Let's learn new Japanese!

I learned a new Okinawan saying today. Jyuugatsu natsu. Yes, that is in standard Japanese. Yes, it means October summer. It:s 31 degrees right now. And yes, I mean degrees C. So yeah, about 88 degrees F. No wonder sweat was dripping down the back of my Green Acres teeshirt. And no, no one:s commented that I:m not allowed to wear a big teeshirt with a giant green alligator on it. The kids have actually smiled, pointed, and said the Japanese word for it. Which I can:t remember right now.

Another little snapshot of how the Japanese language works so simply (I love Japanese spoken, it:s really easy to learn once you wrap your head around the backwardsness of it). The kids in 5-1 were talking about Kita Chuu (Kita Chuugakko, or middle school), and they were saying how there are a lot of gang-like people there. I know these kids aren:t actually in a gang, but they act that way and talk that way because they want to appear tough. I think it:s just kinda cute and am glad I don:t work with those kids. (On Tuesday I had to teach the 6th years, and they Just Weren:t Listening and I said in my broken Japanese, Look, if we don:t practice the vocabulary, we won:t play the game, we can do boring practice the whole class, and they were quiet, did exactly as I said, and had fun. I don:t think the ganguro kids would react so easily.) But they were talking about how scary the kids were, and after I clarified what they were talking about, I said *un, chotto kowai* *yeah, a little scary,* and the boy next to me said *chotto jya nai yo* *not a little, I assure you* or as I translated it in my head, because it seems to me that spoken English is generally more complex than spoken Japanese *nothin' little about it* which I found just so cute. I mean, yeah, it stinks that this kid is scared of the other kids, and I feel kinda helpless because I don:t know how to say to the kid, don:t worry, they:re all just bluff. But I liked the exchange.

It was a good lunch.

Not that the food was all that tasty, but the conversation was good.