High School Hierarchy

I am once again fifteen years old. I fuss with my hair thinking, “Oh my God, is my backpack cool enough? Does Billy like me? What if I don’t make the soccer team?”

High school wasn’t a horrible time for me. I had loads of fun with a close-knit group of friends most of whom, thousands of miles away and eight years later, I am still tight with. However, high school was not a time that I’d ever want to do twice. I graduated with glee happy to be free of the mind games, politics and threats that I wouldn’t be able to go to the prom because I owned a deck of cards or was wearing a tank top. And yet here I am back for some more.

Meet Erika. Erika is the popular girl at school. She is peppy, loud, confident, has a boyfriend and manages the boys’ baseball team. She has her posse of about three or four other girls who always follow in her wake. Erika is Niihama’s Lana Lang. During Sports Day Erika headed the ‘hip hop’ dance routine. She and about five other of the ‘cool’ girls in school ditched the school uniform for slightly more risqué outfits of wife beater tank tops (or boy beaters as I prefer to call them) and capri army print pants, and attempted a highly regimented, robotic dance routine to “Hey MR. DJ” while the rest of the girls did simpler (but also robotic) back up motions with pink pompoms. There’s a stereotype that Asians can’t dance. These stereotypes obviously get started for a reason. Their dancing parallels my ability to rap. It’s grossly unspeakable. I could quite literally SEE thought bubbles pop up over their heads as they premeditated each upcoming dance move or beat; it was all quite mechanical.

Meet Ren. Ren is the ‘funny’ guy in class. He is loud and has a best-mate with whom he always pairs up in class with so that they can be loud together. During every class I’ve had with this kid I can ALWAYS hear his voice bellowing over all the others during pair work. If asked to practice a dialogue that goes something along the lines of, “When do you leave for school?” With Ren it inevitably turns out to “WHEEEEN DID YOOOOOOU LEAVE FOR SCHOOOOOOOOOOOLL?” Since all the other kids barely give me more than the murmur of a babbling brook, Ren’s response is warmly accepted. Since he has made himself known to me from my first class I also have taken to calling on him mercilessly. He’s a good sport though.

Meet Kohei. In a class full of ten other nattering teenage girls who just want to comb each others hair and exchange sticky pickys, Kohei sits there quietly and well-behaved. He is uber shy and doesn’t seem to talk to anyone else in the class. Kohei is Casper-worthy pale and I don’t know how he manages it with the blazing Japanese sun (I say that as though Japan has a different sun than everyone else, but believe you me it’s STRONG here). He walks slightly hunched over with an incredibly humble demeanor, his pants are pulled up too high and he’s in the table tennis club. He’s a sweet kid though and I’ve taken to trying to chat with him before class as he always tries to come up with responses for me even if it does take him a long time.

While technically I am an ‘authority’ figure my age, childish language ability, and tiny stature make me feel like I am a freshman all over again. So what do I do when I encounter the entire baseball team at the mall? Probably giggle like a schoolgirl and turn red.

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Published:
9.14.06 / 5pm
Category:
classroom antics, what i call life, culture