You Want Flair, I'll Show You Flair! ;)

If Tessa's sweet and cute elementary school kids say "the darnedest things" Then my surly JH students say the damnedest things. More on that in a bit. As I think I have said before, the JHs have 3 grades, 1st, 2nd and 3rd (the equivalent of American 7th, 8th, and 9th grades). The first graders are mostly happy, energetic and eager to learn, or as the Japanese say, "genki". Second grade is where the students divide into 2 groups, those who hate English and those who love it. I'm watching the split happen before my very eyes, and it's kinda fascinating to watch. A 2nd grade student who at the beginning of the year was excited and attentive now will only turn his back to the teachers and flirt with the girl behind him during class. Some of my 3rd grade students (depending on the day, about 25% of them) do absolutely no work in class and either chat with other students, sleep, stare into space, or doodle. The problem is that the students are not really graded. On ANYTHING. Sure, they have exams and homework and progress reports, but all they are really for is to let the student know where they stand and what they need to work on. They do not need to reach any type of academic achievement in order to pass on to the next grade or graduate. As long as they show up, they pass. What they do need to do however, is pass entrance exams to get into high school. Going to high school is not required in Japan, though nearly all do. Some student though, who know they are headed to a technical high school rather than an academic one, know that there will be no English portion on their entrance exams and thus do not bother with learning it. They do have to show up though, and it gets kind of frustrating. The worst though, is when the students get unruly or distracting. I have no authority other than to tell them to please stop, and it is actually against the law to send a student out of the classroom unless he/she is beating the crap out of someone. One of my second grade students thought the other day, that it was more important to spend his time in class constructing a ninja throwing star out of 4 razor blades tied together with string. When I brought this to the attention of the JTE, she attempted to confiscate it from him, but I'm pretty sure she failed, and he was not repremanded for it, as far as I am aware. In America, doing something like that would probably get you suspended or expelled...

Anyways, yes, they say the damnedest things. One 3rd grade student (who never does his class work) has made it his mission to get me to unwittingly say dirty words in Japanese. I caught on to his game in time before he got what he wanted, but he still felt like he had to explain what it meant:

HIM: "(something in Japanese)" Repeat!"
ME: "No, no no, heheheh"
HIM "Pleeeeeeeeeeease!........It mean bigo penis!" (he pronounced like 'pen is', as in 'the pen is blue')
****He then gestures on his body, insinuating the size of his own****
ME: "uhhhhhhh.......I don't know what you are talking about....goodbye!"
HIM: ****stopping me from leaving**** "I rike-o bigo pen-is. eh? eh? eh?"
ME: "Sorry, I don't know what you mean, goodbye!!!"

And I ran away. He kept trying for a couple more weeks, but I think he has given up now...At least I hope so.

That said, I have some wonderful and amazing students, so many stories to tell, but they will have to wait, because I have hogged the computer for far too long, and it is Tessa's turn. Ja ne!