I married the man who was in the river
...written on 2000-11-02, @ 23:58:26
Tales of Kim's Life in Japan
Nov 3, 2000:I married the man who was in the river.
I went to the Godo branch to teach English today. I had such a delightful time. The classes were short (less than 30 minutes), so I had to pack a lot in.
The first two classes practiced the verb forms of he, she and it (third person singular for all you grammar fans). The last two classes were 9th graders who are usually quiet because they are" too cool" and they got the adjective clause spiel.
Wait, the adjective clause spiel? Kim, didn't you say in a previous entry (Ampachi) that adjective clauses could never be fun? Well, yes, I did and I have since repented. I think I constructed a winning exercise today though. (My, but this peanut butter on a Ritz with a coke is hitting the spot!)
You know, people are really something. Especially friends. They may come and go and maybe come back again or never ever leave your life. There are many friends that I have lost contact with that I would like to see again or talk to and then there are some people that I am glad are gone from my life. What many of these people do not know however, is that almost everyday I think of them and many times it is when I am doubled over with laughter at the reaction of my students to the pictures of my friends in my photo album.
I have pictures of scruffy friends, elegant friends, friends that look like models, friends that look like fiends, friends from South America, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia. I have pictures of them eating, drinking, driving, resting during a hike, on top of a mountain, on the English Coast, at a carnival, at a wedding, in a pitch black pine forest at night stooping down to take a drink of water out of a spring and having the flash catch the water in "slow-motion" as it falls from a mouth to the ground, a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin, West Africa surrounded by little children, a maintenance man from my old apartment complex (which I ended up giving to two Japanese boys who thought he was a "dandy" looking man), a Yugoslavian construction worker standing in front of his house, a disc jockey at work, a friend posed as if he is driving a TV news truck, another friend with a big beard and who is maybe scary looking to the Japanese students, but who I know to have the biggest and kindest heart of all.
Yep, and then there is the picture that gets the biggest reaction of all . . . it is the picture of the man in the river. This man is up to his neck in the water and has his black beard, moustache and hair all lathered up with white soap forming two little spikes coming out of his head to represent horns. Yes, he was the devil in my life and I am glad he is gone from it. So, it is with much glee that I pass his picture around in many of my classes and watch and listen to my students react to it.
Tonight these students asked me if Ihad ever been married. In a split second I had to ponder a pro and con situation and picking up this picture I said, "Yes, I married the man who was in the river." We all guffawed with laughter.
See? Adjective clauses can be fun.