mickey mouse, robots and maps.

this week, the unit for some lessons is based on writing and reciting a speech the students write before class. some topics included: global issues, what your name means, coincidence, and your favorite restaurant. i thought a "speech" (which was for a beginner level, only about four or five sentences) on a favorite restaurant would be the most boring, mundane class...however, with all my classes the most seemingly boring topic ends up being the best class!

i have to admit, i have devloped a certain fondness for some choice students. but ONLY because they really want to be in class, and everytime i see them they are SO happy to see me and are really excited to have me teach. that's legit, right?

anyway, for the class that had their speech unit on favorite restaurants one of my students wrote about Chef Mickey, a disney themed restaurant at Disney Sea in Tokyo. why was this restaurant his favorite? because you can eat sushi shaped like mickey mouse, meet and take pictures with disney characters, and the atmosphere is perfect for a date with your boyfriend or girlfriend. ha!

i also teach a discussion class for the more advanced students. they are assigned articles out of this book the school created and every week they discuss it. okay, so a lot of the articles are off base...like this week: robots!(?)

the article was all over the place, defining robots as toasters to internet search engines to solar powered robot bugs. last week, the article was on music and it was super boring (side note: no one in japan knows acid mothers temple, the bordeoms, or afriampo). surprise! this week's discussion was REALLY interesting!

students defined robots, in the saturday afternoon class, as cute (toasters were machines, and heat seeking missles were NOT robots because they were evil, and robots are NEVER evil!). also, many students believe that robots will evolve into creatures that have feelings and will be more intelligent than humans.

finally, during my incredibly hectic saturday (i teach seven classes back to back) one of my students gave me the cutest gift ever! i teach her every week, sometimes twice, for private lessons. she is so nice! she also is obsessed with london and has been there eight times...she was even stopped on her last time there in the airport in customs because she goes there so often.

during our last private lesson, we discussed shopping and sightseeing in tokyo. i told her i wanted to visit harajuku during my weekend and she explained how to walk there from shibuya. well, on saturday she stopped by my classroom inbetween classes to give me a homemade map she drew. it is so cute! its a work of art! its incredibly detailed (everything hand drawn) with the different streets and shops i should visit, not to mentioned she decorated it with pictures and stickers of london.

teaching is so fun!