In Which I (Finally) Teach My First Classes!

Teach classes? Oh right, that's the reason why I am here! I taught a few of my first year classes today. For the lesson, I set up a powerpoint slideshow about my life in Colorado. Mountains, Broncos, rock climbing, the mint, etc. I included sweet action photos of myself dancing and climbing. The thing they responded to the most though (with plenty of ooohs and aaaahs) was that my dog's name is Ukio. They just couldn't believe a gaijin (foreigner) like me would name their dog a Japanese name. After the power point, I had them answer basic questions about it. "Where is Ashleigh Sensei from?" etc. The students are really shy, and getting them to answer out loud is like pulling teeth. Then, each group was allowed to ask me one question, and the group with the best question recieved a penny from the Denver Mint as a prize.

Some notable questions:

Why are you so beautiful? (Twice)

Are you a model?

I see you have a ring on your hand. Are you married?

Do you have a boyfriend? (Twice)


Winning questions:

Can I have a coin? (Nicely done!)

Why is your dog named Yukiyo?

What are your favorite places in Japan?

Then I asked the students to fill out a survey of things they liked. Favorite movies, music, hobbies, and what they hoped to learn in the class. After class, I felt a little discouraged because I received a lot of blank stares and it didn't seem like I was connecting with the students. However when I sat down to read their surveys, I realize it's just going to take time to get used to each other. When asked "What would you like to learn in this class?" many students replied with some variation of "I want to talk with you."

Cuties.