I'm still struggling a bit with Japanese. I'm understanding a lot, and I can say quite a bit now. I've even had multiple effective phone conversations in Japanese. But the sheer amount of implicit information in Japanese daunting.
The other day, I was leaving class after teaching a lesson. Goda-sensei, with whom I team-teach Tetsuya, told me that Maegami-sensei was holding a math lesson for Tetsuya. Nice, I thought.
What I didn't understand was that the Japanese equivalent of "Maegami-sensei is holding a math lesson for Tetsuya" actually means "All of the teachers from the school are obligated to attend this math lesson for reasons that nobody can or ever will explain. If you don't go, the principal with seek you out and give you a look of shame and an invitation (summons) to the aforementioned class."
I sat through the class, which didn't appear to be any different from any other class I've seen in Japan. None of the teachers participated, and everyone just watched Tetsuya's normal, everyday lesson. I'm still not sure why I had to go, but I'm sure I'll soon be blogging about how I didn't know that I was supposed to write a 15-page report on Tetsuya's math lesson.
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