Evolution of Janken

One of the most popular games in Japan is janken. You might know it better as rock-paper-scissors. 

In Japan, students use it to decide the player order in a game, determine who gets an extra food item at lunch or just play it as a game. The results of janken are final and thought to be fate so it is a great way to make a decision. 

At lunch last week I played a game of janken I will not soon forget...

Daniel & Student:  Rock, paper, scissors, go!

The student threw scissors while I threw this...

Immediately, they let out a gasp and put their hands up. One student even said “Don't shoot!”  


After that the items followed a strange evolution...

two guns
a bomb
a cat
a rabid dog

a kangaroo

poop

a butt

Doraemon

a fire

And for the last one, perhaps my favorite, the student faked a heart attack and pretended to die before he could finish the game.


Rock, paper and scissors work fine, but if you would like to mix things up a little you can use these signs...

English Testing

Every year, as English teachers, we must test our students on their speaking proficiency. It is the only time we can sit down one-on-one with every student and have a conversation. 

Some students found the test very difficult because English is a difficult language to learn...

Here are some of my favorite test conversations...

Daniel:  How are you?

Student:  I'm thank you and you?


Daniel:  Are you ready?
Student:  Yes. Let's English!

Daniel:  What time is it?

Student:  It's 10 fruity.

Daniel:  What day is it?

Student:  It's Fursday. 

Daniel:  Do you like dogs?

Student:  Yes we can.

This conversation with a 6th grader caused me to lose some sleep...

Daniel:  How are you?

Student:  I like fine. 

Daniel:  What's your name?

Student:  I like Keiko.

Daniel:  What food do you like?

Student:  I like sushi. 

Daniel:  Where is the library?

Student:  I like go straight. I like turn right.



My New Years resolution...


To teach students real good so they can English!

Disneyland

Thanksgiving is one of our favorite holidays, but this year the formula changed...

Thanksgiving - family - football = SAD (seasonal affective disorder)

So this year we decided to skip the traditional festivities and visit a place devoted to happiness that is also overflowing with turkey legs...Disneyland!

We left around 5 AM and stayed until the park closed...

A Thanksgiving feast (part 1 of 3)

Many of us bought these character hats to keep warm and look awesome. 

Our future olympic tea cup team. We spun so fast I thought I was going to fall out. 

One of our favorite floats in the parade. 

It was a great day of fun and adventure. We just went to Disneyland! What are we going to do next? 

Go back to work. 

American Life: Part 2

What do you want to be in your future?

Everyone asks themselves this question at some point in their life...

Personally, I would like to become a pilot that transforms into an airplane...

or maybe a food critic...

But along the way there are many life lessons to be learned...

1) You can always count on friends to be supportive...

2) Respect your elders...

3) How to make letters with your body...

creepy

more creepy


4) And deductive reasoning...

It's also important to learn about holidays, like April Fools' Day...

and Easter...

Still trying to find the egg in this picture

I hope you learned some things about American culture.

Disclaimer:  Unless you are a human pretzel or relative of Mr. Fantastic please do not attempt to emulate the pictures above. Transforming the human body into letters of the alphabet is very dangerous. This blog, its authors, and blogger will not be held responsible for any injuries.  

My Dollar Store is Better Than Yours

The dollar store is a place where you can buy mediocre items for low prices. The feeling of saving money mixed with the risk of the crap you bought not working can be quite exhilarating. One of the most popular ¥100 shops in Japan is Daiso...

They have so many items that are essential to my daily life...

like face cream...

awards to inspire you to win finish...

chemicals to keep rodents away...

and keep away pesky domesticated animals...

beautiful decorative signs...

and delicious snacks...

While ¥100 is really about $1.30 the items in this store are priceless.

Scissor Salad

Today I was teaching school supplies...

They were actually doing quite well until we got to 'glue'. Instead of the actual word they would say 'blue'. Let's try it in a sentence...

My dad sold our horse to the blue factory. 

Some people sniff blue to get high. 


But the real trouble came when I tried to teach 'scissors'...


Daniel:  What's this?
Students:  はさみ！
Daniel:  In English, scissors.
Students:  Scissors!

Even though I was holding a picture flashcard I still saw many perplexed faces. Then one student was struck by genius....

Student:  Ah! I understand! Caesar salad!

I should explain that シザー (shizaa), the Katakana for 'scissors' is very close to シーザー (shiizaa) which means 'caesar', like the salad dressing dude.

Or maybe he was referring to these kitchen utensils...

Not sure. But if there are scissors in your salad someone is probably trying to kill you.

Inverview with a Foreigner

Today I had lunch with a 4th grade class. It was a very western meal of hamburger, broccoli and tomato soup with vegetables...

During lunch I had a very interesting conversation with a group of students. I will now attempt to recreate that conversation...

Daniel:  Hello

Student:  Hello

(awkward silence)

Student:  How old are you? (in English)

Daniel:  I'm 25 years old. (in Japanese)

The students discussed this for several minutes. How could I be 25 when I had previously told them I was 24? Eventually, they realized that foreigners must also have birthdays, but students still have many misconceptions about teachers...

1. Teachers don't age.

2. Teachers both live and work at school.

3. Teachers never leave the school.

4.  Teachers know the answer to everything.

Back to the conversation...

Student: Do you have a girlfriend?

Daniel: No I don't.

Student: Oh...ok. Do you have a boyfriend?

Daniel: No I don't

My kids are very accepting. So proud!

Student: How many times do you shave each day?

Daniel:  One.

Student: When?

Daniel: In the morning.