You know you're in Fuku...

Tuesday marked the last day of my epic trip to Kyushu with R-chan. I’ll write more about it later, don’t you worry. Anyways, I think I took all kinds of transport to get back to home sweet home in Fuku: two cab rides, one flight, one monorail ride and one ride on the faithful shinkansen.

When we got to K-town, I placed my bags down on the local platform. The beige bag contained my laptop case and some Japanese textbooks. The overstuffed overnight bag contained about six days’ worth of clothes and souvenirs. (Note to self: That Muji bag is not meant for 7.36 kilograms of stuff. My poor shoulder!)

While ordering a taxi cab on my phone, I saw two of my former students. I taught them for a few months before they graduated from JHS two years ago. I don’t really remember their names, but I always make it a point to greet any of my kids when I see them out and about. They giggled when I started talking to them in English. So, I tried spitting out some of the Japanese I learned over my two-week course in Kyushu. They were tickled pink when they heard me use some advanced grammar points. I'm guessing they were surprised, because I couldn't speak a lick of Japanese two years ago. 

It was interesting to hear them refer to me as “sensei.” I often forget that I'm a teacher! HA. These two students, in particular, asked me what I had been doing over summer vacation.  As we boarded the train, I told them about my trip to Kyushu. I tried having some English small talk with them, but it was painful. I did learn what high school they both attend. But they couldn’t understand simple questions like “Do you play the guitar?” (One of the kids had his guitar case strapped to his back.) Wow, epic fail! Just shows that English isn't the top priority for all of my students, eh. Living in the countryside, I can see how some kids aren't motivated to try any harder.

I guess that's how many kids in Canada feel about learning French as a second language... C'est la vie.