Pervert kids

[snarp]

Today it was kind of warm in the classroom, so I pushed my sleeves up, allowing Zuzu, Princess, and Cookie to discover my arm hair.

Zuzu said, “That’s a lot of hair!”

“Yup. So what’s this letter?”

“S! S is for snake!” (One of the reasons I love Zuzu - even when she acts up, she keeps participating in class.) “Why do you have so much hair on your arms?”

“Princess, what’s this letter?” Princess, who does not have Zuzu’s multitasking abilities, was too busy trying to pinch my hair to respond.

Zuzu demanded, “Are you actually a man? Are you a man who changed into a woman?”

Cookie said helpfully, “That’s called a “New Half.”"

On the theory that denying outrageous accusations made by children has never in history done any good, I said, “Yes.” I wish I could figure out whether “New Half” is derogatory, so I know whether or not to yell at the kids for using it.

In Bonze, Jerkface, and Ken’ichi’s class we were playing a game where I gave each of the kids a color of Jenga block, and they had to try and collect all their color by completing a complex feat involving marbles. Bonze is named for his haircut, his extreme stoicism, and his voice, which sounds unnervingly like that of an unpleasant priest of my reluctant acquaintance. He had the red blocks, and was using them to make a line of torii. I found this adorable. (Bonze doesn’t like being found adorable.) (And I’m aware that multiple torii are for Shinto shrines and not Buddhist temples, yes.)

(Originally published at SarahPin.com. You can comment here or there.)

Comments

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

You need to make a yon-koma of your teaching life and get it published. XD I don't know if it should be in Japanese or in English ... If you can't draw, I think (out of all the comic-strip generators I have saved on Delicious) http://stripgenerator.com/ has the properly Kafka/Zim-esque look to it.

I suppose the kids haven't seen enough foreigners to know that we're generally hairier, and hairy barbarian isn't just a stereotype, haha (actually I have no idea what your ethnicity is, so I shouldn't jump to assumptions :P). But what a conclusion for Zuzu to jump to. Bwuh.

I get the impression that "new half" really is the standard mainstream term in Japanese, but I don't know what the transgendered women themselves think about it.

[snarp]

If I were to be a comic strip, I would prefer more of an Azumanga Daioh style.

Zuzu wasn't serious about that suggestion, she was just trying to be obnoxious. Her and some of the other kids' surprise at my body hair is actually pretty justified - I am extremely hairy. I shave my face every other day. (My doctor informs me that aside from shaving, the only reliable treatment is basically hormone replacement therapy, which she refuses to prescribe for purely hair-related purposes. Given that I don't want, like, cancer, I'm fine with the shaving.)

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't think Zuzu was SERIOUS, but what a thing to just come OUT with, even as a joke conclusion. hahaha. I guess she succeeded with being obnoxious though. It's probably something the kids heard on TV and don't quite grasp...

I reckon you could do your own strip--your faces the other day were very cute. Sadly I don't think any of the comic generators I've bookmarked are quite up to Azumanga Daioh standards.