Saturday, December 15, 2007

• Happy Birth Day, Ray Kanzaki

  Classes have come to an end, and I now have finals to look forward to. One has already been graded, for the most part. The rest is of my exams are scheduled for next week, which means once again I will be grading until Christmas.

  Ugh!

  But that's life for a teacher... grading, grading, grading.
  

  Not much has been happening as of late, except for school. As the semester winds down, I get busier and busier

  Sensei, sensei, can I take a make up quizzes I missed?
  --Make up quizzes must be made up within a week.
  Oh, sensei, sensei, pweeze, pwetty pweeze?
  

  Sensei, sensei, can I come to your office? I don't understant how to conjugate these sffixes.
  --You mean the ones we did at the beginning of the semester? Why didn't you come and see me then?
  Well, I thought  understood them then, but... but... (tears well up) as I look over my quizzes, (head droops) I'm not so sure anymore.
  --Oh man, DON'T CRY! Anyone who walks by might get the wrong idea!
  

  I tell ya, it never gets easier... But then that is the beauty of this job. Every year I get a new group of students, each different, each bringing their own personalities. It definitely keeps me on my toes and helps me stay young... well, young at heart, anyway. Students I don't even know are starting to open the door for me. Is this a sign of aging? Noooooooooooooooo!
  

  Speaking of which...

  I turn half a century plus two today. Every joint in my body tells me that these numbers are not lying. So I've decided to give myself a rebirth. Well, not really a rebirth, but a new name. I've always wanted to see if I could actually write something that people would find intersting--not that this blog is an indicaiton of my talents, or lack thereof. But I thought it would be cool to write some stuff down, perhaps basing it on my own experiences. I would, of course, need a name for the main character--my alter ego, as it were--and I came up with the name Ray Kanzaki. Say it out loud. I think it sounds pretty good.
  

  Before M came to the US, I used to go for a beer or two or five at a local hang out and the bartender there, for whatever reason, started calling me Ray. I'm not really sure why, but I never corrected him. I would just nod my head and say, "hey". In a way, it was fun--I felt like a different person, actually. But I also wondered if maybe I looked like a "Ray". You know how some people have names that seem to fit them perfectly? Well, maybe riceballs kind of look like Rays. Anyway, that's where I got the first inspiration for a character name. The last name just kinda came to me. It's not a common Japanese surname, but not overly obscure like my real name. And besides, it sounds like a real name.
  

  So today, I release the name of my alter ego. It is now officially his birthday, as well. Please, say it out loud with me: Ray Kanzaki.
  

  1:00; 5.13 mi.
  

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