Current mood:	bouncy
Current music:	Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within OST

From English Assistant Language Teacher to Cooking Teacher
I seem to make quite a career in Japan. I don't think I wrote anything about my last experience as an assistant language teacher some time in november I think, and now that I have done that a second time (yesterday), I guess it's time to catch up with that.~♥

It seems to be sort of a tradition amongst the exchange students of the uni here that we go to the English classes of some Unesco organization here (don't ask me what the Unesco part has to do with anything, I have no clue either) and both assist with their English lessons and talk about our respective countries and cultures in English of course.
The teacher in question, Itakura-san, told us that she is specifically asking for young people whose first language isn't English rather than Americans, Australians, Brits, you name it, because she wants to show how English can connect people all around the world even when you didn't learn it from your parents or your natural surroundings. Which is a way thinking I both find find impressive and fully support, now that I think of it.
The first time I assisted her classes in november, I was with a Czech who spoke fluent English and almost fluently Japanese (handsome guy, too bad most western guys here are more interested by cute japanese girls), the pupils almost all retirees (both male and female) and middle-aged housewives. They were AWESOME! I wanted to hug all of them, they were so motivated, interested and funny, I really enjoyed those two hours, even though I had to speak through a microphone and I hate those with a passion.

Anyway. I heard yesterday that they seemed to enjoy that day with me as well and that they are asking when they'll see me again, which made me all warm in my little heart. But I don't know whether I'll have the same pupils again on my next assigned classes in february or not (but I will be with the Czech guy again as it seems... *g*)

But let's talk about yesterday, or more exactly the cooking class that preoccupied all my mind for those last days and quite some time before my holiday. Because obviously, being German and all and on the list of acquaintances of that English teacher makes you the perfect candidate for cooking teacher, when a junior high school wants to learn more about german dishes. More exactly potato dishes, and potato dishes only, although I told them that most potato dishes are rather side dishes and that it would be quite boring to serve roast potatos or the like without anything like meat or fish or well, anything!
I finally came up with the idea of potato pancakes (aka Kartoffelpuffer) - although I have never done any myself before, putting deep-frozen potato pancakes from the supermarket into an oven as a child doesn't count in my book, and certainly not when you have to entertain a whole class for an hour or two. So here I was, testing cooking recipes over the last days, desperately trying to know what the hell I should be talking about on saturday. (Thanks to eriakai by the way who willingly volunteered as a guinea pig for my very first Kartoffelpuffer. Merci poussin!~♥)
It went surprisingly well. Great even! I would be lying to you if I told you I was enthralled by the idea to use apple jam and ketchup instead of apple puree or any other topping, but the apple jam turned out to be a great substitute and even the ketchup wasn't so bad either, and the pupils and assisting adults were once again great and so much fun to be around. I was flirted with by a fourteen your old teen with braces, had even a "I love you" in the end (due to every pupil who had to thank me or tell/ask me anything either in English or in Japanese and he probably ran out of sophisticated options although being quite shy otherwise, but still LOL!), I gave one other (cute!) fourteen year old boy my phone number (because he stayed in Paris for the most time of his life before he had to return to Japan recently, and he was so happy to have someone to talk to in French), and... uhm, I can perfectly hear you over there, humming Simon & Garfunkel. I'd be very obliged to you if you wouldn't mind stopping this, like now!^^;

I wasn't prepared to have another English class later on that day. But I had so much fun with the junior highschoolers that I agreed on a whim, and here I was, with another teacher, talking about new year traditions in Germany and playing vocabulary games with teens of all ages. Where I stayed quite a while with another 18 year-old boy with braces, whose flirting methods were all but subtle. But it was still a lot of fun, especially that I seemed to have one of my Good-Japanese days where I was easily able to have several conversations with both teachers and students like it were the most natural thing to do, and gaaawd was I motivated afterwards, I could have learned kanji and grammar for hours afterwards if it weren't for me lacking many hours of sleep from the last days. Why can't I have one of those days more often, I usually just stutter around and barely understand people otherwise.;_;

Ooookay, and now, what could I possibly do with the 6 shiny new 1.000¥ bills that I got as a pay yesterday? Maybe this should cover the ticket for the Takarazuka show I wanted to go to in march...~♥ *sparkle sparkle*