Glendale, where'er we go, whate'er we do...

Monday I stayed around the house and relaxed after all the driving. At some point, I ate at Andy's, which is a local place that serves frozen custard. It sounds like a pretentious distinction to make, but anybody who's had Andy's knows it's definitely not just ice cream.

Wednesday, I went back to Glendale. Last time I caught up with Akaike-sensei, my Japanese teacher--we all just call her Sensei--she told me that all I have to do is tell the office that she's expecting me as a visitor. I tried that, and the office lady called Sensei, who thankfully played along. I made my way up to her room, walking as slowly as possible in order to observe the students.

Sensei has her own room now. For those of us who had her class (gulp) ten years ago, that's a big change; she used to be forced to jump from room to room depending on which one wasn't being used that block. Incidentally, that room belonged to Mrs. Stewart, who taught me English junior year. We also used that room for J2 in '99; I distinctly recall awesome folks like Chris, Tony, Heather, and Mary, as well as an idiot named Fong.*

I knocked, went in, and sat down in the back while Sensei finished opening the class. I discreetly took pictures of the class to show my students, knowing that the mini-skirts, t-shirts, jeans, and air conditioning would blow their minds.

Sensei mentioned that this was her J1 class, and that most of the students were freshmen. She gave a brief introduction about me, making sure to mention that my first year of college did me a world of good. (I was a holy terror in her class, and the first thing she said to me when I visited her after my first semester in college was, "You've lost that arrogant smile." She was serious, but she laughed as she said it. I think she felt vindicated.) Of course, she also mentioned that I finished my degree and am now teaching English in Japan.

I stood up in front of the class and talked a little about life in Japan. I had to reorganize my thoughts on the fly, because I hadn't been expecting to talk to students on their first day of high school. I knew better than to talk about college, because I know I didn't know or care about that until I was halfway through senior year. So I decided to stick to the broad strokes, like my job, the weather, the food, etc. I felt like crying when I realized they understood every word I was saying. (It's easy to forget what that's like when you go eight months without speaking to a group of fellow anglophones.)

There were lots of questions, which made me feel like crying again, for the same reasons. I think a few of them may have been genuinely interested in the job, but they've got a long way to go before their bachelors. Anyway, the bell rang, everyone filed out, and I gave Sensei a hug and said bye. That was 5th period, and they had last lunch, so I was able to snap a picture of the lunchroom--another phenomenon completely unheard-of in Japan. I also strolled around the school for a few minutes, peeking in all the rooms I remembered.

Gone are Mr. Sly (AP Calc/AP Physics '00-'01), Mr. Collins (AP Lit '00), Mrs. Adams (Algebra II '99), Mrs. Calvert (Keyboarding II '99), Mr. Davis (Physics I '98), Mrs. Rowe (Eng IIH '98), Coach Whytlaw (Trig '00), Mrs. Stewart (Eng IIIH '99), and Mrs. Miller nee Wingo (World History '98). Even Dr. Pamperien, who took over for Buffington as principal before we graduated, is gone. Just about the only people I still recognize are Mr. Fotsch (Chemistry '99, Programming '00), Mrs. Maslowsky (Computer Applications I and II, '99-'00), and Mr. Clifton, who I never had any classes with anyway.

After walking aimlessly in the halls, I went back to the car. I spent a solid twenty minutes just sitting there, reminiscing. If I make a concerted effort, I can remember bits and pieces of every class I had in high school. I don't think that's especially rare, though I do think losing the ability to recall with such clarity is probably one of the most distressing parts of getting older. I try not to dwell on that for long, but it's definitely motivated me to write down what I remember when I remember it.

* Just because I'm shocked I can remember it so clearly: Star Wars: Episode I came out that May. My parents are so cool that they checked me out of school--maybe the third time that happened to me in twelve years of school--so I could get in line at the Dickinson 8 theater for tickets. I was within the first hundred people in line, and three guys behind me talked about the re-releases of the original (non-Special Edition) trilogy in the 80s. One of the guys had totally avoided all information about the new movies, hoping to see it with an open mind. The next day, I heard from someone (Chris, I think) that, when they found out why I was absent from Japanese class the day before, some of the guys in class (most notably the aforementioned idiot, Fong) made fun of me. Heather, probably the nicest person I've ever met, apparently took up for me. Granted, I did buy tickets for her and her friends...