Elementary School Band Quarterly

Kiseki.

Do any other ALTs have this problem? There was a time when I actually enjoyed this song, a time before the music teachers at both of my schools also decided they enjoyed this song, and that the marching bands should rehearse it non-stop. Now simply hearing the first few notes is enough to inspire a loathing that is surpassed only by the despair of contemplating how many more times I will have to hear it before the school year ends.

Andrew W.K. also did a cover of this song, which is a major thematic departure from his previous work, such as It's Time to Party, Party Hard, and Party Till You Puke.

Hoot And A Holler

Actually, people in Asago are far more likely to mistake me for a Canadian than a hillbilly. Then again, people back home are likely to make the same mistake.

And bizarrely enough, a Japanese guy called my school today (okay, so that part's not so weird). Apparently, he heard that I'm from West Virginia and wants to talk about bluegrass music? He was talking really fast, so I'm not sure exactly what he said, but this promises to be interesting.

まわして！まわして！

One of the first things they told us about teaching English in elementary schools is that you're not actually supposed to be teaching English. You're supposed to convince the kids that learning English isn't extremely difficult and miserable, it's fun. So we practice some pronunciation, play games, color pictures, and so on.

Of course, as soon as these kids get to Junior High, English class will become extremely difficult and miserable, mostly because the Elementary classes do nothing to prepare the students for things like, you know, reading and writing, because of all the games and whatnot.

At any rate, I'm not sure if my kids think English is fun, but they definitely think their teacher is hilarious, what with all the piggyback rides and kung-fu battles and noogies and such.


Update on comics: So my scanner and printer are cooperating again, but my computer refuses to accept that Photoshop is a program and not some sort of hideous computer version of super-aids. The basic result is that comics will go up, but they will be of even less quality than usual. So yeah.