Caroling Holiday Rodents Imported To The Orient

“Oh no you don’t. Turn that off. Change the CD. Daddy, tell her to change it. Eight times in a row is MORE than enough. Make the singing varmints stop!”

Such were the words out of my sister’s mouth every holiday season. Some unfortunate people are unable to appreciate quality Christmas carols. A number of years ago I happened upon the best addition ever made to my Christmas CD collection: a treasury of carols recorded by Alvin and The Chipmunks – squeaky, high pitched, cartoony good fun. This little gem was hiding in the store at a drive-through car wash at a ridiculously reasonable price.

I would impatiently wait all year until it was seasonably appropriate for this little delight to be lovingly pulled from the CD rack and dusted off with pride. My father and sister would groan in unison the minute the familiar rodential squeaks and squeals, gleeful that the Christmas season was finally upon us, started emanating from the speakers. As I contentedly turned up the volume they would glare at each other in accusation, each silently blaming the other for not having taken the initiative of hiding the musical monstrosity from me after last year’s Christmas had passed.

Here in Japan however, I have found people who appreciate spunky Alvin, brainy Simon and little Theodore.

The traditional tunes of “Jingle Bells,” “Deck the Halls” and “Silent Night” are all very well and good, however there’s not a whole lot I can relate to in any of them. The lyrics are archaic, they use old English with pompous British words like ‘ere’ and ‘whither,’ they talk about some virginal conception of a child and when was the last time someone asked you to “deck the halls” with anything.

After some careful thought I abandoned thinking up appropriate ways to explain to a bunch of high school girls how exactly one “dons gay apparel,” “trolls ancient yule tide carols” and the idea of an immaculate conception, as I, myself, have never done any of these things. Instead I decided to give the singing varmints a go.

Chipmunks don’t exist in Japan (apparently they are native to only North America and North Eurasia); my JTE had never heard of them. The girls listened in amazement, their eyes glittering in awe as these exotic, shrill, foreign creatures sung about hula-hoops with genuine Christmas greed.

Nothing could please me more than the fact that one girl asked me to play it again. I happily obliged. They left the classroom humming the song and singing words in English complete with high-pitched chipmunk-esque intonation. They looked at me and smiled. “It’s cute! It’s cute!” they all chirped in unison.

They all just may get their own copies for Christmas. Perhaps their dad and sister might appreciate them as well.

N.B. An insider’s tip to prospective JETs: For that infamous interview question, “What would you bring from your country to Japan?” Singing rodents. I swear. It’ll work. True story.

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Published:
12.13.06 / 6pm
Category:
classroom antics, culture