Spontaneous trips to Piccadilly Circus, Japanese words and keeping the group together

18/6 - Wednesday was supposedly the most difficult day of the week. I don't understand why, though.

We went to the village of Bourton-on-the-Water and later to Hampton Court in southwest London. We can go off by ourselves as a group, but I'm most concerned with not losing Yuu, the kid in my group who has terrible body language. Yes, he has a bad knee from crashing on a scooter, but he doesn't talk to anyone in our group and constantly lags behind while hanging his head and dragging his feet. I'm forced to keep pace with him and let the other five go ahead. Thankfully, they don't go too far ahead always end up sticking together. I can tell Hayato, Ayaka, Yuma, Yuto and Arisa are responsible enough.

Bourton-on-the-Water. Yuu decided not to be in the picture, as he didn't want to sit on the edge of the bridge. From left to right: Arisa, Ayaka, Yuma, Yuto, Hayato

I've already learned a little bit about Japanese culture. For example, when we sit down to eat, everyone waits until the last person has joined the table. We then put our hands together, bow and say "itadakimasu," which means "I am going to eat." It's polite. I've also learned "ohayo" which means "good morning." Japanese students normally keep their eyes down while they eat, are very reserved and quiet until they get used to you a little bit. That's my group. They sometimes talk to me to ask questions, but most of the time I have to ask them something to get them to speak English. And another new thing I experienced? Three students put on a Kyogen, which is a traditional Japanese play. Those kids are really talented.

I knew the language barrier would fall eventually, and it happened this morning. You only need a few words of language to understand how to fold origami, construct a face blindfolded while the others tell you which feature you're holding and play board games designed to help us learn details about each other, like where we want to visit and what our first impressions were. Those few hours were fantastic! However, Yuu spent most of the time with his forehead on the table, trying to sleep. I feel bad for the kid. There's probably something deeper going on with him, but I just don't know. Or maybe he's still jetlagged, considering he was 30 minutes late to dinner because he fell asleep during free time. We had to send a member of the group to go find him, and he was still falling asleep at the dinner table.

Three in my group gave their oral presentations in English today, and they read off a script written by them and in English. Yuto talked about spinach, Arisa talked about the difference between food in the UK and Japan and Yuma talked about space theories, like Freezing Space theory. My job was to ask questions and have them engaged with the topic, and afterwards write down some feedback for the students to take back to Japan. The most positive feedback I could say is how I could (mostly) understand them. Ideally, the group would have had discussions amongst themselves in English about the topics, but my kids talked in Japanese to each other. I had to ask questions to each one to keep everyone engaged instead, and there were other groups like that too. But having said that, I learned a little bit more about the kids, like how Yuto can draw really well. However, the whole time Yuu sat by himself, not speaking and sporting a stony, get-me-back-to-Japan face. I make sure to ask him questions like this one: what do you like to do on holidays? The answer:

"Nothing."

Yuto can really draw. He used this for his presentation. And this is Yuu's default face. 

19/6 - Central London is a sensory overload. I remember the first time I saw Big Ben and Westminster Abbey; I was ecstatic! (Heck, I'm still like that.) But it's great fun riding with a bus full of 16-17-year-old Japanese students who have never been here before. Two in my group had never seen a double-decker bus before, and they really wanted to ride one. Everything is new to them, including something as simple as how neighborhoods look, so they were recording things as mundane as ordinary neighborhoods miles outside of Central London. But once they saw the sights of Central London, their eyes began to pop and they were much more excited.

At least Yuu got in the picture this time...

We all traveled in a pack to Trafalgar Square to tour the National Gallery, and later the British Museum. For the first time since Tuesday, Yuu showed interest in something, like when we saw Vincent Van Gogh paintings, the Rosetta Stone and mummies. Half an hour before we were supposed to meet to leave the Gallery, my group experienced a bit of spontaneity, in contrast to the strict schedule we follow, as we made a quick trip to Fortnum and Mason, an upscale department store in Piccadilly Circus, despite the fact I wasn't supposed to take the kids away from Trafalgar Square (it wasn't my idea, after all, and Arisa got permission from a teacher, so it should be fine).

All six kids went into Fortnum and Mason and bought some high-quality tea, among other things. Afterwards, I put my finger on my lips and said "ssshhh." They completely understood, as in "don't tell the teachers!" Near the end of a quick trot back to the Gallery that featured a picture with Spiderman, we bumped into more teachers on their way to China Town, looking highly confused as to why one of the groups was in such a random place. And of course, I thought one thing when we were caught:

Shit.

I thought I would get chewed out. Fortunately, no one questioned me about it. Okay then, I got away with taking my group to Piccadilly Circus and a fancy department store! That was an adrenaline rush, but I was worried I'd anger the teachers for a few hours.

Today I was part of a very large group of Japanese kids cutting a very noticeable path through London. Though I don't speak the language, I felt part of the group. Perhaps there was no time I felt more part of the group than when we went to a Chinese restaurant in China Town, and there were 10 of us at one table, all using chopsticks to eat everything, including rice. It doesn't even seem weird I'm one of the few non-Asian people here anymore.

I've noticed these kids are just like any other high-school aged kids we've ever met. They're silly and love to laugh and play games, and they REALLY love throwing up the peace sign when taking pictures, something that is considered immature in Japan. However, they couldn't be more different riding a coach compared to British teenagers. There's no rude singing or hazing. The Japanese kids are quiet and respectful for the most part.

Saturday is the final day in England for these kids. This is crazy for two reasons. 1) They only got here on Tuesday; some of them are probably still jetlagged. And 2), my kids are starting to warm up to me.