Alistair, what big teeth you have!

In a recent exercise my students practiced their first prepositional phrases;

“Where is the pen?”

“It is on the desk!!”

“Where is Alistair?”

“He is under the desk!”

“Where is Andrew?”

“Andrew Sensei is in the desk!”

“...what?”

...and so on.

Eventually they were given a work sheet in which they were asked to draw a room as we described it to them. The Japanese teacher I work with decided to include Alistair, which meant that I received around 60 drawings of Alistair from my 13 year old students. While it didn't feel right to take photos of their work to post online, I did recreate some of my favorites in Microsoft paint.

And here they are. My beloved alligator became a platypus, a bumpy snake, and a fanged cardboard box. Very adorable. I think Alistair was flattered but he never says anything, so it's hard to tell.

Later the crazy artwork continued when Libby and I played “Pictionary” with the Junior High English club. I was drawing a shark for my team, when one of the students blurted out “Is it a Coelacanth?” (pronounced 'sea-la-canth') I was so surprised I almost let the timer run out. Keep in mind that this student is still learning basic verbs in her first year English class, and she knows the name of an obscure South African fish in English. I don't think my students will ever stop surprising me.

Here is a picture of a Coelacanth, taken from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. They were thought to be extinct (since the time of the dinosaurs) until a scientist noticed the denizens of an African fishing village patching their bicycle tires with its hide.

On a wholly different note, I noticed that I had a number of random food photographs in my camera files. I like food, and I like taking pictures of my food, so now I will enjoy showing you my food.

First, I made Spam sushi last week. I found a can of Spam at the local foreign foods store for 500 yen (about $6 with current exchange rates). It was expensive, but it was well worth it. This culinary triumph, called “Spam musubi” was invented in Hawaii, where it is very popular. Supposedly Barack Obama (a Hawaii native, in case you missed the multiple releases of his birth certificate) is a big fan of Spam musubi, and now I can say I am too!

Here's my dinner from earlier tonight. Pot-stickers and potato salad from the Japanese deli. Potato salad is really popular here in Japan, and is served in many bento boxes (think a compartmentalized lunch-box).

I found some ready-made curry at the grocery store with Pokemon on it. I bought some because I am an adult.

Last Friday I went to the Pizza Hut which is in the first floor of my apartment building. I got the pizza with extra cheese, although the squid and mayonnaise pizza was awfully tempting. (I kid, I do not believe you can get a pizza with these two ingredients together...you have to order them separately)

Finally, here are the current contents of my freezer. Haagen Daas is a major ice cream seller here in Japan, but the flavors are very different from the ones we have in America. Vanilla and Strawberry are the only two favorites that seem to have made it across the pacific. Caramel, Green Tea, Mango, and Rum Raisin are the major flavors I've been able to find.

Also, you can buy little bags of frozen hash-brown bites for $1.00 here. People come to Japan with the idea that they'll lose weight eating traditional Japanese foodstuffs- but with all the choices of fried foods and sweets it's very difficult!

In my next post I will show off my handsome collection of Japanese junk-mail, but until then おやすみなさい！

-Andrew