Tomorrow will mark my first two weeks of teaching! It’s been a whirlwind of new experiences. I’ve been giving my self-introduction lesson to the first and second year students (sophomores and juniors) and it’s been a bit of a mixed bag with each class. The first years are definitely more shy than the second years, but some classes have really surprised me with how eager they were to speak English. I’ve had more than a few hilarious moments with class clowns as well.
For my presentation I began with a PowerPoint that looked like a Facebook page. I scrolled through the page while I told them about my interests, previous career, and hometown. Then I played some Rockabilly music (originated in Jackson, Tennessee) while I handed out a short quiz to test their memory. I passed around some photo books that I made from my trip to Disneyworld and Fall Creek Falls as well as my glorious 50 state quarter collection, haha! I then had an open Q&A with the students. This is where things got really interesting.
Some of my favorite questions:
“What is your dream?”
“Do you like cockroaches?”
“Who does your husband resemble?” After a minute of laughing they said “Johnny Depp” hahaha.
“Do you like…ME!”
“What do you not like the most?” / “What is your not favorite?”
“How many boyfriends do you have?” (My response… “I have one husband…lol”)
“How old YOUR DADDY!”
“Do you see your type in this class?”
“What is your favorite Disney princess?”
This next one wasn’t a question, but it made me bust out laughing. I gave the students some time to think of a question for me and the class was pretty quiet since everyone seemed to be using their electronic dictionaries (some of them pronounce words in English). Suddenly I hear a digital voice say “chest size” and see a group of boys start freaking out trying to shut off the dictionary.
When the time came to ask questions they asked what sports I liked. xD
My favorite question of all though was when one kid stood up and said in a serious tone “We…all like you. So…do you like us?” (I exclaimed “YEAH!” to much laughter)
Overall, the students have been extremely polite and friendly towards me. Every time they see me they are saying hello, good morning, or asking how I am in English. I also LOVE my english club. They are a little shy but I’ve enjoyed playing language games and getting to know them.
In other news, everyone in Japan seems to mention “The Tennessee Waltz” when they find out where I’m from. To be honest I knew it was one our official state songs but I hadn’t really listened to it that often. I actually find the tune to be quite pleasant! I was even more surprised to find that in 1974 it was the highest selling songs in Japan. I even found a Japanese version of the song that I’ll post below. I’d love to sing the song sometime (karaoke here I come!) since it’s been stuck in my head since I started researching it. Regardless, it’s been nice to connect to people here with music right off the bat.
Tennessee Waltz- Patti Page (English)
Tennessee Waltz- Chiemi Eri (Japanese)
it is all so beautiful and overwhelming…..it seems like a dream, a wonderful dream! What a blessing for you two!