact opposite. I just wish that Lawrence could've been in this kind of environment instead of what he experienced back home. It would've been better for him and he wouldn't have been hurt or made fun of. Of course, this is the countryside so it is different from my old hometown of the rich kids in a city-like setting, I suppose. Children here are much nicer and wiser and better disciplined.

Anyways.....Afterwards I was invited by Ueno-sensei of the 4th grade class to go and help cut some melons. They're cantoloupes grown by the school themselves! They're not the same size as American ones they're tiny compared to that but still very good and enough for a group of 4 kids to a melon. I was amazed and happy because I hadn't had real fruit for a while because it's so expensive here. But because they grow it here themselves it's free!! YAY!! lol melon! lol Oh before this the 4th grade class had called me out to go play with them at lunch break. I ran races with the kids and played tag and carried a girl piggyback style. I think I'm the only teacher who plays with them like that. I think I become my real self when I'm with the kids. I act totally wierd and out there and like the kids themselves sometime. But I make sure not to go too far out there. I'm still a teacher after all. But I think the kids have begun to think of me as just a bigger kid. Luckily, they still listen to me. haha.

And then all of a sudden it started raining like crazy out of nowhere when it was super sunny and hot outside! And the wind came like it was a typhoon! Freakin weird! Plus lightning and thunder! I was like WTF?! I need to go home dude! So I decided to wait half an hour to see if it would subside....but no, it just kept going. I started talking to Takagi-san who is the other young teacher in all the schools I go to. She's only 22!! ^O^ YAY! I was super happy to be able to talk to her and we're both really weird and genki-like so I think we'll get along well. I asked if we can exchange numbers and what she does on the weekends. SHe says she does absolutely nothing and so she was like "PLEASE COME VISIT ME!!" lol I was like "OF COURSE!!" I'm totally goin. She's the only girl around my age that I know around here. I was like YES NEW FRIEND! And I hope that we can be good friends because I'm lacking in that dept. I mean, all the women teachers here are like my friends, but none of them are around my age and have the same humor or personality as me. So we ended up squatting in a corner of the room exchanging numbers via infrared...LOL It was a funny sight to see actually. The head teacher passed by us, saw us, stopped and stared at us for a little bit. Takagi-san looked up and was like "...Oh..." And then the head teacher started laughing. He was like, in his broken accented English, "Stand up please." Then in Japanese he said we looked like those girls with no manners who squat on the sides of streets. LOL So we shouldn't do that. haha. I thought we kinda looked like that too, except I was dressed in OL finery and Takagi-san was in sportswear. =P

Anyways, I decided to take a chance and go home in the rain. It proved more difficult than I thought. In one hand I held my umbrella, in the other I was trying to steer. But my bikes steering mechanism was a little off so the balance was totally off as well. I had to stop several times to readjust myself in the rain...not fun. But an experience I suppose. lol And I decided to cook some wonderful satay/chinese BBQ sauce pork slices with mushrooms, garlic, and onions. I used the sauce that I had found at the foreign foods market. I was excited for that and so happy to be able to use this ingredient that I so love. I think I will invite the Japanese teachers a couple at a time over to my apt. for dinner one day. Either Chinese cuisine or French fusion. one or the other I suppose. I'll ask which they prefer.

Otsukare-sama for reading!! Pictures coming soon! Oh, and Mr. Gorgeous from the high school personally called me on my cell phone from his today...!!! ^^ Although it was just to check on why I had called for him at the high school from the elementary. I just wanted to know if I had to go over to the high school today or not. But because it was test day there was no reason for me to go. He called me around 7pm though. Way after I had called him during school hours. haha. In a way, that made me kinda giggly and happy. haha. I'm such an easily pleased person. =P I'm not sure if it's proper or no but I'm really casual in English with him. I talk to him like I would talk to my guy friends, except not as rough and sarcastic and weird. hehe. I don't want to scare him away. lol

Weird Japenglish or Engrish of the day:
Lovemagedden, Blackmusic