By pure chance, I met the mother of one of my students at lunch a few days ago. We ate together and exchanged email addresses, and she told me that her brother had a son in another one of my classes. Saturday was her brother's birthday party, and since the family was getting together they decided to invite me as well. I figured it would be a little awkward because of the communication barrier, but didn't let that stop me. I met the whole extended family and went out to a fancy dinner. They even paid for me! It was fun and, somewhat surprisingly, not awkward at all.
Josh - I still cant get over
Josh - I still cant get over your hair. Just thought you should know. :-)
Cute
You combed your hair. Also, How can I keep this one a secret?
I'll try, but no guarantee.
Star Wars
Is that Padawan Braid?
Yeah, I guess it is. It was
Yeah, I guess it is. It was more inspired by Nate than Padawan, but what can I say.
OH my goshh!!! my brother is
OH my goshh!!! my brother is so handsome!!!
and asains really always do throw up the peace sign in pics. always
Yep
Yeah, they really do. Every time. It's pretty cool, but I'm not sure if it really means peace or not. It turns out there is a lot of hostility toward the Japanese here. It's weird.
Why
Do you now why?
Grudges
I guess the same reason Israel and Palestine can't get along. Jasmine said there was a conflict between the emperors a while ago and they are still bitter about it. I told her I can speak Japanese and would like to see Japan at some point and she was stunned. She said "But didn't they bomb your pearl harbor!?" and I said "well, yeah I guess but..." and she said "Don't you hate them?" It was really weird. I tried to explain that that was before I was born and their government was completely different, and most of the people who helped with the bombing are not even alive anymore. She didn't get that, so I said that I thought it would be better to forget about the bad parts of the past and try to move on in peace. It was an impasse.
ditto
wow that was a good response. I've noticed the same thing about Spain - most notably against the catholic church for siding with Franco - that's why noone goes, but that's kindof like pearl harbor...only the older generations lived through it.