Definite improvement in language use...

About five months ago, one of my private students told me she wanted to meet after work in Kawagoe to have the lesson over dinner. I was thinking "she's already paid my trainfare to Wakaba, so it'll save me 15 minutes riding."

So she suggested an izakaya, because she'd said she liked drinking. I figure teaching buzzed has got to be easier than teaching hungover, so we got some drinks.

No matter what tack to begin the lesson I tried, she was fidgety and distracted. And finally when we got to "what are your plans for the new wear?" she chugged down her drink, looked me in the eye and said "Maybe, I'm wanting to stop taking the lessons."

Yeah, she invited me out to a "you're dumped"dinner. She'd even practiced an "it's not you it's me" speech in English. I was so proud of her. Last year she was struggling with simple past. But she managed "If my life has changes, I'll call you maybe."

For $500: "Commodore Perry landed there and introduced Japan to American diplomacy over the barrels of some very large cannons."

So after, like, eleven months of just skulking around the Tokyo-Saitama Metroplex, suddenly I've gone to Yamanashi, Kagoshima, and now Shimoda. All within, like, a month.

Shimoda's nice, by the way. But don't let an overly genki Japanese student plan the trip for you and your coworkers. Otherwise you'll wind up with both karaoke and Japan's fifth most well-attended dolphin show on your itinerary.

By the way, the answer is "What is Shimoda, Japan?" I'll take "Strange Breakfast Fishy Stuff" for $200, Alex.