Hello to my Super A students!
How are you? Here I will try to answer your questions from your pre-teaching surveys.
One student asked me what Japanese food I liked. Well, I like many Japanese dishes, but my favorite one might be
unagi. I love
unagi! I love the richness of the sauce for it, and the softness of the meat. But it's expensive, and high in calories, so I don't eat it so much. Once in a while, however, I like to have it!
The same student also asked me what surprised me about Japanese culture and customs the first time I came here. Well, I think it might have been how people take any chance they can to take their shoes off. I knew that people took their shoes off at home, but I didn't know that people also sometimes took their shoes off in restaurants. That surprised me! In the U.S., you don't do this, and anybody who did take their shoes off, even under the table, would get very strange looks from people.
This student also asked me this question: "If you got much money you can't use out, what would you use (it for)?" That's an interesting question I didn't expect! I guess what the student means is what I would do if I didn't have enough money to go out somewhere. (I hope that's what this person means!)
Hmm…I think that if I didn't have enough money to go somewhere, but maybe had a little to spend on something, I would rent a DVD of a movie I really like, cook a nice meal, then watch the movie at home.
Another student asked me if I had been to China. I am sorry to say that I have not been to China, though I now know some people from there and would be interested in going. This student also asked if I had been to Thailand, because I had a picture from there on my welcome blogpost.
Well, I am also sorry to say that I have not been to Thailand. The picture on my welcome post was from the Internet. One time, I looked around on the Internet for pictures of different greetings (
挨拶) from different cultures, and I found the one from Thailand. I thought it was a great picture, very charming, of Thai people greeting each other in the typical
wai, which is common in Thailand. I wish I had taken this picture!
One other student also asked me if I liked Japan, and what kind of place here I liked, and didn't like. Well, I have lived here now for 17 years, so it's home to me anymore! As far as places I like here, I have to say that Tokyo has always been a world in itself here. It has so many parts to it that are unique, and that I can explore with imagination.
As far as other parts of Japan I like, I have to say I also like the Karuizawa area in summer. It's very comfortable and relaxing. I also like the coastal and beach towns along the JR Yokosuka line going down to Kamakura, like Zushi and Hayama. I feel that I'm really on the Pacific Ocean in those places, and I like being near the coast. I come from Idaho in the U.S., and it's landlocked, with no ocean. So I love being near big water!
For places I don't like…well, I find Omiya to be mostly uninteresting. I like Urawa so much better, because it has more character to it. I also have to say that I don't like Tsukuba in Ibaraki so much, because I lived there for six years and it was kind of boring. Whenever I had a chance, I would go to Kashiwa in Chiba, or Tokyo. Kashiwa is a nice small city I moved to and lived in for three years after I got married and left Tsukuba.
One more student asked me how old I was, and where I was from. Well, I was born in California in the U.S. in 1962, so I am now 52 years old. (I just had my birthday on April 8th!) I lived in Australia for nine years, from when I was almost three years sold until I was almost 12 years old, then we moved back to the U.S., to Idaho, in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. I went to junior high school and high school, then later university, in Idaho.
Finally, one more student asked me if I was a Christian. Well, I am not a church-going one, so I'm afraid I'm not one to ask about the Bible. But here at Seigakuin, there are many people who are very knowledgable about the Bible, and whom students can ask many rich and interesting questions to.
That's all for now! Please keep your questions coming! At any time, please feel free to post comments and questions.
See you in class!
