面白い８年生・Crazy 8th grader

２週間前、３人の情緒障害のある学生たちと一緒に授業をした。情緒障害ってなんていう意味かよくわからないけれど、その３人は他の学生と別の教室で教えられる。僕と先生には初めて授業だった（普通は特別なサポートの先生に教えられる）。なので、英語の先生は彼らのレベルを知りたかったので、僕がネットで見つけたゲームをした。学生たちはだいたい普通なレベルだったので、学習障害なのかわからない。

しかし、ある学生は他の学生と比べたらうるさくて少し邪魔だった。小さい教室の中に長い間を一緒に過ごしたので、僕は昼ごはんを食べに教室に行った時、彼は僕に「こっちこっち！」と言った。（彼はみんなで食べるのだ。）昼ごはんを食べていた時に、なぜ彼は他の学生と別の教室で教えられるかわかった。よく破壊的な行為をするようだ。でも、昼食時に彼は面白かった。少し小学生っぽく行動したけど、ユマーのセンスは良かった。

彼は彼の年齢の僕のように行動したと思う。笑　コメディーのセンスだったら彼のほうが強いけどな。３人の少女たちと一緒に食べていた。彼が僕の目に見て、少し苦しんでいる声で「金タマが・・・下の金タマが・・・」と言ってから、「・・・かゆい」と言った時を、僕は明らかに覚えている。

僕の隣の少女は爆笑した。

次、口の中に食べ物があった時に咳をして、少しご飯が出て机に落ちて、少女たちを悪い気分にした。その後、少女たちに見て、モンゴルの喉歌のような音を出し始めた。

  
この日記を読んでいるみんなが想像する通り、昼食を食べているみんなが次に一体何が起こるのか心配していた。１、２秒後、クライマックスに着いた時に、机の中からティッシュを取ってみんなに見せた。みんなは爆笑した。笑

最終的に、昼食時間は終わっていた時に、彼は皿を片付けた後、グランド・ファナーレとして大きい中学生のゲップを出した。僕は笑いたかったが、そうすると先生は怒ると思ったので、遠慮した。後から考えれば、学生たちに英語の「gross」（きもい）という言葉を教えるところだった。笑

そのクラスと一緒に、もっと昼食を食べると思う。

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A two weeks ago, I did a lesson with three students that are “emotionally disabled”. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but those three students were taught English separately from other students. It was the first time I or the teacher taught English in that class (usually they have special support teachers). Because of that, the teacher wanted to understand their level, so we played a game that I found on the internet. For the most part, the students seemed pretty normal compared to their peers, so I’m not sure if they have learning disabilities or not.

However, one of the students seemed a little loud compared to the other students. Since we had so much time in a small room together, when I went into a classroom to eat lunch last week, he wanted me to sit with him and some other students (he eats with the other students). While eating lunch I began to understand why he is separated from the other students. He seems like he would be quite disruptive. But, during lunch, he was funny. He acted a bit like an elementary school student, but he also had a sense of comedy.

He acted a bit how I might act at his age, actually. lol His sense of comedy is better than mine, though. There were three girls sitting with us. I remember so clearly when he looked at me straight in the eyes and said, “My balls…my balls…”, with pain in his voice, then said, “…itch.”

The girl next to me started cracking up.

Then, while he had food in his mouth, he started coughing and a bit of rice flew out his mouth and onto his desk, grossing a couple of the girls out. Shortly afterward, he looked at them and started to make a strange Mongolian throat singing kind of noise. As you can imagine, they were worried what the hell was going on. A second or two later as he reached his climax, he pulled out a box of tissues from out of his desk. The crowd went wild. lol

Finally, as lunch time was wrapping up, he took his tray to the front of the class where the other trays were being collected. Then, in a grand finale, he let out the best junior high school belch he could muster. I wanted to laugh, but I felt that the teacher might be mad if I seemed to endorse that kind of behavior. In hindsight, I should have taken the opportunity to teach the class the expression “Eww, gross”. lol

I think I’ll try to eat with his class more often.

鹿児島の歓楽街・Nightlife in Kagoshima

一昨日の夜、二人の友達と一緒に居酒屋に食べに行った。いろいろな初めて食べたものを食べて、いい会話ができた。二人は英語で喋ったので、僕に楽だった。食べ物は全部おいしかったけど、一つの変なものを食べた。それは鳥刺しという。鳥の刺身だ。

ほとんどの日本人も鳥刺しを食べないから、日本人にも変に見えるかも。

「あぶりや　晃房」という居酒屋に行った。狭かったけど、居酒屋の中の狭さは弱みじゃなくて、強みだと思う。雰囲気は親しくて暖かいし。アメリカは似ているところがあると思うけど、行ったことはない。普通は大きいところだろう。

一人の友達は酒を飲むのが好きだから、僕も一緒に少し飲もうとした。食べきれてから、彼は「ほかのところに飲みに行きましょうか？」と聞いた。 彼ははしご酒の経験者で、ほかの友達は飲まなかったので、僕は安心で飲みに行った。普段に酒を飲まないけど、自分の限界を確認して、友達と遊んで、いい写真とビデオを撮りたかったので、初めてのはしご酒をした。

