Playing for a living

Nagoya city

The picture is of a little buddha statue near the International Centre downtown. He's really little, and just kind of perched on the edge of the sidewalk at the base of a building. Not sure what the little bib and hat signify, but it's cute anyway. It always has fresh flowers in his little pot.
Had a nice day teaching today. Nothing amazing, no one got any amazing insights into the english language or anything like that, but it was a nice day. I had some really cute kids today, and am finally learning how to cope with the ones who misbehave or whatever. I think a lot of the time, they just want attention when they misbehave, so I'm trying to give them lots of positive encouragement when they do the right thing. They now know "high five" and "low five" (even the 3 year olds!!), and some of them have learned to give me the thumbs up and thumbs down when they are asked "Do you like ..." - they look so cute giving me this big thumbs up going "Yes I do!". One of my two year olds did it last Saturday, and all the mothers in the room completely lost it - very funny! Especially since the mothers laughed so loud, the little girl got a fright and thought she had done something wrong!! So cute!!
I don't know what it is about Japanese kids and smacking your ass; whenever I run around the room with my kids, there's always at least one or two who chase close enough behind me that they start smacking me like to make me go faster or something. I don't remember my kindy teacher very well, but I'm pretty sure I didn't smack her on the ass when we played games!! Must be a cultural thing. The kids think it is absolutely hysterical, they are laughing so hard I think they are going to throw up! And for the record, I don't have a big ass, so it's not like I'm J.Lo or anything like that. I guess though, when you're that little, my butt is at about eye level with most of them when we are standing. Sigh. Certainly makes for a funny class!
I know a lot of teachers complain about feeling like a dancing monkey at the front of class, doing the songs and games and stuff, but I can't figure out what the problem is. I'm getting paid really good money to act like a clown, sing songs, and play games for most of my day, so what's so bad about that? It's like being a big kid (honestly, I don't think I ever really grew up! Do you ever wonder when you are finally going to feel "grown up"?). So, as I read in Japanzine as a quote for a photograph, "Teaching English in Japan can sometimes make you feel like a performing monkey - but let's face it, kids love the circus!". I completely agree (except for the feeling "like a performing monkey" part)! Here's a link to the Japanzine article with the photo (called "Kinder Kids"). I guess it just depends on your personality, but I grew up on a very strict diet of Monty Python and the Three Stooges (thanx Dad!!), so my general outlook on life is a little whacked anyway I think!
So, all in all, a good day. Some days are better than others, but at least the variety is interesting!!