ONEGAISHIMASU!!

Sports day at Kyomachi school today, so I spent the entire day preparing a game of snap that involves regular & irregular verbs in the past & present tense for one of my 2nd grade classes. After nearly paralysing myself with over-indulgence of scissors & general chopstick fatigue, I discovered the electric guillotine at 16:45...I need to be wary of what I say in unguarded moments, lest I inadvertantly create a selection of Japanese teenagers who speak English just like me (heavens to murgatroyd). My main english teacher, Komada sensei (an all-round good egg) now thinks that the correct English for an electric guillotine is "a cutting device".

One of the kids in this particular class (2C) lives somewhere near me & clocked me whilst I was buying some food. Now he`s (one of) my new best mates - I got invited to lunch with his class, as they all eat in their homeroom. Great experience - hardly said a word because their English isn`t much beyond "how do you do? my name is...", and officially, I can`t speak Japanese (in order to get them to constantly use English). TWO (yes, two) of the kids gave me a massage & it was buggering brilliant.

So many kids with bizarre names to memorise. I`m beset with Ayami`s & Shiyu`s & Katsumi`s & Koru`s...it`s not fair...they all know MY name, but there`s only one Chris (an experience in of itself) and millions of them. Actually, there`s one girl, Netsumi, who`s seemingly made it her business to ensure that I remember her name. Amongst noisy, bossy, bolshy teenagers, this girl is Leviathan.

In closing? I am currently learning Kanji A Clockwork Orange style on the trains, "substituting" mind altering drugs with coffee. Twenty & counting...only a couple of thousand to go.