Good-bye Letters from Class 3-1

Yesterday was my last day at school with students. ;( I'm really sad...but, surprisingly, I wasn't that emotional yesterday. It was a HUGE relief, because I fully expected to be sobbing on stage in front of 550 students and staff while trying to give my speech twice-- once in English and once in Japanese. Giving speeches is stressful. Giving speeches in Japanese is more stressful. Talking while sobbing is embarrassing. Giving a speech in Japanese while sobbing is my nightmare. I am so glad that I was okay. And I was able to just talk from the stage without crying much and without being super nervous. I got a lot of help with my Japanese translation from my good friend, Matsumura Sensei. :) Right before the assembly where I gave the speech, I had my last class. LAST CLASS!??! It was with a san-nen-sei (9th grade) class. Here are some excerpts from their letters...

I enjoyed your class. Because you teach me a lot of things with your smile. I never say "Good bye". Because I will met you again!! -Kazuya

But I love the class of the Mya. -Chinatsu

You are kind and tender. You are cute and good smell. -Chihiro

That is made annoyingly at class and not breathed in always. However, Mya taught always gently...It is lovery Mya and it exists indefinitely. -Riri

I am poor at studying English paticulaly. But thanks to Mya. I am good at English a little. -Yusuke

When the earthquake occurs, Mya didn't return. Everybody was very relieved. We love you very much. -Momoka

I owe like English to you. -Aika

I think that want to you give something to thank. But I can't. So the letter write hard. -Miki

How was your staying in Japan? good or bad? I lived all this while in Japan. It's a very good place. -Seina

Thank you for the earthquake's happening and teaching English though it was serious. -Katsuhisa

えいごのじゅぎょうでこころにのこっているのは、　here と hear　をまちがえたことです。 -Takahiro

Progress Recognized

Today, for the first time, I attempted and successfully arranged for a package from Amazon to be redelivered at a time when I knew I'd be home. =) When I got home from school today there was a notice saying that the delivery service had tried to deliver the box. Usually I would wait until the next day and ask one of the teachers at school to call the delivery service for me. I don't like calling businesses and having to speak Japanese. Trying to read a complicated website in Japanese is also daunting. But today's package contains a book (You Are Special by Max Lucado) that I ordered to use for my final lessons at elementary school on Wednesday, so I really needed the box ASAP. I didn't think I could wait until tomorrow...so I debated about calling my friend and neighbor Sayoko to ask if I could go over and have her call for me...but I thought I'd just attempt the website. At first I really didn't even know what link to click on the company's homepage, but by comparing the kanji with what was written on my delivery notice I was able to figure it out! And I was able to read the online forms enough to navigate my through them...and just a little while ago my box was delivered! やった！ In English, this would just be a little thing, a chore to check off my to-do list. But in Japanese, I feel like this is an accomplishment...and encouraging evidence that my Japanese has improved.

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Japanese [Life] Lessons

Some Japanese words I learn because they're grouped together in my textbook, and I study them systematically, saying them to myself again and again and coming up with mnemonic devices to remember them.
This week I studied:
tablespoon
teaspoon
cutting board
kitchen knife
seasoning
chop ingredients
cut in 3cm pieces

I'm not sure when I'll ever use these...but hopefully I'll have a chance to.


Some Japanese words I learn because I'm in a situation where I need them or where I hear them again and again.
Recently I've learned:
ゆれてる (It's shaking.)
ゆれてる? (Is it shaking?)
よしん (aftershock)
計画停電 (scheduled power outage)
放射能 (radiation)
ヨウ素 (iodine)
核の専門家 (nuclear expert)
非難する (evacuate)
じんましん (hives)

These are words I never anticipated learning...but I've learned them without much memorization effort at all, because they've been much more a part of my life than "tablespoon" and "chop ingredients".

Thank you God for such a great day!...continued...

