I Think I’m Going To Cry. Oh No. Wait. Just A Wee Bit Of Dust.

Teachers are busy grading mounds of test papers. Their thumbs are covered with a bright orange, rubber, evil looking spikey thing that makes it easy to flick through sheets of paper. Their red pens whirl around marking circles around correct answers, Xs on those in need of some work. Long sheets of recycled paper pile up on the desks and the staff room door is constantly being pounded on by students announcing their name, grade, class and the fact that they have a notebook that seeks a teacher’s approval. They stand obediently next to the worn wooden sign hung next to the door which reminds all students that it is testing time and students are not allowed into the teacher’s room, lest they catch a glimpse of a test paper or overhear a correct answer.

It’s my last chance for all that playing school as a child to actually have some relevance in my life. My last chance to grade papers, to be kind and generous when that A should be a C or when a verb is left out. It’s my last chance to pick out cute stickers and to practice my ever-fading math skills as I add up the points and subtract the mistakes.

My foreign affairs students have outdone themselves. Despite their prior insistence to tell me that Ireland was Iceland and that New Zealand was located in the middle of Africa and Cambodia in Canada, they managed to correctly label almost everything in the map section of the exam. There are Ireland, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Greece, England, Scotland and several others all correctly labeled and glistening proudly back at me, little mini citizens of each country dancing on the paper waving flags in glee. Despite my giving them a nice wide birth and allowing them to select 7 out of 10, they have managed to fill them all in. Whether it is out of boastfulness or simply not reading the instructions, I don’t even care. The factoids I tossed at them about various points of culture or geography they toss back at me. No longer do they believe Romulus and Remus were suckled by a hippopotamus or a cow （”かばか牛かなあ？” in class one day). Ireland is no longer famous for being blue. No, indeed. Romulus and Remus’ names are spelled correctly, the Emerald Isle is correctly identified and cities in Cambodia properly discussed. I am so very proud of them. And if nothing else, happy that at least a few kids in the school now no longer hold Iceland and Ireland to be the same country.

In my oral class, I get to help proctor the exam. The students all look remarkably calm. But by the end, several have fallen faces and declare an “ughhhh. impossible” as they pass up their papers. Upon grading them though, I see that that’s really not the case. Several of them write near perfect journal entries and their scores are generally not bad.

In one section the teacher has alloted them an easy five points. Five points to give us a comment or two (in Japanese [easy!!!] or English) about the class. Several of the more serious test takers, realizing time is limited, skip this part entirely to focus more on the 25 point essay. Several students, however, write incredibly sweet comments that make glitter run through my veins as well as regret not seeing them graduate. Or perhaps they’re just fishing for easy points:

(My interpretation of the comments maaaay be a wee bit off, but generally, I think I’m more or less accurate.)

オーラル授業は英語ばっかなのでとても難しいです。
Oral class is incredibly hard because you guys only use English.
頑張ってついていこうとは思っています。英語力を早く身に付けたいです。
I think I really will give it my all and I want to quickly increase my ability in English.
Nikki I love you <3 Nikki is very cute
All the best

ニッキーは笑顔がとてもかわいくて、私まで笑顔になれましたとても優しくて毎回の授業がとても楽しかったです。日記もコメントもすごくうれしかったです。ありがとうございます。
This comment’s grammar and lack of punctuation kind of confused me and my regrettable paltry Japanese, but basically (I think) translates to something along the lines of: Nikki’s smiling face makes every class more enjoyable and I’m really happy when I get comments on my diary. Thanks!

One girl very honestly writes,　ニッキーと先生のおかげで前よりも英文が作れるようになりました。オーラルの日記。。。
“Thanks to Nikki and Sensei I have written more in English than ever before. About the diaries...” Wait. Upon looking at it again, I think it says, “I have come to be able to write more in English than before…” which maybe is less bitter.

The comments continue to be really quite heartwarming:

何よりニッキーと英語で話す事がとても楽しくて。。。
“More than anything, speaking in english with Nikki was a lot of fun…”
ニッキーheart 短い間だったけどニッキーと一緒に勉強できてたのしかったです。：）
“Even though it was just for a short time, being able to study with Nikki was fun.”
I love Nikky * Nikky’s smile is very cute. music note. sparkle mark. laugh kanji. sparkle mark.

One even writes me an entire message in English, which is fantastic and My Ego thanks you deeply:

Dear, Nikki.
I was very interesting since years ago.
Nikki is very pretter.
Thank you. See you again *tear* *sob*

The second line is my favorite part. I, too, was very interesting since years ago.

I’ll miss this class a lot. And will be asking them to write my recommendations for subsequent positions.