KAMPAI

Today I ate lunch with a class of 3rd graders.

The kids asked me in Japanese if I can speak Japanese, and I told them no. They asked me in Japanese how old I am, what my favorite color is, and what animals I like. I answered them in English. Then they asked me again if I know Japanese. Again, I told them no.

Then they asked me if I can use chopsticks and if I like curry rice (in Japanese). I told them yes. Then a spider walked across my desk. They asked me if I like spiders, so of course I pretended to shoot spider webs out of my wrists.

Then they started commenting on how big my nose is. I don't think I've ever eaten with students without hearing this comment. They also started freaking out when they noticed that I have brown eyes, and they told me that my eyes are very big.

All of this is quite normal for a school lunch. But as for the part that was out of the ordinary... When I walked in the classroom, the students chanted in unison, "Welcome, Amy Sensei!" Then they all lifted their milk cartons and said, "kampai!" At first I thought this was quite cute. And also very nice of the homeroom teacher to organize this. But then I thought that it was also good training for high school (when the students say kampai before drinking their Orion Beer). Might as well teach them about the Japanese drinking culture at an early age!