The other great things about Wednesday (Ha! "other"-- as though saying "goukan" instead of "gouka" (as I described in my previous post) can be called a great thing!) were: that I had several LONG, interesting, meaningful conversations with teachers... 岡田先生　Okada Sensei-- who I wish could be my father-in-law-- and I, along with 前川さん　Maekawa San sometimes joining in, talked about the difference between priests and pastors, Protestant and Catholic beliefs, God's grace and His love that doesn't have to be earned, the history of Christianity in Japan (click here to read some for yourself), 隠れキリシタン-- "hidden Christians" who lived their faith in secret while Christianity was banned in Japan, the mirrors and statues they made that secretly depicted Jesus and other Christian images, difficult to understand Bible translations and modern/easier to understand translations...He told me that he has rented and watched many DVDs that show Bible stories (because they're easier to understand than actually reading the Bible) and that he's really interested in the stories! We talked about having faith, building trust with God like we build trust with people, and I got to show him 1 Corinthians 1:25- "For the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men, and the weakness of God is stronger than the strength of men." (!!!! It was so great!) A couple times during this morning-long conversation he joked, 'Maybe I'll become a Christian today.' Please, PLEASE pray for him! Although Maekawa San was busy working and only joined the conversation intermittently, she overheard all of it...please pray for her too. This conversation left me with about 13 minutes to do some actual work before

It was time to go to lunch with 下田先生　Shimoda Sensei...which was another great thing about the day. As a foreigner, as a non-native Japanese speaker, as a person who teaches all grade levels and thus doesn't have a grade level team to be automatically included with, as a person who rides a bike instead of driving a car and thus can't invite people out to lunch...days without school lunch (days the students are on vacation, but the teachers work) are often stressful-- all morning wondering if anyone will invite you to lunch with them...hoping someone will invite you to lunch with them...hoping you won't feel like a tag-along...sometimes hoping they won't invite you because you don't want to go to the restaurant they're considering going to, and you know that as the foreigner/non-team member/bike rider you won't have any say in the decision and you'd really be happier just going home for lunch or grabbing some fast food at a grocery store. SO, it put me at great ease when shortly after I got to school Shimoda Sensei asked if I wanted to go out to lunch together and then suggested one of my favorite restaurants, which I had introduced to her the last time we went out. (Can I say that? that I "introduced a restaurant" to her? In Japanese, that's how you say it: introduce. Although it doesn't sound too weird to me now...I remember thinking before that it was weird English. Man, it's crazy how messed up your head gets with your own first language when you don't hear it constantly!)

In the afternoon when 秋山先生　Akiyama Sensei was passing by my desk, I asked him how his New Year's was. This led to another surprisingly long (all afternoon long!) conversation. It went from the coat he bought for 50% off and how Japanese people are really into name brands (apparently the 7th grade women teachers in particular! ;) shhh!), but teachers are mostly rather plain in their fashion choices (shhh!) to how he's seen on TV how Americans spend Christmas with their families and he thinks that's surprising and how I think it's weird that Japanese people go on dates for Christmas because there's no connection to the real meaning of Christmas...but then I thought, well, non-Christians in America "celebrate Christmas" and those celebrations don't connect to the real meaning of Christmas either, at which point his eyes got big and he said in disbelief: 'There are Americans who aren't Christians?!?!', 'Yeah!! Most Americans aren't Christians!', 'Most??!!', 'Well, less than half...I mean, if you asked them many people would say they're Christians, but...' Then he asked if the others were Muslims. Yes, there are Muslims...Jews, Buddhists, Atheists (a term he'd never heard before (in Japanese))...many different people. Then he said, it must be hard if you get married to someone who believes something different from you. I told him that a devout Christian probably wouldn't marry a non-Christian. We talked about Christians in Japan, the history of Christianity in Japan (twice in one day!!?), Christian schools in Japan, one of our students who wants to go to a Christian school, how most Japanese kids who go to Christian schools aren't Christians but some become Christians during their time at those schools. Around this time, 清水先生 Shimizu Sensei was passing by and asked what we were talking about. She joined the conversation, and we talked about a million other things...how she went to a Christian preschool, how during college she used to go to church with her friends and sing, and how everyone at church was soo nice, and how Japanese people mix Buddhism and Shinto (Akiyama Sensei had also never heard of Shintoism!! What?! This is the indigenous and former national religion of Japan. And most Japanese weddings are conducted at shrines in the Shinto tradition. I'm shocked that he doesn't know about this!), about sects of Buddhism and denominations of Christianity. The conversation somehow turned to Akiyama Sensei and how he's uncertain about his future. 'Uncertain about what?', I ask. 'Whoa, you're just gonna ask like that??', he replied, taken aback. With all this normal conversation and lack of awkwardness going on all day, I felt so comfortable and must have forgotten that I was talking to a Japanese person!! 'Oh! Okay, I won't ask, since you're Japanese...but Americans ask that kind of question.' To him, it must have seemed like such a personal question, even though to a typical American it would seem really off to hear a friend say that they're worried about a lot of things, but not follow up with a question. (Right?) Then Shimizu Sensei said, 'It's okay to ask Japanese people. They can just answer what they want to and don't have to say what they don't want to.' It was a relief and a pleasant surprise to hear her say that. I was feeling really bad about stepping out of line (LOL!) and making Akiyama Sensei feel on-the-spot. He went on to say that he's concerned about...jobs...passing the R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S exam process for Japanese teachers...not being married yet, and Shimizu Sensei saying that although she got married when she was 24 she thinks it's better to get married later (Akiyama Sensei is almost 29). And on and on the conversation went. Becoming a teacher in America, speaking English, English education in Japan, motivation to learn a language. I really can't believe how long we talked. At one point I think I went into career counseling mode and was suggesting job possibilities to Akiyama Sensei. I learned that there aren't full-time collegiate sports coaches (well, at least not for volleyball) in Japan.

