Whatever happened to Fraggle Rock?
An earthquake rocked Fukuoka Wednesday night. My first earthquake ever. And how did I fare such an event?...I slept right through it. I’m pathetic.
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I’ve decided to donate my hair again. My only concern…how much need does Locks of Love have for orange hair? There’s bound to be some little girl, or boy for that matter, dying for the Raggedy Ann/Andy look…don’t you think?
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My impromptu, quite crap, lesson plan went over well at the convo class last night. We’ve been learning physical attributes, clothing, age, personality traits, etc. So I thought I’d give them a little review by ripping 10 of my oh-so-precious photos off the wall and taking them to class. I gave one to each pair and asked them to describe the people in every way possible. You should have seen the smile on Noguchi-san’s face…it was hilarious. He’s gets so excited over any activity that doesn’t involve the book. They had a few choice comments to make about my friends, which I’ll list for your viewing pleasure.
~Andrea is skinny...what can I say…they’re intuitive. She also has a friendly smile (they’re so cute for old people)
~Not that he’ll read this, but Steven looks clever
~Brad is handsome…again, not reading, but maybe someone can pass it on. Always nice to receive a compliment from strangers I suppose
~the girl they thought was someone else, but was actually me, has nice teeth…ha ha
~Eian likes tennis…don’t know if you really do or not, but it was a pic of tennis….looooong ago
~Scheid is tall and dark…by that I think they meant hair, not sure. Your call.
~Kristi looks funny. I don’t really know what to say to this. I think it means a fun personality, rather than funny looking. In fact, I’m sure of it, because a) you don’t look funny b) I didn’t teach them funny looking as a physical description, only as a personality trait
So there you have it. We also had a nice discussion about the election. One of the more advanced students asked a question in regards to absentee ballots and somehow we got off on a not-so-tangential tangent of the American political system. I attempted to explain bipartisan politics, party loyalties, the electoral college, state representatives, the Senate, winner takes all…Dr. Jett would be so proud. I’m sure half of the class was completely lost, but Torigoe-san seemed interested enough, and even ventured far enough to compare the winner takes all system to a game of poker. Now, I’m not saying this is a completely new or profound comment, even though I've never heard another American make such a comparison…but to hear those words come out of his mouth, I was astounded, and then I laughed for about 5 minutes…he liked that. They like when they can be funny in another language…isn’t that when you know you’ve accomplished a decent level of fluency?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I’ve decided to donate my hair again. My only concern…how much need does Locks of Love have for orange hair? There’s bound to be some little girl, or boy for that matter, dying for the Raggedy Ann/Andy look…don’t you think?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
My impromptu, quite crap, lesson plan went over well at the convo class last night. We’ve been learning physical attributes, clothing, age, personality traits, etc. So I thought I’d give them a little review by ripping 10 of my oh-so-precious photos off the wall and taking them to class. I gave one to each pair and asked them to describe the people in every way possible. You should have seen the smile on Noguchi-san’s face…it was hilarious. He’s gets so excited over any activity that doesn’t involve the book. They had a few choice comments to make about my friends, which I’ll list for your viewing pleasure.
~Andrea is skinny...what can I say…they’re intuitive. She also has a friendly smile (they’re so cute for old people)
~Not that he’ll read this, but Steven looks clever
~Brad is handsome…again, not reading, but maybe someone can pass it on. Always nice to receive a compliment from strangers I suppose
~the girl they thought was someone else, but was actually me, has nice teeth…ha ha
~Eian likes tennis…don’t know if you really do or not, but it was a pic of tennis….looooong ago
~Scheid is tall and dark…by that I think they meant hair, not sure. Your call.
~Kristi looks funny. I don’t really know what to say to this. I think it means a fun personality, rather than funny looking. In fact, I’m sure of it, because a) you don’t look funny b) I didn’t teach them funny looking as a physical description, only as a personality trait
So there you have it. We also had a nice discussion about the election. One of the more advanced students asked a question in regards to absentee ballots and somehow we got off on a not-so-tangential tangent of the American political system. I attempted to explain bipartisan politics, party loyalties, the electoral college, state representatives, the Senate, winner takes all…Dr. Jett would be so proud. I’m sure half of the class was completely lost, but Torigoe-san seemed interested enough, and even ventured far enough to compare the winner takes all system to a game of poker. Now, I’m not saying this is a completely new or profound comment, even though I've never heard another American make such a comparison…but to hear those words come out of his mouth, I was astounded, and then I laughed for about 5 minutes…he liked that. They like when they can be funny in another language…isn’t that when you know you’ve accomplished a decent level of fluency?
posted by Chishiki Lauren at 7:06 PM
3 Comments:
Funny looking isn't a physical trait but liking tennis is? What are you teaching them over there?
I like the all-in poker analogy...the presidential election is like the highest stakes poker game ever. I think Kerry had the nuts, but Bush screwed him on the river.
By the way, it wasn't an earthquake on Wednesday. It was actually the entire Chinese population jumping simultaneously while 48% of the American population banged their head against a wall.
As for fluency, the actual measure of mastering a language is the ability to appreciate a translated version of Butterfly by Mariah Carey
and exactly what picture of me did you show random Japanese kids..?? ohmy.
E-I hope I didn't teach them sports as physical traits, but who knows. I think, for the most part, they already know this stuff and just try to outdo each other and impress me...like describing a color as mustard yellow when I would have been happy with plain old yellow. I hadn't thought about translated versions of Mariah Carey, for hopefully apparent reasons, but now that I know, I'll be sure to block them out again.
Kristi- no te preocupes. they were pics from prom junior and senior year and a few parties at my house. and they weren't kids, they were adults, some even senile :) they also think that most Americans look like celebrities, so maybe that'll calm your fear of random Japanese men scrutinizing you...they're the good ones though. so no worries. i'm looking forward to a WH trip for some pie when I get back....save me a seat.
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