4 days + funny convos

i have one final regular work week left at my schools. next week there is a national holiday on thursday so that makes just four days until i am done! this past week i have been having some of the last lessons in the classes. i have really been enjoying it lately because i have been doing more activities that normal. the lessons are so much more interesting, fun and faster when i actually do something aside from reading like a tape recorder. i felt busy and valuable in the classroom - it was awesome! i have been handing out the certificates i made the students and they seem to be liking them. the students are being more friendly and talkative with me than normal. maybe some of the shyer ones are just finally warming up to me or maybe since they know i am gone soon, they finally have an incentive/deadline to talk to me. one sweet little 7th grade girl stopped me in the hall and thanked me for the award i had given her the previous day. it was so cute and i imagine took quite a big of courage! (she seems very shy!). the little moments like that are what i hope to remember and take away. overall, the kids are awesome and super funny. they are what makes the job rewarding and memorable. i wish i could have connected with the students more - if i was staying longer i would surely handle some stuff differently. now that i know how the school works and generally how the teachers and students are, i feel i would be more comfortable going into a second year and be able to get to know students and staff better. i was somewhat afraid of stepping on toes so i was cautious, shy and a little intimidated when i first arrived (horror stories were told during our training) but if i started over, i would be even more friendly, outgoing and be less scared of the whole situation. it was a little frightening to show up to a job i had never worked, to be thrown into a completely different work environment and culture and just get the job done. it was a lot, A LOT to take on. it was a learning experience, that's for sure and i know i will take many valuable lessons, ideas, things away from this crazy time i have had here in japan.

i have been trying to make the most of the little time i have left at school. today after school i went outside to talk to the kids and take some photos. it was so fun (also freezing - snow flecks were falling) and the students were hilarious. a group of five 9th grade girls had gathered around me, asking questions and telling me things. one girl said she wanted a foreign boyfriend because they are "berry handsome, have big eyes, are tall, macho and have a long nose". i had to laugh! they were cracking me up. i showed them a photo of charles and i and they asked if it was "love-love"? ha ha ha - how cute is that?! they were so sweet and entertaining. they all worked together to translate and help each other make sense of what i was saying or what they were trying to tell me. we chatted about food and they asked me if i knew any of the J-Pop (japanese pop music) stars (which i don't know!) and one said she liked michael jackson, then proceeded to do a version of the moon walk and the crotch grab-hand to the sky dance move. one word: awesome! ohhh the kid's these days! gotta love 'em!