These conversations made my day so fulfilling; and I really don't know how they happened. I feel like I could have just as likely (MORE likely) sat at my desk all day with barely anyone talking to me. I mean, it's not only me...it's not like everyone is chatting it up with each other and ignoring me...it's just that conversations like this don't seem very common at all amongst teachers at school. It was such a surprise! I seriously got about 20 minutes of work done the entire day...and I even stayed an hour late. I remember my first day back last year was like a slap in the face. The silence. The lack of questions from people (i.e. How was your trip home? and so on). THE AWKWARDNESS. But this first day back was まったく違う entirely different. hmm... It was great! Thanks, God!

Before I left, Akiyama Sensei came back to my desk and said quietly, 'Thanks for asking what I'm concerned about.' =) Soo pleasantly surprising! They do want to be asked questions! (??)

最後に Lastly, it is really exciting to realize that other than lunch with Shimoda Sensei, these conversations were 99% in Japanese. !! I mean, my Japanese really is so rudimentary (really.) but it's cool to be able to notice that I spoke and listened to Japanese for hours straight, on so many different topics. :) よかった。 I realize this is a reeaaaally long post: sorry if you're bored. I suspect it's impossible for people who haven't lived this life to understand the impact that a day like this can have...but I wrote a lot because all of this meant a lot.

Lessons in Communication

I have learned about so many aspects of communication this year. The "Communicator" IB (International Baccalaureate) Profile card that used to hang in my classroom flashes in my memory time and time again. I keep thinking that I will be a better IB teacher or any teacher after this time in Japan. I guess, though, the point of the IB Profile of Communicator is to develop not teachers who can teach communication, but people who can communicate...which is something I can do better than I did a year ago.

Lessons:

#1. If+I+want+your+help+I+will+tell+you. does not equal "If I want your help I will tell you."

I was SO shocked when one of the English teachers gave this reply when I offered to help her with a project that was keeping her busy. After about an hour of replaying the scene in my mind and trying to process my feelings-- of shock, hurt, annoyance-- I suddenly realized that to a non-native speaker of English, those words mean just what they say...that if she wanted my help.....she'd tell me. To native speakers-- in this case, me-- that sentence means more than the sum total of its parts. It means, "I DON'T want or need your help!! Back off!" Languages are tough.

#2. To communicate in Japanese I have to use more than Japanese words. I have to use a Japanese mind.

When I ask a Starbucks employee if they have Chai Cream Frappuchinos, and she responds by saying that they have Chai Tea Lattes...and then I say (using Japanese words), "So you don't have them?", forcing her to clarify by saying, "No", I am not speaking Japanese. I am using Japanese words to speak English, which is direct-- and entirely un-Japanese-- and which coerces a Japanese service industry employee into saying "No"-- which is even less Japanese.

#2b. To speak a foreign language, you can't just think of what you want to say in your own language and translate it into the same words in the foreign language and then say them.

When people say, "Thank you" to me I often reply with, "Of course!" If someone thanks me in Japanese, and I reply with the Japanese word for "of course", I sound dumb. Correspondingly, if Japanese people in America directly translated the Japanese words they want to say into English words, we'd have people walking into my American elementary school greeting Shannon and Nancy by saying, "I am under your care." Whaaaat?! That's crazy talk! "I am under your care??!!" What does that even mean?!

