Remembering 3A

I've mentioned a couple of times how small my schools are. At Miya JHS there are currently 88 students and at Kuguno JHS there are 112. There is only one of each class at both schools, and they are small enough that I can get to know all of my students really well. 3A in Miya has 22 students, at Kuguno there are 32.

The school year here is coming to an end soon, and the 3rd graders are preparing to graduate on March 11. This week both schools had a ceremony/ rememberance for the 3rd grade class, put on by the other students and the teachers at each school. Again, because my schools are so small, all of my students know each other (at each school separately) and the ceremonies were quite fun. In both I had a part during the teacher's tribute; at Kuguno I sang (in Japanese of course) with the other teachers and at Miya we played taiko and did a sort of gag game show.

Anyway, the purpose of this post isn't the ceremonies themselves, per se. But at the end of each the 3rd grade all got up and addressed the school, thanking everyone for all the memories and experiences they had.

KJH 3rd grade (9th graders in the US)

MJH 3rd grade


Usually at these sorts of things, I sit there with only a vague understanding of what is going on. My Japanese is ok enough for stuff like "do you want a bag?" when I'm at the convinience store and "I have a flat tire" at the gas station, but when it comes to full-on, regular speeches, I get lost quickly.

So I knew they were addressing the teachers, but I didn't really know what they were saying at Kuguno until one boy busts out with "Jen-sensei, we really enjoyed your English class. It was fun to spend time with you, ..." I can't actually remember the whole thing. I was so surprised, not only that they made a speech for me but that it was coming from one of the lower-level boys I rarely get to have class with. The entire room turned to see my expression when they heard the English start, and I know I was grinning from ear-to-ear and beaming while he addressed me. I could tell they were pleased, I was really quite stunned and surprised.

After the ceremony finished, I headed back to the teacher's room to finish up some stuff for Friday, and got yet another surprise. It's not uncommon for students to come into the teacher's room, they do it all the time to ask questions and pick up or drop off things. But they really don't ever have any reason to come to my desk. So you can imagine my surprise when 2 of the 3A boys came up to my desk to deliver this:

A thank-you card, made by the 3rd grade class. All of the teachers got them. Mine, of course, is entirely in English.

Now, other than the fact that apparently the entire 3rd grade thinks my name is Jane, I was most surprised by this:


...Yoshiki is a boy.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! I love that kid. He's so not-shy, it's awesome. I'm really going to miss this class.