ya-ho

i have a high school student who used to always say “Ya-HO” as a greeting, and it was only quite a while into meeting him that i realised that what he actually means is “yahoo!”. i have no idea why he greets people in this manner, but he’s stopped now.. what he hasnt ceased though, is him refusing to address me by some variant of my name, choosing instead to call me “gaijin”.

i dunno, i guess i’m ok with him calling me “gaijin” cos he thinks he’s funny and i dont really care about the connotations that word has, but oh well. apart from this, one other characteristic of his is his refusal to speak english – he always insists that i speak japanese since i can do so. i still try to communicate with him in english though; it feels like i have a duty to do so since i’m an english teacher and in japan for that very purpose.

so today, he came into the office where the brit and i sit, and asked if he’ll be able to live in hawaii if he doesnt speak english. of course i said yes, but the brit added that it’s still easier if you can speak english. being a teacher, i had to add that since he’s going there on holiday with his parents later this year, he ought to take hold of htis rare opportunity and practise his english.

and you know what he said? he actually told me that since i’m in japan, i ought to use this opportunity to speak japanese, so i should speak more japanese to him.

diao.