Usually
I’m pretty good with remembering names. When I meet someone, I repeat the
person’s name in my head a couple of times and remember it. Japanese names are a little more difficult
for me to remember. Japanese names that
sound like something I can identify are easier to remember. One popular girl’s name is Saeko, which
sounds like the word Psycho in English. When I first arrived in Japan and wasn't as familiar with Japanese syllables, I thought I must be hearing incorrectly. Another
girl’s name is Yurin, which sounds to me like Urine. Yukiko is little (ko) snow
(yuki). I really try hard to learn my students’ names
as fast as I can.
My
class at the university is a unique language learning group, I think. They’ve each had either seven or eight years
of English before getting to my class, but they are definitely not at the same
level. The reason I think the group is unique is because of the Outdoor Life
environment. OL students are small in
number and they do everything together so they are very close and very
comfortable with each other. A mixed group of students who didn’t know each
other would not take the risk of speaking out and possibly making mistakes,
like these students do. They don’t seem to mind laughing at themselves. A couple of examples of things that happened
last class – They were practicing introducing another person in the class to me and one
student said “he is soccer team”. I
asked her, “he is the soccer team?” and she said yes. She did not understand what I was asking, but
her partner did. He put his arms out
like he was very big and said “Yes, I am very good. I am the soccer team.” She then understood,
and said he is on the soccer
team. Later they were telling me what
they like to do on the weekend. They had many different answers, some very
simple and others more descriptive. One told me what he liked to do during each
season of the year on the weekend. (No one said I like to practice English on
the weekend, though.) One student said
what I thought was, “I like to meet.”
Thinking the sentence wasn’t finished, I asked “Do you like to meet
people?” She put up the big crossed arm sign and said no, no, no. Come to find out, she meant to say she likes
to eat meat. It became the ideal time
to talk about words that sound alike, but are spelled differently and mean
different things. I do like teaching here.
We
haven’t been seeing as many of the pineapple birds lately. We found out their name is Tsugumi and they
are going back to Russia for the summer. We will miss them; they’ve been quite
entertaining.
You’d
think that between bird watching and preparing for English classes, I wouldn’t
have time to stitch, but I do. Here’s
what I’ve been working on:
I have
the individual pieces stitched and cut out.
Now I need to put it together with the lining fabric to make the little
book. I have three little needle pages,
instead of the five shown on the pattern; the scissors cover and tiny strap to
hold them in place; and another little cover for something else. I’m not sure the other little something is
going to work. Stay tuned to see how it
turns out……
