Bugs in Boxes

I've had, well, not a zillion things to post about, but a fair few.  Yet somehow I always seem to get distracted by, erm, not-all-that-terribly-important things.  I am a bad blogger.

But today I got a package from my mom (thank you, Mom!), which meant that not only am I experiencing a large amount of glee at the moment, my students also got to enjoy some goodies.  I tell you what, the phrase "American candy" is bargaining gold with seven-year-old Japanese kids.  "Once you finish this worksheet, we're going to have our snack.  And my mom sent me some American candy, so..."  Cue dead silence, other than the scratching of pencils and the occasional "Ah! Mistake!" from one particularly handwriting-conscious second-grade girl.

The other big hit was, oddly enough, a three-dollar bag filled with plastic bugs and spiders of varying sizes and species, which provided much entertainment before class and during snack time.  I expected three of my six students to love them, and the other three not to care in the least, but a concentrated group effort was put into organizing them on the carpet.  At one point, the stuffed giraffe (also from my mom) did battle with a few of the creatures.  And, of course, the braver students chased the others around with the largest of the spiders.  In other words, great fun was had by all.

These are actually two good-looking kids in real life, I swear...

My dog is pimpin', and other life updates

So... It's been how long since I updated this thing?  Eesh.  I guess that with the end of summer school (working straight from 8:30-2:30 every weekday) and the return of regular school (working a split schedule from 8:30-12:00 and 2:30-6:30 almost every weekday), I'm back to just being lazy in my off time.

I still haven't had any great, revelatory insights into my life in Japan, which is probably a good thing, because I'm not sold on the idea of great, revelatory insights in the first place.  It seems a bit too easy.  I am still experiencing ups and downs, though I no longer dread walking to the supermarket, knowing that people will inevitably stare at me as they walk/bike/drive by.  I am working on my "101 in 1001" list, though I have yet to update it.  I am learning to cope with the communication issues that arise daily, but am also working to remedy them by studying more and more Japanese.  I am slowly but surely furnishing my apartment, having bought bright, happy new futon sheets last weekend.  I've even made some (gasp) friends, and am putting forth the effort to be social--which, if you've ever met me, you know is a bit difficult.

And as for the title of this post, well, I do teach lots of kids with, though often impressive, still limited English skills.  One day during summer school, one extremely precocious five-year-old brought her stuffed dog to class, and had it out during playtime.  When I asked what the dog's name was, I received the following in bright, happy reply: "My dog is pimpin'!"

It was a pretty big struggle to control myself.  After I inquired further, I decided that the dog's name was either "Pim-Pim" or "Pin-Pin," but no matter how many times I asked the student to repeat herself, including when I attempted to correct her pronunciation, she responded, "Yes, my dog is pimpin'."  It only became funnier as she got more and more frustrated with my repeated question, which in turn made her sound like she couldn't believe that I would question the pimpin' qualities of her dog.

And I guessed that, if pressed, I would say that I have had two semi-revelatory breakthroughs.  The first: seven- and eight-year-olds are remarkably easy to bribe with small items like stamps and stickers.  The second is that the bribery of seven- and eight-year-olds is not beneath me, and I am not ashamed of it.