His name was Robert Paulsen (Smith).

Remember the scene in Fight Club when the band of misfits (not to be confused with the band the Misfits) continually repeats the headline above?

That's like how my class is when I teach them the days of the week using the Cure's "Friday, I'm In Love," only the exact opposite. Please repeat after me. "His name is Robert Smith." *Tumbleweed.* "His name is Robert Smith." *Leaky faucet drips onto no-longer-tumbling weed.*

Regardless, they seem to like listening to the Cure's greatest hits. I tried to bring in something American, but it's hard to argue with Mr. Smith singing the days of the week in order. Then again, this still managed to confuse most of the students when I asked them to fill in the blanks in the provided lyric sheet. And maybe the unarguable Britishness of Bobby Smith confused everyone, because my co-teacher kept calling me Mark sensei for the duration of two classes. (Mark was my predecessor. He is from England. He is not Robert Smith.)

I'm almost through with giving my self-introduction lesson, and the days of the week lesson has confirmed one thing for me (that was never stated before). You see, there's this annoying phrase that's been going around for, hmm, three months, and that phrase is "every situation is different," or ESID. What this means is that for no good or real reason, some people in the JET program get to play with glorious little Japanese children every day, some people pay no rent, some people get free cars, some people get free lunch every day, and some people get to create entire lesson plans and execute them close to 20 times a week. It might be clear which "some" I am, but don't get the wrong impression here. I truly think my experience abroad will ultimately be much more rewarding, but I'll have to work (no pun) for that. So when a student falls asleep with his cell phone open, I just listen to the Cure.

Race and Rice:
As strange as it sounds, a large number of Japanese people have had trouble understanding, err, my existence. America, through the media or whatnot, is black and white. One student had a two-minute conversation with a co-teacher in front of me trying to figure out how I was American. First, she thought I was from Korea but knew English. Whaa? Second, she thought one of my parents was Taiwanese and the other was American (read: white). Finally, the co-teacher said something about Japanese people moving to Hawaii in the past. That somehow did the trick.

The first time I went to Norin, I was supposed to meet with a co-teacher. She could not find me because I "looked Japanese." I was sitting at the only ALT desk.

When I go out with fellow ALTs (read: white), Japanese people approach me (understandably) as if I am the tour guide. I usually produce a blank stare (I'm perfecting it watching my students) or mumble something about wakarimasen, wakarimasen. In the end, I'm pretty sure they think I'm just cuckoo for cocoa puffs. I wish this were true, as I am currently looking for a sweet alternative to rice in the morning.