#4. It is impossible to understand Japanese people better by intently watching their lips.

If I'm having trouble hearing someone who's speaking English in a quiet voice or trouble understanding someone who speaks Engish with a think Irish accent, I can improve my comprehension by watching and semi-reading their lips. This does NOT work in Japanese. It is unnecessary and even strange to move your mouth much when speaking Japanese.

#5. Personality is largely expressed through communication.

Before this year I think I would have said that "personality" is how someone acts. Not being able to easily communicate with people around me-- because my Japanese skills are rudimentary, as are their English skills-- has produced a quieter version of Mya. It's a Mya who doesn't feel like the real me, a me who feels trapped in a personality that is not my own-- a quiet, non-joking, non-friendly Mya. Which really isn't a Mya at all. It's hard to be me when I can't communicate with words.

If Only My Japanese Was Actually That Good!

Yesterday afternoon I was outside with my friend Sayoko and her daughters, Yuka and Aika. A few other kids who they know from school came outside too, so I started talking to them. I asked one of the girls in Japanese, "Nan nen-sei desu ka?": What grade are you in? Her eyes got wide, and then she asked me a question, "Nihonjin desu ka?": Are you Japanese?

HA! WHAAAT?! Really?! Saying one sentence in Japanese causes you to think that maybe I'm Japanese?? Despite my curly blond hair, blue eyes, and pinkish skin. I hope this means that my Japanese accent is natural. I really loved that moment. Wow, I love kids.

Nice Color

Wednesday when I walked into first period, one of my JTEs (Japanese Teacher of English) said: "nice color!", referring to my scarf. What she really meant: "You're not allowed to wear a scarf to class." aaagh! I can see why there are so many weird foreigners here!!! Japan makes foreigners act weird... The vast, VAST difference between communication styles and human interactions/relationships here versus in Western countries screws with your thinking and your sense of normality. It's so disorienting. I just want to be myself, but everyday I face situations where I'm not myself, or I have to wrestle internally to be myself. It's bizarre. This depresses me. ...for a couple reasons...one, I don't want to be one of those annoying and socially awkward foreigners in Japan, and two, I want to be able to live here for a substantial amount of time (I don't know what "substantial" means at this point...but at least a couple years, huh?) and be real, be normal, be me. I can't last here if I'm always mentally and emotionally struggling with being NOTICEABLY different-- being a foreigner. Comments like "nice color" make me so paranoid.....does anyone really mean what they say here? Does anyone say what they really mean? Being visible at all times creates a strange dynamic. I sometimes feel like I'm being stared at.....but then that just seems self-centered, to go around assuming that people are looking at you. Weekly though, students and other people I meet comment on my looks, "Your hair is like yaki soba. We're having yaki soba for lunch today.", "Your hair is NATURALLY curly??! Urayamashi! [I'm envious.], "Are you wearing contacts? Colored contacts?", "Are your eyelashes real? They're so long.", "You have a really high nose"--(which to an American is not a compliment, and I really didn't know what to say when this comment was made...but it was followed up with the statement that Japanese people like high noses better than their own, typically more flat noses).....As I was saying, I hate having a self-centered attitude, thinking that people are always staring at me...but frequent comments such as these consistently remind me that I don't blend in in this predominately racially homogeneous population. Sometimes I move beyond this and subconsciously think that I blend in, and then 4 seconds later I will hear someone shout "Hello!" to me, and when I look to see who it is, I discover it's a stranger-- someone I've never seen in my life. 'Why are random high school students shouting "Hello" to me as I pass by on my bike?', I wonder. I then realize it's because they notice I'm white and presume I speak English. Or one of my friends will come up behind me as I'm running on the elliptical machine at the gym and say, "It's so easy to spot you in the row of people working out." Being the only non-Asian, non-dark-haired person in an ice skating rink a couple weekends ago was a really strange feeling...just being in a contained room where everyone was either skating around in circles with nothing in particular to look at or sitting in the bleachers watching everyone else skate around in circles...I was so obvious. The other night I was riding my bike home from the gym in the dark, and I had my hood on and my hair tucked into it. A couple boys (who I don't know) said, "Hello", as they approached me. Whaaaat?! How could they possibly tell that I was not Japanese? It was dark and I was wearing a hood! I'm so baffled by this. Anyways, being so conspicuous makes me very aware of my actions. When I drink water while walking down the street, I'm noticed. When I eat an un-cut apple outside the train station, I'm noticed. When I wear a scarf at school, I'm noticed. I guess anyone doing these unorthodox (ha! LOL!) things here would be noticed...but at home I would never be detected for doing these things--not only because no one cares if you drink while walking, eat un-cut apples, or wear a scarf...but also because I look similar to many other people. Receiving a compliment as an attempt to indirectly draw my attention to what everyone else has apparently already noted-- I'm wearing a scarf-- makes me so concerned about what other seemingly normal and presumably unnoticeable things I do that are actually glaringly obvious scenarios in which I'm going against the rules and cultural norms here.

