But WHY?

I went over to Meirin Elementary between classes to help out at an English lesson. The kids were learning how to say different colors. After playing a game in which they had to touch a certain color (said in English) if they could find it in the classroom. I helped out with my technicolor hoodie. We then went over greetings in English.
"Hello!" こんにちは！
"How are you?"　元気ですか。
"I'm fine!"　元気です。
Chanted over and over again, then said back and forth to classmates.

After the class was over, several of the first year students came up to me and asked me if my eyes were blue. It was interesting how they phrased it, though - not so much confirming the color as wondering why they were blue. When I didn't know how to respond, the teacher stepped in and laughingly told the children it was because I was a gaijin 外人, a (recently watered-down) derogatory and ethnocentric term for "foreigner" (literally "outside person"). Hmm. I understand all the foreign students using it in a deprecating fashion to refer to ourselves. But...I dunno. A teacher reinforcing the term to children at a highly-impressionable age? Maybe I'm being oversensitive.

During recess, I bumped into a group of children I had spoken to last semester. We jumped around a little and said "ひさしぶり" ("long time, no see") and got to chatting like old times. I told them that I'd been back to New York, and they let me know what classes they were taking and how their favorite sports teams were doing.
One of the girls even remebered that we share a birthday.
A couple boys asked me my favorite foods. When I paused to think for a moment, he said, "ハンバーガーとかハンバーガーとか..." which esentially translated into "Like hamburgers...or hamburgers, for example." Did I get this response because I'm American? Ohhh yeah. Apparently we subsist on hamburgers alone. After I told them I loved Japanese food (as well as several other cuisines), they started miming cooking different foods.
The kids often mime activities or words when I don't understand them. Most Japnese people I've met will try to explain the word or sentence using basic grammar constructions and vocabulary, but the Meirin students always draw shapes in the air or mime actions.
In light of what I've learned in my course on The Body and Communication, it was really interesting.

Also, some Japanese kids genuinely believe the Statue of Liberty is holding an ice cream cone and a cookie.
Why France, we humbly accept your generous gift of a robed lady proudly holding confectionary delights. Thank you.


In retrospect, I guess this post comes off as being a bit negative. But it's interesting to see how non-Japanese are viewed by the next generation of Japanese citizens. And it was really fun to talk to the students.
I got to practice giving people withering looks, albeit sarcastically. I've endeared myself to a good group of kids, so hopefully I'm improving the 外人 image a little.

Taco Night

Every Tuesday night, the four rooms in the flat take turns fixing all eight of us dinner. Tonight, it was Maarit's and my turn. We decided on tacos and Finnish pancakes!
I cooked up the taco meat and toasted up taco shells (not without burning quite a few). I also chopped up some lettuce and cheese, while Maarit cut up the tomatoes. Maarit made her amazingly delicious pancakes for dessert. We ended up having a surplus of taco meat, so a few of the pancakes ended up being used as soft taco shells.


After dinner, Lacey, Kim, Robin and I decided to whip out the Jenga.

And Lacey, the Jenga Master...

...lost!

Truly a historic event.

The Saddest Meal

One of my flatmates, Kim, recently got her foot run over by a child on the bike. Her foot is swollen up and looks like a tenderloin. She's been getting around by a combination of wheelchair and crutches.
Tonight I saw her hobbling around the kitchen on her crutches, attempting to both prop herself up and get out food, so I offered to put dinner together for her.
Kim said she had some hot dogs in the fridge, but lacked hot dog buns. So I offered a piece of my too-thick-for-the-toaster-bread. And some hot chocolate.

This is the result.
Hot chocolate and the saddest hot dog.

With ketchup that ended up being more like tomato soup.

So sad.

Art Show

I went over to Meirin High School today, thinking I would be going to play softball with the kids as usual. It turns out that clubs were canceled because the students were setting up their art show for Tuesday!
I spoke to the art instructor for the kids, who was putting some final labels on some dioramas. He allowed me to take photos of some of the art and distract (well, talk to) some of the students setting up the show.

Pictures of Carrot!

I promised my parents pictures of Carrot.

She's a beaut.

As you may notice, the bike lock is a half-ring connected to the wheel cover that goes through the spokes of the rear wheel. While riding, the key stays in the lock. To lock the bike, I push a metal tab that extends the ring through the spokes of the wheel and connects to the other end of the ring. Unlocking the bike again is as simple as inserting the key and then pushing it to the side - the extending part of the ring snaps right back.
Of course, this system somewhat trades convenience for security, but I quite like it.

I Officially Love Bicycles

I finally got my bicycle back and I bought all the proper parking stickers so it doesn't get chained up again. My dorm okaasan made me jump through hoops. But I got over whatever grudge I had pretty quickly because I have a bike!

I've only had it for a little over a day, but I'm totally in love with just riding around the neighborhood. After school today, I decided to explore the area around the dorms. I biked around for a good hour or so. Eventually, I found a little bike store. The man who worked there fixed up the bike with a new bell and light. So now I'm riding in style!

Also, the bike is named Carrot. At least, that's what the label on the side says. Why? Who knows. The bicycle is silver.

I'll take pictures of it eventually.

Jitensha!

I finally got my hands on a jitensha (bicycle). My host family from last semester allowed me to borrow one of their old ones! The bike's in great condition, actually. To my great frustration, I can't ride it yet, due to all the ownership laws that surround biking in Japan. I have parking permits for KGU's campus lots, but my dorm refuses to unchain (thanks, guys) my bike because I do not have the proper stickers to park in the dorm lot. It seems I need to make an ownership change at the bike shop from which the bike was purchased. It's all so complicated... I just want to ride my bike.