This week, particularly the last two days had me doubled over laughing at pretty much everything. On monday I went to a karaoke for the first time with some girls from school. We sang at the karaoke for a while, then went shopping, then went to a ``purikura`` a photo booth that changes your appearance and lets you alter stuff in your picture. It was a lot of fun and the girls are really nice and funny.
The next two days I did pretty much nothing because there was a typhoon and school was closed for two days.
Yesterday, back at school, the kids made me laugh harder than I have since the first time I saw the pink panther movies. It started at lunch when some friends were trying to find a way to explain masochism. (there was a reason, I just can't remember it) They looked up the word in their translator but I told them it was the wrong word because I didn't think it made sense. So the three girls tried to act out masochism......... They started punching each other then jumping up and down and clapping their hands with happiness to get the point across. Eventually I figured it out but by the time I did all four of us were shreiking with laughter and one girl was yelling, ``NO NO NO!!!!! NOT ME!!!! JOKE!!!!!! ONLY TO EXPLAIN!!!!!`` We were laughing so hard that I forgot why they had to explain it in the first place, I know there was a legitimate reason........lol I burst out laughing every time I caught any of their eye for the rest of the day.
Next, we had an assembly for the new members of student council. The girls sitting next to me were checking my shoe size, comparing my skin tone to theirs, etc. One of my friends asked me what we call the hair on our arms in the U.S. the english teacher listening said ``armhair`` so the two girls quickly conferred and then said ``We are very interested in your armhair.``...........needless to say I cried with laughter. They asked me why the hair on my arms is light instead of dark like theirs. I tried to explain that my hair is just lighter but they kept asking why. Eventually I asked the English teacher to ask the biology teacher to explain in class why I look the way I do.
Finally, back in the classroom, the girls were all asking me about boys.
``Do you like shy boys?``
``Sure``
``Do you like positive boys?`` (happy/cheerful)
``Sure``
``Do you like negative boys?`` (sad/serious)
``Um, I don't know.``
``Ok ok, do you like.....``(looks up on dictionary)
``Do you like predatory boys?``
...................................................they heard me screaming with laughter at the end of the hall.......When I started laughing/crying the girls figured out that something was wrong so they consulted their dictionary again and........
``Do you like meat-eating boys?``
I'm assuming that something was lost in translation. I really can't remember the last time I laughed that hard. I couldn't speak for a few minutes.
Now we get to today, or this morning. I woke up and got ready for school as usual. When I got downstairs my host mom wasn't up which was weird but I assumed she was tired and sleeping late. I made myself breakfast and lunch and headed off for school. The first thing that weirded me out was that the trains were empty. The 7:30 train is always packed and today I was able to find a seat and sit down. It was weird but I saw a few other students so I didnt worry about it. Then, at the main train station in my city the downtown area was deserted. The six lane road was empty except for a few buses that seemed to be fewer than normal. Still, I just followed some girls from my school and went to school as usual. I would ask my teacher later what was going on. The school was weirdly deserted also, only a few students were walking around. I assumed I was late so hurried to put on my shoes and get to class. Thats when I noticed that all of the indoor shoes for the lower grades were still there, I figured out at this point that something was off. So I went upstairs to the teachers room to ask my english teacher what was going on......the teachers room was empty. So I went upstairs just to check and make sure no one was there......no one was there. On my way down an english teacher who had been sent to find me told me that there was no school today.....it was a national holiday and only third graders had to come in to take a test.......I just started laughing when she told me this so she figured out that I had no idea. She laughed too, and asked me how long it takes me to get to and from school (an hour, both ways). I headed home, when I got off the train at my stop my host mom called me, she had woken up and found all of my stuff gone and figured out what happened. She found it hilarious too. She thought that my teacher had told me that it was a holiday, and my teacher thought that my mom would have told me. I'm still laughing which is getting to be a problem because my stomach is starting to hurt from laughing so much. They say that laughter is good for you and makes you live longer, another week like this and I'll be immortal.
