Okay. I am back. I haven't had a chance to write on the blog for a while but I decided I better step up. Jon and Nancy's Amazing Japanese Adventure is turning into Jon's Amazing Japanese Adventure with an occasional hello from Nancy. I am going to fix that and really really try to write more often.

Today was a day like any other. I was told to teach something ridiculous to a room full of teenagers. This time it happened to be facial expressions. Now, you might be thinking, "what's the big deal?". First you must ask yourself, "Have I ever tried to teach a room full of Japanese teenagers to lift their eyebrows a little when they are saying 'really'?" The key here is JAPANESE who, by definition, do not have any facial expressions whatsoever. It is a sign of weakness, according to Japanese culture, if you display your emotions freely. Their faces look the exact same when they are excastic and when they are fuming mad. Zenen wakaranai. I can't tell.

"Oh. Hello Yumi! How are you?"

"I'm fine thank you, and you?"

"So when you make that face and say fine, do you mean you are happy or do you mean you are ready to beat me up?"

And, how do you teach someone facial expressions? I can't tell what my face is doing when I say things. It just does something. Plus, why am I teaching this to these students when they are still working on not saying "how are you" back to me when I ask "How are you?".

"How are you?"

"How are you?"

"No...no. I say 'how are you' and you say 'I am fine thank you, and you*?'"

*before it drove me nuts how everyone said 'I am fine thank you, and you' but now I am just thankful that they don't repeat 'how are you?'

So, anyways, I tried my best and I let my face do the talking. My students also tried their best. Actually, I have no clue if they were trying or not because when they were copying me their faces didn't move a millimeter. Their expressions were the same as always. Eyebrows in neutral. Eyes avoiding eye contact with anyone or anything at all costs. I should have brought in a wild monkey. Monkeys hate to be stared at; they find it threatening. Japanese people love to stare down wild animals, epecially monkeys. It seems that the Japanese believe animals were put on this earth for one of three reasons.

1. To be eaten by humans.

2. To become house pets.

3. To live in a petting zoo where people can pet them or, better yet, carry food around in little bags to feed the animals who are running free.

Jon was chased by llamas and some buffalo in a petting zoo near Aso. Oh, no I am sorry. The buffulo were in cages but there were free-roaming deer. Ask him about it. We also saw a little girl almost get run down by these llamas and deer while her parents watched and laughed histerically. It was frightening. She was terrified. Apparently her parents thought it was funny that she came really close to being trampled. Afterall, who wouldn't find that funny, right?

ah.....the Japanese sense of humor......