Dear Teachers

I wrote this letter at school one day a couple months ago.

November 26th, 2008

Dear Teachers,
Here's what I want you to know:
(and if you gave me the trademark-of-Japanese-life opportunity to give a speech, and if I was in fact able to leap the language barrier [and, OF COURSE, the cultural politeness barrier, which-- honestly-- would require me to be an Olympian pole vaulter] and say what I really mean, this is what I'd tell you...)

I think it's weird that you don't say "hi" when you see me for the first time in a day-- that you walk right past without acknowledging me. I think it's weird that you seem to enjoy talking to me and you will talk and laugh with me throughout the day one day and then not say anything to me the next. I don't understand why you don't ask me questions...like "How was your weekend?" (or "When is your birthday?") I just can't read you. What do you think of me, I wonder... Do you think I'm loud and so you don't want to talk to me because I might draw attention with my loud voice (by Japanese standards) and laugh (which, I admit, is loud by any standards)? Do I annoy you? Do you really not ask each other these questions either? Because that's how it seems, but that seems unbelievable!

Approximately a month after writing this letter (which, really, was brewing in me for soo long), I realized and found out some things that are helpful. 1. It occurred to me one day how inadequate the Japanese translation for "How are you?" is. "Genki desu ka?" literally means, "Are you well/healthy/energetic?" So it's a yes or no question. It doesn't avail anyone the opportunity to say how they really are. When I ask a Japanese person "O-genki desu ka?" I really mean, 'Are you enjoying today? Is everything okay with your family? Do you have a busy week? Is there something you're excited about? Sad about? What's new?' but I get merely a 'yes' or 'no' and sometimes not even that...about a third of the time I get only a 'thank you for asking'. 2. I told my friend, Shiyo, the same thing I said in the letter. She went to college in the States for a semester, so she knows some about American social culture. And she is an open-minded person, so I figured she could handle it and not be offended. She said, "We don't have such a culture" [to ask "How are you?"]. She continued, "We say 'good morning', but we don't ask each other how we're doing." (This confirmed what I thought to be true...because I never hear anyone asking each other...yet it just seemed unfathomable, so I thought I just must not understand those conversations...like maybe they were asking each other in a different way, using words I don't know.) I further explained to her that it's really strange to me that when I ask "How are you?" in English, people usually just say "fine" and nothing more-- which is what you'd typically say to someone you really don't want to talk to. "When you ask a Japanese person how they are, they don't know what to say", she explained. Basically she said that since they don't ask each other that question, they have no repertoire of responses-- especially in English. These 2 things helped me feel much relieved about this daily issue. Yet, though I now know I'm not being singled out to be ignored, I still feel isolated when the people by whom I'm surrounded daily don't engage me in intentional conversation. It's so different. This is culture shock.

A Splendid Day in the Life

Right now I'm enjoying two of my favorite things about Japan: かぼちゃ　　天ぷらとこたつ　(kabocha tempura and my kotatsu). :) Life is good, ne? Kabocha is Japanese pumpkin, and a kotatsu is a table w/ heating underneath (this is a necessity, due to the nationwide absence of residential central heating).

Two really great-- no-- three...no! FOUR really great things happened today! :)
One: had a super fun and understandable conversation (IN ENGLISH!) with Donhyon and Kazuyuki after 3rd period today.

Two: Hiromi gave me a thumbs up and a smile when she came out of Kochyoo Sensei's office this afternoon; that means she passed her most recent h.s. entrance exam. sweet happiness.

