Keitai Photos.

These are pictures I've taken with my cell phone ("keitai")

The bartender of a Kudamatsu bar called Lern Ber helping Brett and I plan out our Kyushu trip in December.

Our odaiko (lit. "big drum") waits to be loaded after an outdoor performance in Hiroshima.

Ko-chan, 3 years. She is the youngest drummer, the third daughter of Saori, who is the kick-assest drummer in our group. The three girls (aged 7, 5, 3 years) took my cell and took pictures of each other on the bus-ride back from the Hiroshima gig. Check out the crazy au-naturel hair below. I don't understand how it did that.

An aikido meet.


And finally....

Brett (on top) and Paul. You write your own caption.

Valentines Day.

I got a stack of cards from my students! It was their homework, though.

One especially touching card was written by a boy who wrote:

"Dear Ken, Thank you for your kind teaching! You are the Prince of Teachers!!"

Followed by, in big bold strokes: 下克上!!

I checked my dictionary to see what that meant: "Supplanting one's superior".

Yikes.

Last night, at the local supermarket, I saw a normal, middle-aged man wearing a Davey Crockett-style raccoon hat. Just out shopping with his wife.

My Dad Is Stronger!

I prepared a lesson using comparatives -- a very simple lesson, but one that encouraged kids to be creative. The format was basically: My dad is stronger than a _________.

Here are some noteworthy responses:

"My dad is stronger than E.T." - Ryusuke. I told him quite honestly that that's not saying much since E.T. is probably the wimpiest alien to ever invade earth. On the other hand,

"My dad is stronger than an alien!" - Mizuki, who, when I asked for clarification, made clear that the aliens in question were in fact from the Aliens movie trilogy (see picture below).

The class voted and it was determined that Mizuki's dad is way stronger than Ryusuke's dad.

After we mastered that, we moved on to more comparatives:

"My dad is rounder than a basketball!"
"My dad is smarter than Edison!"
"My dad is older than the earth!" (So is mine, I said to the boy.)

And finally, to:

"My boyfriend is cooler than Youta!" - from a girl who obviously didn't think much of the boy sitting beside her.

"My mind is wider than the sea!"

And some very metaphysical mind-exploding ones such as:

"The mouse is bigger than the world".

And one girl who really wanted an A+:

"Ken is cooler than any Hollywood star!", written by a very bright and cheerful girl named Kanako with whom I had the following conversation just before class (ALL in Japanese):

Kanako: Hey, Ken! Are you coming to my class today??
Ken: Hey Kanako! Sure am!
Kanako: Sweet! By the way, I'm really good at English!
Ken: Really?!
Kanako: Yeah, I've gotten like, pretty much perfect on all my tests!
Ken: Wow! That's amazing!
Kanako: But I can't speak English at all. I can only write it. I can't really read it either. But I'm really really good at tests. Seriously, Ken, I'm amazing!
Ken: [in his head] I find it amazing that you are praising yourself so boldly in front of everyone in a society which holds self-deprecation in the highest regard. [Out loud]: We shall see, Kanako, we shall see.
Kanako: I'm really good.