I found my first cockroach last night! I am still upset about it-- I'm not usually bothered all that much by insects, but cockroaches just have such a sordid reputation. I was happily moving furniture about in my apartment, trying to get everything tidy and *just so* when I picked up one of my potted plants to try it out in a different location. As I lifted the pot, a small piece of dirt fell out of the bottom. I did a double-take-- "did that piece of dirt just move?" I got closer for a better look, and the dirt started to scuttle!! I grabbed the nearest thing at hand, hestitated for half a second (I hate killing bugs) and crushed the poor little bugger to death with a cork coaster, all the while steadily going "eeeeeeee!eeeeeeee!". I threw the coaster and the roach corpse away promptly (into the "burnable" garbage of course... I've almost got this garbage system figured out). I then proceded to wash, vacuum and disinfect all the surfaces in the living room. Roaches! Yuck!

Work is good, and I've had a couple more kids classes, and so am getting the hang of things. I've heard some real horror stories... in one branch a few years ago, they gave a bunch of kids classes to this guy who couldn't STAND children. He had the kids classes for about 6 months before leaving for another job. This is unusual, because usually instructors rotate children's classes every three months. A new instructor came in to teach the kids with the usual drills (Instructor: It's a jacket. What is it?" Kids: "It's a jacket.") He quickly found the kids had learned a unique way of responding.

Instructor: "It's a cat. What is it?"

Kids (in chorus): "It's a cat, you damn kids!"

Misunderstanding due to language barriers is a common problem. If the students in an adult class don't understand a word or phrase, it must be explained using English only. This means that I do a lot of pantomime, a lot of drawing, and a lot of hmmming and ummmming. Have you ever tried to explain "I owe you one"? Or-- here's my favorite so far-- "tricky"? "Tricky" is very tricky to explain! Some of the students are very fun though, and can get very creative with their English. One guy, Toshihide, is so enthusiastic that he just burbles away with the first thing that comes to his lips: "I yesterday boss want not so long angry! It's a feeling. I can't explain! Boss pizza when taste so good to have it! Ha ha ha! It's a good enjoy time." He's so much fun! I much prefer those with messy verbal diarreah to those who just sit and stare... It's a conversation school! I can understand when a student is shy and needs time to warm up to me and the lesson. That's fine, and I can cope. It's when I see the same student over and over and they don't seem to be getting anywhere... oh well. I've only just begun!

Tonight Maz is going to come over and we're going to read tarot cards and drink red wine and watch some episodes of "Lost". I can't wait! English on my television! I'm still enjoying Japanese TV though... there seem to be an awful lot of shows about food. And every single one features EXTREME CLOSE UPS of the food. The tiniest detail of fat sizzling on the Kobe beef... the wee-est particle of spice in the shining golden curry. Also, there seems to be a lot of focus on meeting your food before you eat it. I saw one episode where the food-adventurers went to an ostrich farm. The adventurers had on one-piece jumpsuits-- one guy in blue, one guy in red, and the girl in white. They stand around, feeding the ostriches and trying to pet them. Then Red Guy decides to try to ride an ostrich... he gets about 2 feet before being kicked off. White Girl squeals. Then she tries, but it's half-hearted, with much squealing; the ostrich gets away before she gets near it. Blue Guy manages to grab one and leap on, and rides for about three yards before going ass-over-teakettle on the ground. When he gets up, there is a large smear of ostrich dung on his lower lip, looking like a Hitler moustache. Everyone has a good laugh, then they head inside to eat some nice fresh ostrich meat. Funny, isn't it? I kind of like the idea of being honest about where your food comes from. Apparently at aquariums, children press their noses against the glass saying "Oishiiiii..." ("Delicious...")!