permanent marker and sweat that is not mine. . .

this is what is currently covering my body thanks to my elementary students. . .

at some point over the last few weeks, i had to start saying goodbyes and actually confessing to my kids that i am in fact returning to america. . .

a confession which they can’t seem to grasp. . . i don’t think i believe it yet, so why should they really, right? “you mean you’re going back to visit america this summer?”“oh, you’re going to go to america to get permission from your family to marry tsuyoshi and live in japan, right?”. . . ummm, no, i am moving back to America. . . you know, my home country?

or when i tell the teachers that this is my last class with fifth grade or whatever. . . they just nod their heads like oh, yeah, it is almost summer break. . . but when the end of class rolls around and i want to take a memorial photograph, the teachers just shout out “ええ！you mean you are leaving japan?!?!” ummm, yes, i told you this before. . .

seriously, after you live here for three years, you become so much a part of the community that no one believes you when you finally decide to leave. . .

my 小学校二年生 girls wouldn’t stop holding my hand during reading time. . . after class they gave me these huge sweaty hugs. . . one girl had tears streaming down her face when she let go. . .it’s so sweet but so sad!

and all the kids have been asking for my autograph. . . this is not something new. . . the requests have just multiplied. . . sign my hat. . . oh, how about my backpack. . . エリン先生 sign my plastic divider thingy. . . one kid asked me to sign his jeans. . .it’s ridiculous. i think their parents would kill me if their kid walked in with my signature on everything he/she owned. . . the students were even laughing at themselves and started calling me “夢人エリン” (celebrity erinn). . . some kids left with five signatures!

anyway, i haven’t said many official goodbyes yet. . . next wednesday will be one of the hardest days because it’s my last day at the elementary school in my town. . . i’ve been with the students there for three years!! i’m planning to dance for them as a farewell “present”. . . haha. . . wonder if elementary and junior high school boys enjoy watching their teachers dance? ;)

ahhh, three years will be up soon. . . too soon. . .

お久しぶりで～す！

春が来たね！ (spring has come). . .
soon japan will be pink and filled with people eating and drinking merrily beneath the cherry blossoms. . .

in honor of these two weeks with no classes, my goal is to update my blog a bit. . . though i should also do my taxes and work on my plans for life after august. . . but i will do my best to record the events of the past six months? year? ha, where to start?!?

頑張りま～す!

めずらしい！

i woke up to a full 5cm of snow this morning! in my 2 1/2 years here, this is only the third or fourth time it has snow enough to leave a nice white layer on the ground. . . the first time the snow has been hard enough to pack into snowballs and [portable] snowmen. . . and the first time i have been able to have a snowball fight with my kids. . . when armed with very hard snow, elementary second graders become quite dangerous. . .
snow here, however, almost always melts by noon . . .this is fortunate because i am going to watch a performance piece by jan fabre at the art museum in kochi tonight (and seeing as how kochi has never heard of a snow plow, i would not be going if the sun had not come out). . . yet it is unfortunate due to the fact that it snows so little here that it seems a shame to have it all disappear in four hours. . .