A response to the question, "What is something special about you?" from one female student: "My body is soft."

In a report about her family which will be sent to the host student in Australia she will be staying with this summer, another student noted the name, birthday and hobbies of each of her family members. For her two cats, she wrote, "Birthdate: unknown. I found them."

Creepy Kid, no longer a student of mine, has unfortunately developed a renewed interest in the English Club, which means I still have to see him several times a week. He always has to leave the meetings early, and feels the need to explain this to me every time before he leaves. Because his English is horrendous, it always takes a good five to ten minutes for him to make this explanation, an extremely loooong five to ten minutes inevitably punctuated with him covering his face with his hands a lot and whispering to himself in Japanese what he is trying to say in English. From what I can gather, he has to meet with someone about his "horse." Yeah, I don't that's right either.

The new English teacher at my school, a sweet woman in her 50s, pronounced herself "enchanted" by my English and invited me to a sushi party she and her friends are having. I agreed to go. How could I say no to a bunch of older Japanese ladies, self-professed gurume (gourmet) women who love to eat, who are hiring a professional sushi chef to prepare lunch for them in nearby Tarui, which also happens to be home to Guruman Bakery, the best bakery for miles around?