So it begins . . .

September 1st, the big one, is now here. The official first day of my school experience. But wait - you would think that the first day would entail teaching of some kind. Not so, the single, white gaijin is surprised to find out. Instead, a short speech in front of 700 junior high school kids, lunch with the teachers, and more time reading in the office.
My short speech was...really, quite short and, truth be told, not very eloquent. Something like "Hi, my name is _____. I come from the United States of America, close to the city of _______. I am excited to meet all of you in the coming year. Hopefully I will teach you some English. Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu."
...Then I got a bouquet of flowers. That`s right. Flowers. First time in my life to ever get flowers (factually inaccurate; I received flowers from my girlfriend, though they were picked, not bought, regardless...), and they were from a little boy named Raimu. I admit, I was smiling huge as he shook my hand and said "Let`s enjoy learning English together." Yes, Raimu. Let`s.

Later, as I was helping with cleaning time (cultural note: in Japan, it is the student`s job to clean the classrooms and hallways. The teachers help. So...despite janitorial work not being in the contract, I`m gonna get dirty every now and again. Anyway...), and a student walked past me in the hall. He started at me feet, looked me all the way up, stared into my eyes before he muttered "....Superman"

...It`s nice to know that these kids have a sense of humor.