May 20th: how Fridays rule
[ posted by mcdeviltoast ]
Day 246
I didn't have to kick anyone out of the first class, and Angry & Vinnie Bufante relished skewering their teacher with biting lines like "Big Fish is in the zoo," "Big Fish is in the bathroom," and "she is a fool," all in one acidic verse. My guitar callouses feel odd and I wonder if they'll last and if so, will the lack of sensation in my fingertips affect my piano playing?
For the last two classes, both Rhys and Heather attended and the kids were charming. It's always a fear that they will get rowdy or reticent when confronted with new exciting faces, but the happy clever hordes of classes 7 and 8 were sociological silk. Bill in class 7 was especially enthusiastic getting a little ahead of his own English capacity at times, shouting out "swimming" any time he could, whether appropriate or not. I mentioned to Rhys and Heather that he compensated energywise for that which he lacked in "street clevers," a symptom I've been here too long when I start inventing my own Chinglishisms. My students coined a couple of their own: "very yes" and "next now." (I told them I'd sing "Hey Jude" next week and one adamant little sweetheart said, "No! Next...now! Next now!"
At one point Bill made swim motions with his hands but kept saying "Sing" and I was really confused until I realized he wanted to do the swimming pool song. We went through that, "We Will Rock You," "Yellow Submarine," and the "Wishy Washy Washer Woman." Then, someone asked me if I liked Japan and the class turned into a bloodthirsty, shouting mob of warmongers. Kids expressed their intense hatred for Japan and made motions of shooting people and cutting throats with their Exacto knives. The Nanjing massacre (which was played down recently in the Japanese textbook which sparked the renewed rivalry) is the biggest (and only) reason for the hatred. I made a mental note to teach them "All You Need is Love" or "Give Peace a Chance."
Class 8 was nearly an identical experience minus the sabre-rattling finale. After classes, we learned the originators of the Suzhou excursion (Matt and Erin) were bailing out so Matt could play rugby on Sunday. Lame.
For dinner, Mike, Heather and I rode to Pizza House, then met Rhys and Jeni at Royal Young for coffee. I ended up playing piano for a bit because the piped-in music was ruining my vacation. It was odd to play without singing, to hear all the details in the instrumentation.
We rode back, fell asleep to Dr. Strangelove.
I didn't have to kick anyone out of the first class, and Angry & Vinnie Bufante relished skewering their teacher with biting lines like "Big Fish is in the zoo," "Big Fish is in the bathroom," and "she is a fool," all in one acidic verse. My guitar callouses feel odd and I wonder if they'll last and if so, will the lack of sensation in my fingertips affect my piano playing?
For the last two classes, both Rhys and Heather attended and the kids were charming. It's always a fear that they will get rowdy or reticent when confronted with new exciting faces, but the happy clever hordes of classes 7 and 8 were sociological silk. Bill in class 7 was especially enthusiastic getting a little ahead of his own English capacity at times, shouting out "swimming" any time he could, whether appropriate or not. I mentioned to Rhys and Heather that he compensated energywise for that which he lacked in "street clevers," a symptom I've been here too long when I start inventing my own Chinglishisms. My students coined a couple of their own: "very yes" and "next now." (I told them I'd sing "Hey Jude" next week and one adamant little sweetheart said, "No! Next...now! Next now!"
At one point Bill made swim motions with his hands but kept saying "Sing" and I was really confused until I realized he wanted to do the swimming pool song. We went through that, "We Will Rock You," "Yellow Submarine," and the "Wishy Washy Washer Woman." Then, someone asked me if I liked Japan and the class turned into a bloodthirsty, shouting mob of warmongers. Kids expressed their intense hatred for Japan and made motions of shooting people and cutting throats with their Exacto knives. The Nanjing massacre (which was played down recently in the Japanese textbook which sparked the renewed rivalry) is the biggest (and only) reason for the hatred. I made a mental note to teach them "All You Need is Love" or "Give Peace a Chance."
Class 8 was nearly an identical experience minus the sabre-rattling finale. After classes, we learned the originators of the Suzhou excursion (Matt and Erin) were bailing out so Matt could play rugby on Sunday. Lame.
For dinner, Mike, Heather and I rode to Pizza House, then met Rhys and Jeni at Royal Young for coffee. I ended up playing piano for a bit because the piped-in music was ruining my vacation. It was odd to play without singing, to hear all the details in the instrumentation.
We rode back, fell asleep to Dr. Strangelove.
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[ posted by mcdeviltoast @ 5/20/2005 10:20:00 PM ]
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The dumbtronica act Montana & McDeviltoast, along with their friends, keep each other updated on their activities. Much fun having by all, and Pockys fear for their lives!