ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

Pictured is a note that one of my favorite students, Mercy in Kokubunji, left for me on my personal whiteboard after one of my classes. If the picture is too small to read, let me provide its translation now: “Thank you. Arian’s lessons are fun!” She was actually one of my original students who demoed one of my classes last year on invitation from her friend, who was also one of my original students, too, another favorite of mine named Lydia. I still remember the first day and the first few classes with her. I could already tell that she was bright from the first day despite all the goofiness she would bring to class. I remember her just sitting on the floor during some lessons listening and participating as much as everyone else, and her always walking in circles around me and her friend when we would sing songs and play games. She was already one of my favorites, her and Lydia, from the beginning, but unfortunately I couldn’t teach them again once they transitioned into another grade and class and day. In fact, I wouldn’t see those two again until the Halloween Event, many months later. Occasionally I would ask the staff at Kokubunji about them, how they were doing, who was their teacher now, and so on. Well, when I saw them again at the Halloween event I cried out of sheer joy. I remember it very clearly. I was working with another teacher, Jill, in the entrance to the Haunted House, when they walked in. I didn’t notice them at first, since I was in character and I was walking from kid to kid. But then when it came time to deliver one of my jokes (“clean up, clean up…” while pretend brushing from the ground up to the air above us—remember, I was the Mad Hatter so I was just playing on words as much as I could) and as I was pretend brushing upwards, it turned out that the two kids that I was pretending to sweep was Lydia and Mercy! They just stared at me and I just stared back in utter shock. They weren’t sure who I was at first, but I remember them saying, “sensei?” I just broke character and said Hi to them, and as they walked by into the next room I just felt a little sad. But now I’m the happiest Tuesday teacher on the planet because I get to teach those two again. So happy that they remained together and will remain together since they’re doing so well that they’ll be moving up a grade with lots of their other friends. Anyways, Mercy, the one who write the pictured note, is still lots of fun, always singing and copying whatever comes out of my mouth, be it strange sounds, sound effects, or random ditties.  

Hello!

This week, I tried to find another holiday in November that people in the English Speaking world celebrate, but I decided instead to talk a little about a holiday that is only celebrated in my home province of Manitoba. On the 3rd Monday of February in most of Canada there is a civic holiday called Family Day, meant to remind us to think of family and remind us of how important family is. In Manitoba, however, this day is meant to remind us of a famous historical figure named Louis Riel. Louis Riel is a very divisive figure in Canadian history. Some people think of him as a folk hero, fighting for the rights of Aboriginal and Metis people in a time when racism and intolerance for those people was commonplace, and other view him as a kind of terrorist, waging a war against the Canadian government at the time. What is important to remember though is that Louis Riel fought for the freedom and equal rights of a group of people who were ignored by their government, and often outcast from society because of their cultural background. I think Manitoba deciding to go against the grain of the rest of Canada, and choosing instead to celebrate some one from it's own history is great, and I'm very proud to be from a province that produced such a person!