Three: INTERJECTION-- I just thought of two more! Man, this day has been great! ...in so many simple ways. -- Okay, three: I ran into Takaki, Ryotaro, Yuuto, Ryo, and Tsuyoshi as I was going into Bunshindo (DVD rental and book store) after school today. When I pulled up on my bike, Ryo and Takaki's eyes got big with disbelief! ;) LOL! (It always cracks me up that kids are so surprised to see teachers outside of school.) Takaki shouted (as usual), "MYAAA!" and Ryo said, "aaah, Mya chan!" Aaaaw, he called me "chan". :) This means he likes me and thinks of me as a friend more than a teacher. [In America, as a teacher, I wasn't supposed to be "friends" w/ students...but here I don't have to manage classroom behavior, so I don't have to maintain those same strict boundaries. I'm allowed to be "friends" w/ students, and actually, I think my role here is closer to friend (i.e. someone students speak to (in English)) than to teacher.] To hear "Mya chan" from him was heartwarming.

Four: Yoshii Sensei asked me, "How are you?" BEFORE I asked him. This is phenomenal. For a Japanese teacher, other than those who teach English or who previously lived in America, to ask me how I'm doing without me first soliciting them for this info is unheard of. I was so happy! I'm sure my smile spread across the width of the stairwell where we were passing each other. When I asked him in return, he said, "Fine", but then paused, and I said, "Really?" ;D At dinner w/ a few of the other young teachers on Friday night, one of them asked me, "Do you think the teachers at Ohrui Chu are friendly to you?" Um, aah...what should I say?? Ehhh to..."I think they're nice...but not friendly. Tatoeba, Tamura Sensei brings me bread regularly, and Okada Sensei bought me peach tea and a kanji reader...so they're really nice to me. But on a daily basis they don't greet me. If I don't ask how they are, they'll NEVER ask me first." [I will soon post a letter I wrote to the teachers (not for them to see, just for me to express) regarding this a few months ago.] I explained that in America everyone asks, "How are you?" If you work with someone you don't even like that much, you will still ask, "How are you?" But here, people don't ask that...so I don't think they're friendly. "Or maybe Japanese people are friendly in a different way."-- Now I'm just being polite and open-minded. Yoshii Sensei said (in Japanese), 'Okay from now on I will ask you!' He also brought up and we discussed how Japanese people think the right answer to the question, "How are you?" is "I'm fine. Thank you. And you?" (more on this later!!! I'm overwhelmed at trying to tackle this subject in print, so I've left it yet untouched.) He said that when I ask him how he is he says, "Fine, thank you." but that sometimes he's NOT fine. To this I replied-- with a little bit of sadness in my heart-- "I know!" I told him that he can say other things...like "I'm tired", "I'm great", and I taught him the phrase "I'm stressed out!" Today he followed up his "fine" by saying he wasn't stressed out. よかった。

Five: I received a "Congratulations!" (on your wedding) card today. :) How charmingly pleasant. And unexpected. It was from "Shirley" (spoken in a loud, high-pitched voice...with the last syllable elongated and pronounced "ay"), the tea lady. Her real name is Nakazato San. She wears rose-colored glasses, literally. And today I noticed that the sticker w/ the prescription strength on it is still on one of the lenses. She speaks to me in fluent Japanese, and for some reason expects-- and seems to fully believe-- that I can understand. I'm amazed...I have no idea why she thinks this. I mean, she barely pauses for a breath when I repeat unknown words questioningly and open my dictionary to search for them. I only look up about every 11th word I don't know...because she is on a roll, and she is not stopping for me to understand her. I think she thinks I'm fluent or something...or, I don't know. (But I'm not.) Anyways, today she gave me the wedding congratulations card as a thank you card. I'm sure she doesn't even know what the word "Congratulations" is...she-- like everyone here-- just likes to see English in print...and she thinks the houses on the front of the card are kirei (pretty), not realizing that the one in the middle with the cross on top is a wedding chapel. I loved, LOVED receiving this card! She got one of the English teachers to help her, and she carefully penned, "Dear Mya San, Thank you very much for your Christmas card. I'm keeping it. Yukie Nakazato" And she told me that she was so happy to receive my Christmas card and that she showed it to her husband. Really, this one interaction and card could have made my month...yet it came bundled with so many other wonderful moments today.

Lastly for today-- Six: I ate shark for lunch today. It was school lunch.