鹿児島は田舎だと呼ばれるけど、オリンピアという僕の故郷よりかなり大きいので、全然田舎の感じがしない。歩いた道はサラリーマンがいっぱいでびっくりした！サラリーレディーもいたみたいだけど。

帰る時間の前、二人のスウェーデン人の男の人と少し喋った。二人は８日間に日本に旅行するんだって。一人はこの旅行は１５年ぶりだと言った。少し変だけど、政治や社会問題の話題も出てきた。笑　僕のせいかな。二人は日本の観光を楽しむと嬉しい！

ところで、ほしご酒の経験者の友達は頭がよくてすっぴんの彼女を募集しているので、彼に気になったら、僕を連絡して、紹介してあげます。(^_^)

この経験で、いろいろのことが勉強になった。

１．神戸の大学の友達を作って、飲みに行こうよと言われて、少し飲んでもいいことに気づいた。何の国でも他人と一緒に酒を飲んだら、もっと仲良くなれるけど、特に日本には大事だという感じがする。なぜかと言うと、日本人は普通に本当の自分を見せないけど、居酒屋とかに行って、酒を飲んだら、酔わなくても、互いに打ち解けるだろう。つまり、飲み会に行くのは友達を作って、友達ともっと仲良くなるためだろう。もちろん、酒を飲まなくてもいいけど、相手と飲んだら、同じ経験をして、相手に信頼される感じがする。

２．一人で居酒屋に行くのは難しいけど、いい勉強になると思う。あぶり屋のメニューを見たら、何の食べ物があるのか分からなかったので、友達に任せた。一人で行ったら、スマホを持っていかなくてはいけないだろう。

３．鹿児島は田舎ではありません。

４．酔っぱらっても、性格はあまり変わらない。しかし、やっぱり勇気が出るんだな。酒やビールは英語で「liquid courage」という。「液体の勇気」という意味。笑　僕の勇気が出たので、もっといい写真とビデオを撮れるようになった。

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Two nights ago I went out to an izakaya with a couple of friends to eat and have a good time. (An izakaya is essentially a restaurant that Japanese go to to eat and drink alcohol, normally as a group.) My friends spoke in English, so I was able to relax. I tried many different foods for the first time, but perhaps the strangest was what is called "torisashi", otherwise known as "tori no sashimi", otherwise known as "raw chicken". Most Japanese don't eat raw chicken, so it probably seems strange even to most Japanese.

We went to an izakaya named Aburiya Koubou. It was small, but rather than a weakness, I see its size as a strength. It makes for a warm and intimate atmosphere. Most izakayas tend to be small, although there are large ones as well. I suppose there may be similar kinds of places in the US, but I've never been to any. American places tend to be bigger. In the video above, you might not notice that there is a bit more seating on a second floor, but otherwise what you see is what you get.

One of my friends enjoys drinking, so after we were done eating, he invited me and my other friend to go someplace else to drink some more. Since he is an experienced bar-hopper and my other friend didn't drink anything, I was able to go without worrying about anything. Usually I don't drink alcohol, but I wanted to test my limits, hang out with my friends, and take some good pictures and videos, so I went for it.

Kagoshima is called a rural area (inaka) by most other Japanese people, but seeing as how it is much larger than my hometown of Olympia, I can hardly call it rural. If I were to compare it to another city in the US, I'd say it's closer in size to Tacoma, Washington or San Antonio, Texas. I was surprised by the amount of office workers (otherwise known as "salarymen" in Japanese) while I walked along the street.

Before going back home, we met a couple of Swedish guys and had a short conversation. The two of them said they were traveling around Japan for eight days. One says that it was his first vacation in 15 years! It might seem strange, but we ended up talking about politics and social issues. (;^_^) Maybe that was my fault? Anyway, I hope they have a good time in Japan!

I learned a lot from this experience.

1. I realized that if friends in Kobe ask me to go out drinking with them, I can drink a little without any effects. Drinking alcohol together with others brings people together in most any country, but I think it has particular importance in Japan. If you asked why, I'd say it's because although Japanese people tend to be closely guarded most of the time, when they go out together and drink at an izakaya, they will let down their guard and open up. That's true even if they don't get drunk. You can see it as a designated setting for making friends and getting to know each other more. Of course, it's okay to refrain from alcohol, but I think people who drink tend not to trust those that don't drink so easily.

2. Going to an izakaya alone might be difficult, but it would be a good learning experience. When I looked at Aburiya's menu, I couldn't tell what kind of food they had (no pictures), so I had to have my friends order for me. If I go alone, then I'll need to take my trusty smartphone with me to look up the words.

3. Kagoshima is not a rural area.

4. I don't change much when I get drunk. I was a bit more brave, though. That's to that good old liquid courage, I was able to take some pictures and videos that I might not otherwise have taken. If you're interested in seeing me drunk, I posted a video above with me jabbering on. It's boring, but maybe some people might find it interesting.