カブトムシ

I forgot! I said I was gonna post a story from the zine I'm working on!

The problem is... for the last week or two, I wasn't working on it. I think what happened is, when I work on this zine, I miss living in Japan. "Working" on the zine means I read all the emails I sent while I was living there and copy and paste anything fitting into a document. Sometimes I feel sad because I still miss my students. Reading all the funny things they did that I wrote to friends about reminds me of that. For example, this story reminded me of Reiji Miyauchi and his older brother Jyoji:

"Today between classes, a student yelled, "Alissa!" When I turned I saw him smiling and holding out a beetle - almost as big as his hand. It's the kind with the long "nose." It scared me because I've never seen one before. He handed it to a classmate walking by who put it into his pocket like it was nothing and walked away."

Reiji and Jyoji weren't good students (totally uninterested in English) but I was constantly bugging them to participate in class for the sanity of the Japanese teachers. Yes I actually know their names and still remember almost three months after leaving. I remember when I realized they were brothers (one year apart) and asked Reiji if Jyoji was his older brother to verify. I had over 330 students at my school so I couldn't remember everyone's names. The students who I had to hassle a little to pay attention in class or the ones who tried to talk to me anytime they got the chance are the ones whose names I learned.

I recently decided I want to visit Japan in late winter next year for a new year party my calligraphy class will have. I got really happy when I realized I could visit my school and see the students who were in 7th and 8th grade last year. Last year's 8th graders will be preparing to graduate by then. Those kids became a huge part of my life for a year, so it's painful that I can't see them every day now. I can only hope a few of them come to America some day and visit me. Sorry, mushy, I know.