look, i hate kids just as much as the next guy. but since i started teaching english to little japanese children, ive actually had a slight change of heart. and though it pains me to admit it, ill man up and say it here: sometimes kids can be cute.

every week, when i show up to one of my elementary schools, a bunch of tiny kids who arent yet to-cool-for-school stop what theyre doing and run right up to me. "ku-ji-ra sen-sei!" theyll yell through gigantic smiles as they try to give me huge hugs and hold my hands. as we all keep walking closer to the entrance, some of them break away to show off how good they are at unicycling, jumping rope, or hula hooping. their faces light up when i say "上手ね" ("jouzu ne"; youre skillful) or "すごい" ("sugoi"; thats great). its pretty awesome to see kids get so happy to see me. heck, ive been in relationships before where the girls werent even half as excited to see me as some of these kids are every single day.

there have been several times now where ill be sitting in the teachers office planning future lessons when ill hear a couple of small voices call my name. first theyll say the required "しつれいします" ("shitsureishimasu"; im being rude. all students must say this before they enter the teachers office. upon leaving, they say "shitsureishimashita"; i was rude), come over to my desk, and shyly hand me something. ive received some beautiful cards and letters - usually written in japanese or the occasionally admirable but terrible attempt at english - thanking me for teaching them english, asking me to teach them more, or telling me how fun my classes are. now dont get me wrong - i, like you, think children are terrible creatures from the depths of hades - but innocent thoughtful gestures like this prove that some kids can actually be pretty freaking rad.

i like to jog around my neighborhood (read: around most of the town) a lot. more than just fun exercise, its also been a great way to interact with some of my kids outside of school. some of my younger students get so excited to see me jogging down their street that theyll stop playing catch or whatever they were doing and chase after me. "鯨先生、待っていい！" ("kujira sensei, matte ii!"; wait up, whale teacher!). some kids even jog along side me for a block or two after i ask them if theyd like to join me. my favorite time though, was when these two cute 3rd grade girls followed me on their bikes for over 3 miles, laughing and smiling the whole way. they tried talking to me while we jogged and biked, saying things like "speed up" when we were going downhill (cause bikes can coast faster than legs can jog) and "speed down" when going uphill (cause little girls are apparently wimps at biking up hills). to me, language practice, exercising, and having fun with kids that dont suck, made the time fly by so quick i barely even noticed how tired i was after the 5th mile.

ah, good times.