Today was weird! I taught my adult class in Ome today. At the beginning of class, one of my older students, Tom (who's 77 years old), told me that his son was coming at noon to talk with me. I assumed Tom's son wanted to join the class...boy was I wrong! (I'm foreshadowing here, folks!!)At 11:55, I saw the figure of a tall, long haired gentlemen standing at the door. I got Tom's attention and pointed at the door. It was Tom's son. He was the tallest Japanese man I had ever seen...probably about 6 foot 2 inches. I welcomed his son into the class and asked him very slowly if he wanted to say hello to the class. In perfect English he responds, "No thank you...I don't want to talk...I'm quite shy." I was completely taken back by his perfect English. He reminded me of a handsome Johnny Depp with long unmanageable hair and a goatee. He kept flipping his long salt and pepper hair from one side to the other. It was like a Pantene commercial. His locks flowed from side to side in slow motion...almost covering his eyes, yet allowing them to barely peek through. He looked very mysterious. He was dark skinned and his face looked weathered-- not like that of a 65 year old skinny old smoker lady who spent too much time in the sun....but weathered like James Dean. He was quite handsome, distinguished looking, and stunning. Tom had mentioned earlier that his son was a professional skier, and his skin showed it. Tom had also mentioned that his son was 50 years old. However, he didn't look it. Tom's son looked older and mature, but not 50. Again, he was striking...
So, Tom's son sat next to him, and I chatted with the other students briefly. As everyone filed out of the classroom, Tom's son said to me, "My father has been taking English class for almost 10 years now, and I have not seen much improvement in his English...can you please tell me what is your method of teaching and why?" I was stunned and dumbfounded by his question and long flipping hair. It was like I was being interrogated by Johnnny Depp. I wanted to giggle with glee, but somehow I remained calm. It struck me that I was having a Parent Teacher Conference except the parent wasn't a parent but a son-- an incredibly, tall, dashing, long haired, stunning 5o year old son that was making me hot. And, Tom just sat next to us looking bewildered and sad-- as if he were in the principal's office, and he had just been caught throwing spit balls. It was just so bizarre!
I explained to Tom's son what I had been teaching and my current method for English teaching. I apologized that his father hadn't learned much English in the last 10 years. But, I did mention that I had only been his teacher for the last 5 months or so. After a 15 minute conversation with his son, I felt relieved but like a moron. His son was able to articulate and express himself in words I hadn't heard since I read my last college text book. I was quite impressed. Then, right before we left, I gave him my e-mail address just in case he had any further questions or comments regarding his father's English education. When he saw my e-mail address, he asked me in Spanish if I knew Spanish. I replied back, "Claro que si!" Then, we began to have a casual conversation in Spanish. He spoke Spanish as if he had lived in Spain his entire life. It put me to shame! He rolled his R's and spoke every word perfectly. I truly felt like a coconut at that point. I explained to him that my parents never taught me Spanish and that I learned it in college. He could tell I was not a native Spanish speaker.
Shortly after our Spanish conversation, we parted ways. I had to pee really bad and dashed out the door to the toilet. As I was walking to my car, I saw them again and waved good-bye.
This was my first Parent Teacher Conference experience sorda!
Just another day in Weenie's World!
*****By the way, Husband edited this blog entry for me. Hee-hee!
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