Why won't you ret me rove you?

Friday, Sept. 9^th.

Today featured more introduction classes (I had 5 today…a bit tiring). I actually really started having fun today because I figured out what the kids like – prizes. Now, this I find hilarious because I had Canada pencils and stickers and even the 18 year old boys went crazy for them. In Canada, a guy that age would be beaten with clubs in the school parking lot if he got excited at getting a sticker from a teacher. But not here. They love ‘em! Which makes my job damn easy. I figured out how to dumb my English down a bit as well so more kids understood what I was saying today and I also had the Japanese Teachers explain certain things as I went along. It worked great! The kids pretty much all listened and got involved. At the end of the day I had to do speech contest tutoring, which was also fun. The speech contest students speak English a bit better and I already knew one of the girls from iaido/jodo lessons. I had the most interesting conversation with a girl named Rie about the rigidity of Japanese society. Let me tell ya, that is one smart 15 year old girl. When I left the speech students I felt a strong sense of accomplishment. I realized then that that is something I have not felt for a while. My life back in Canada lacked meaning in so many ways it’s not funny and then end of each day had usually left me feeling empty. It felt good to do something worthwhile, and these students are so grateful! I also gave one girl a quick French lesson because she said she thought French was beautiful. It was crazy fun. On my way home, four boys from one of the classes I had taught that day cornered me and started loudly serenading me with “why won’t you let me rove you? I’m dying to rove you” while making somewhat lewd gestures. Adorable little assholes really. I almost flipped them off, but ended up laughing instead. Did I mention I love this job?

Tonight I’m going to Kara’s to work on some stuff for the New Orleans Aid party she is organizing. I like Kara’s sense of activism, and she is really an awesome person to talk to. We’re gonna burn CDs of New Orleans music and charge 2000Yen for each ($20) at Shin’s tonight. Shin was nice enough to let her use his bar as the setting for the benefit/fundraiser. We all invited people we know from the nearby areas to come join us and help raise money for New Orleans. For Kara it’s really a personal thing because she had been teaching in the projects of New Orleans for two years before coming to Japan. She knows that a lot of her old students must have been affected by the disaster so its been kinda hard for her. The rest of us want to help as much as we can. Next month we’re planning a much bigger fundraiser as well. We all gotta do what we can to help others in this crazy world.