My students crack me up. And I say part 1 because this is only the beginning....
And all of this is in Japanese when it happens...well broken Japanese on my part.
One day at the kindergarten....
Student: Jasmine-sensei...your skin!
Jasmine: Huh?
Student: It's dark. We need to go wash your hands.
Jasmine: Ah, no, no. This is my skin color.
(He doesn't listen, grabs my arms and leads me to the sink. We proceed to wash my hands and when were finished I show him my hands again.)
Jasmine: See, this is my skin color.
Student: OOOH! Oh. Okay, let's play.
At an Elementary School:
Student (1st grader): Jasmine-sensei....are you black all over?
Jasmine: Yep!
Student: No way!
Jasmine: Yes, way!
Student(A 3rd grader): Jasmine-sensei, what juice do you like?
Jasmine: Well, I like orange juice and apple--
Student: I like apple, orange, banana, pineapple, grapefruit and grape, and, and and, and and.....
Jasmine: -____________-
At the Middle School
I approach two of my students during the lunch break to collect their activity books.
Jasmine: Did you finish the Spring break worksheet?
Students: Yeah!
(They go to their desks and bring their activity books to me.)
Jasmine: Thank you!
(As I'm walking back to the teacher's room, I glance at their worksheets. It's all in Japanese when clearly they were supposed to write in English. I walk back to them.)
Jasmine: This is all in Japanese.
Students: Huh?
Jasmine: You wrote it all in Japanese. It's an English activity, yah know.
Students: Oooooh, naruhodo(really).
My face: -______-
Jasmine: You have until today. No. Tomorrow.
Students give me the "life sucks" face.
During lunch one day....
Student: Jasmine-sensei, do you have kids?
Jasmine: No.
Student: Oh. ( And continues to eat his lunch in silence)
At a tug-o-war event. I was at a vending machine when a kid came up to me and started to mess with the buttons as I was trying to buy a drink.
Jasmine: Unnnh uhh! This is my drink!
Kid: No! It's mine! I want that tea.
Jasmine: I don't like that--stop messin' with the buttons!
Kid: Meeeeeh! Heeey, are you Japanese?
(I'm a bit taken back by his question. Usually it's "what country are you from?")
Jasmine:. Yes. I'm Japanese.
Kid: No way! Cool! I've never met a Japanese that looked like you!! SUGOIII!
Jasmine: I'm joking. I'm not Japanese.
Kid: Oh. Chinese?
Jasmine: Guess again.
Kid: Korean?
(Is he pulling my long leg? Does he go to school? One of the ALT's must have taught him at some point!)
Jasmine: Noope.
Kid: NAN DE??!?!
Jasmine: I'm American.
Kid: WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH! I've never seen an American before.
Jasmine: Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu (Nice to meet you.)
Kid: Yoroshiku Ongeaishimasu!
(And we bow.)
Random Questions
Student: Do you have a boyfriend?
Jasmine No.
Kid: Can you me buy some tea?
Jasmine: NO!
Student: HEY JASMINE! Give me money?
Jasmine: No.
Student: Are you married?
Jasmine: No.
Student: But whyyyy?
Jasmine: Are you ready to play a game?
Students look at me with "fml" written all over their faces.
Student: Do you like Japan?
Jasmine: Yes!
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Naked
Lessons to plan.
Well, the groceries are bought...
Damn, I deserve some time off.
Off to the onsen!
Soothe these aching bones.
Good conversation with the wise.
It's feels good to be naked.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
World Autism Awareness Day
"It must be hard having a brother like that...?
What do you mean like that? With Autism?
Yeah, that. You know..you can't like...talk or anything. It must be hard.
Ah, well no. No, it's not."
Words may fail at times, but there are ways beyond speaking. Even though Paco cannot say many words, he can surely find a way to communicate through his drawings, playing music, and his enigmatic facial expressions. He is certainly not afraid to protest when he's upset, or cry when he's sad. I think a common stereotype associated with people who have autism is that they're these emotionless voids trapped in some far off world. No. My brother is present. He is human.
Paco and I connected through the movies we watched. We'd watch a movie or a show and then reenact it. Paco loooooves to re-wind his favorite scenes from movies. Heehee, I think he picked that up from me. Together, we'd act out scenes from Alice and Wonderland, Jurassic Park and countless Disney movies. We had dance parties to the song "I Like to Move It" from the movie Madagascar and pretended we were the silly penguins. If one of us wasn't up to playing, we knew something was wrong. Words were not always necessary.
But when we were happy, we got lost in worlds of the Jurassic age and Dr. Seuss. Side by side, we read our school books and did our math equations. We picked out Christmas trees and lit up the house during the Holiday season. Autism does not inhibit our family from loving one another and growing together. We'll all here for Paco and he's here for us.
I dedicate this blog post to my little brother Paco, who's not so little now. He now towers over me at about 6'4. I pray for all the researchers and teachers who work with people with autism. To the families, I pray that you stay strong, stay patient. Every day, we found out more about autism and how we can help our loved ones. Hang in there!
Thank you to my lil bro for teaching me to keep the imagination alive and to keep constant love in our hearts.
Happy World Austism Awareness Day.
To learn more about autism, please visit the Autism Speaks Website.
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