I just delivered the first of many self-introduction speeches. I knew I would be meeting all the teachers today, but I only knew of the speech about three minutes before takeoff. It went well, I think.
Here's a paraphrased transcript:
(All in Japanese, mind you.)
"Good morning. My name is Kevin Lo. I am American. I don't understand Japanese *laughter*, but I understand English well *more laughter*."
I then said a few things in English that Kasai sensei (baseball manager and one of the teachers I'll be working with) translated, and I finished it all off with a Japanese phrase that sorta means "Nice to meet you," "I hope we have a nice friendship," and various other things. In Japanese, many phrases can mean a variety of things. Sumimasen, for instance, is used in almost every circumstance. It can mean "I'm sorry" and "Excuse me." It can be randomly thrown into speech, and it's often but not always used by anyone working in a store when you walk in or walk by them.
Just a few minutes ago, a teacher walked up to me and said, "Speech. Ema." Ema means now, and he wanted me to follow him to the assembly hall. There were a lot of people in this assembly hall, and I was previously told I'd give a speech to the students a week from now. I thought I was going to be doing this right now (!) instead, but Kasai sensei was there to say otherwise. It was a speech by the principal and other administrators.
I just left a tin can of jelly beans in the teacher's room. I will see how many are left on Monday.
2 comments:
This is good stuff. This is very good stuff. I wish I: 1.could be you 2.could be where you are (though that might go without saying, if I already were you) 3) could have your new kicks (ditto). Werd.
i think my speech started off in a similar way. i said something like, honto ni, nihon-jin ja nai, and it was a big hit. making a thousand people laugh... it's a drug.
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