Giving Candy to Students

Whenever I teach at a class I've never been to before, I always start with a self introduction. I try to keep students interested by first making them formulate questions in a group and then asking me. Then, I use pictures, gestures, pictionary, and a little bit of bribery during my introduction to keep students interested and involved. What I mean by bribery is this: for each class, I give a Warhead to the kid who correctly guesses my age. It's actually pretty difficult, since they all think I am much older than I really am. For those of you who don't know what a Warhead is, read this or just look at this picture:

After some of the classes, the more unscrupulous students came up and asked me for the same candy I gave to that one student. Some did it in English, some in Japanese, and one infamous girl did it half and half (amekko please!). I, of course, refused all of them because I didn't want to become the school-wide candy man from a foreign land. Instead, I told them that if they came to the teachers' room and had a chat with me in English, I'd give them one. I was hoping that this would encourage more kids to 1) try to use English more often, and 2) befriend me. Many of the students left with discouraged looks, so I didn't think anybody would actually do it.

In one of the third year classes, however, two girls seemed a little encouraged by this. It turns out that - as I heard them mutter to each other - they are part of the team that cleans the teacher's room after classes are over. Still, even though they had this opportunity, I didn't think they'd muster the courage to actually come and try to talk to me, in English nonetheless. By the time they actually got to the teachers room during cleaning time, I'd pretty much entirely forgotten them. The team (of 6-8 students) finished cleaning the teachers' room and they all began dismissing themselves one by one in loud voices like all Japanese students do. (On a side note, when students come to the teachers' room for any reason, they always knock and announce their year, class, name, and purpose for being there. They do this even if they go there every day for the same expected reason or if they are repeatedly ignored. When they leave, they loudly announce their departure as well.)

These two girls, however, did not dismiss themselves and leave. Much to my surprise, they walked over towards my desk, paused a slight distance away to reconfirm that they were in "English mode", and then finally approached me. They already announced their purpose when they came into the room to clean, so they just kept riding the same "cleaning train" to get what they wanted without needing to announce themselves again. I had no idea what to do, but I happened to be reading an article about the Democratic National Convention. I pointed at a picture of Bill Clinton and asked, "Do you know who this is?" One of them muttered in Japanese, "He's a former president, isn't he?" I then showed them a picture of Obama and asked if they knew him. They did. I asked them is they knew what was coming up in November. When they said no, I told them about the presidential election, and translated "election" into Japanese. They basked in the significance of the occasion, but after that, they had to go back to their classroom to finish up the rest of the school activities for the day (and I still have no idea why they have to stay so long after classes end). They looked a little disappointed as they were leaving, but I tossed them each a Warhead on the way out. I figured they gave a good effort and deserved it.

At the end of school (maybe an hour or 2 later), I was in the hallway reading a poster. The same 2 girls were heading home, and when they saw me, they stopped for a second and discussed something with each other (probably checking their grammar use). I honestly didn't remember their names at this point, so I just kept reading the poster by myself. They walked up and said hi, and I asked them what their names were. They told they were Miu (the one usually spearheading the English conversation operations) and Fumika (her moral support and partner in crime). That's when Miu slowly announced her practiced line: "You are a good teacher." I stood there silently for a few seconds pondering the meaning behind her words, and then bended over laughing for a while. I wasn't sure what spawned a statement like that, but it surely must have been because of the candy. Not wanting to have my reasoning confirmed, I asked if they were going home and said goodbye. I didn't expect to talk to these girls outside of the classroom again.

The next day, I went to the same school again (which is Higashi Middle School), but only taught first and second years. While wandering around the halls in my free time, I came across Miu and Fumika again in their classroom. They said hi while I botched their names (I thought they were Yui and Funami), and I asked if they tried the candy already. In Japanese, they said it was very sour and awesome. They seemed less interested, so I just said goodbye and went back to the teachers' room to keep reading news and writing future blog posts. Later on, the girls came back to clean the teachers' room, but I just let them do their thing and be done with it. They got their interesting candy from America already, so they no longer had a reason to interact with me. As the kids were dismissing themselves, the two girls used their "cleaning ticket" to come over to my desk AGAIN! I exclaimed loudly in Japanese, "You're here to get candy TODAY, too??" They laughed and said no. They just wanted to say goodbye before going home.

Ahhh my school life is getting sweeter. (T^T)

*UPDATE* 9/28/12
The "amekko please" girl finally got her candy! I taught the class she's in again, and I started calling her "Amekko please-chan". She told me her name is Aya, but I still like calling her Amekko-chan. (For those who don't know, "amekko" is short for "ame ikko", which means "one candy") She also has a friend who I call "Sode-chan" (or "sleeves") because she likes to roll up her sleeves and the head teacher always calls her out for it. She seems to get a real kick out of her nickname, and she goes around telling all her friends about it. Sode-chan seems to like her nickname a lot more than Amekko-chan.

I also ate lunch with this class, and Amekko-chan kept staring at me, so I made some funny faces at her. To be honest, I was just being silly because she was kinda creeping me out with the staring. You know, the kind where you notice someone is staring at you and look back at them, but they don't stop staring. Awkward... Anyways, after school, I was going to wash all the chalk dust off my hands at the big community trough-looking sink. All the kids were cleaning the school, and Amekko-chan happened to be cleaning the sink. She called me over and asked if I remembered her name. I said, "Yes, you're Amekko-chan." She replied loudly with, "違う!" (or "chigau!", which means "that's wrong!") and made a slightly pouty face (which was adorable, by the way). I told her I was kidding and said,"You're Aya." She was surprised and said, "覚えてる。" (or oboeteru, short for "you remember").

Then, I asked if she still wanted a candy, since it had been more than 3 weeks since she asked me for one. She looked excited and said yes. I proposed that she introduce herself in English. She tried her best, but could only spit out her name. So, I ended up pretty much interviewing her on age, hobbies, family, interests, and pets. It turns out that she's a single child with a single parent mother, which surprised me because she is an energetic and cheerful person. As I ran out of questions to ask her, I felt like she did enough and gave her a Warhead. The girls around her looked at her jealously, but I told them that they should come and get some too. "I have too many candies! Please come talk to me," I said. I doubt they will, but I'm sure there will be other opportunities.