Please note: This post is about kids in general, not just the ones in Japan. All of my examples will be Japanese kids because I'm kind of want for non-Japanese students.
Jr. High School kids are a strange lot. I feel sorry for the ones who are having trouble fitting in, because I just know how awkward and strange they feel all the time and how much they get picked on. I feel bad for the popular ones, because for the most part they are probably peaking now and it's going to be a rough ride down into early and middle adulthood. I even feel sorry for those middle of the road kids because, despite being well adjusted, they are not really allowed to explore their own personal interests in lieu of strict rote learning.
But there seems to be one connecting factor between all these kids. Yes, from the lowliest nerd to the coolest pop-star looking kids, Jr. High School kids smell bad. Very bad. Not just "no deodorant" bad, but full on "I haven't bathed in at least three days" bad. I find it amazing that my girls who expertly apply their make-up each day smell like they just swam through a combination of onions and vinegar.
Now, I don't just go around smelling my kids. It's when they come up to the head of the class and I catch a whiff of them as they write something on the board or turn in completed papers. My grade school kids are thankfully free of body oder, but anyone who's ever had or worked with kids know that they find ways to compensate for their inability to make their own stench.
I love my kids tho, stench or not. I'm really hoping I get to stay at the same schools until I go home so I can watch them grow and become more mature. With all the schools and classes I have each week I'm only now starting to know some of my students personally. Of course, they are just now warming up to me as well, so it's nice that we are mutually making efforts to get to know each other now. Besides, now that I'm getting to know names better, I can keep a better list of the ones I should breathe through my mouth around.
-Maru!
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