3.13.22
Last Sunday morning, the surprisingly warm air convinced me to go outside for a stroll. Though I was expecting to have the mountainscape all to myself--as I’ve found Yakage wakes late on weekend morning--I noticed the sound of multiple car doors shutting, grannies chatting, and strollers rolling. The need to investigate arose, and my strolling turned into tagging along the stream of people heading towards...the unknown.
And then came the smells: the sweetness of the toasting ningyo-kasutera, the earthiness of the roasting chestnuts, the richness of the smoking yakiniku sticks, the crispiness of the frying okonomiyaki cabbage mounts. And the sounds: a stall vendor calling "irashai irasahi irashaaai-mase" (translation = welcome, welcome, WEEEELCOMEE), a little girl pulling her mom calling "kocchi!" (translation = this way!), the sizzle of oil being wiped onto a hot teppan grill. What unknown did I walk into?
Ya know, just the town’s ANNUAL STREET FOOD FESTIVAL!?!???
To be engulfed in a little bubble of people enjoying both the making and eating of fresh comfort foods is another level of happiness. Perhaps it's because the satisfaction that the first bite brings to the people around me is so simple and pure. Or maybe the magic around street food comes from the waiting period–choosing, seeing, and impatiently waiting for the vendor to make our order right in front of us makes receiving the steaming, mouth-burning end-product so amazing. Plus, getting to devour unabashedly and instantly makes the whole experience that much more satisfying. Whatever the case, it is safe to say my delight matched the little girl's who, at that point, got her mom to buy her a gleamingly pink strawberry lollipop.
But what was even more filling than the actual street food scene was running into some of my hoikuen kiddos and their families. It was really something to see their eyes widen when they recognized me outside of the classroom and realized I wasn’t just their English teacher, but also their neighbor. Further, hearing them show off random English words to elicit chuckles from their families warmed my heart. Lately, I've been questioning the validity behind calling myself a “teacher” since it's an achievement if even one kiddo remembers one term from the very rushed and limited 20 minute lesson I give (rushed/limited comes from the teachers not wanting English lessons to a) deviate from their greeting-song-terms-reading routine and b) extend past 30 minutes of their days.) So, seeing my kids interact with their families through English made me realize that maybe my teaching won’t lead to fluency, but it can lead to joy. And as long as I can provide these kiddos something to be proud, curious, and excited about, my feelings of inadequacy or guilt don’t need to be as much of a thing as it is. There are still some feelings and thoughts to ponder over, but chancing upon them felt good--kind of like the first winds of spring air that initially brought me to this street food symphony.
waiting!
やいた = fried
cabbage mounts!
taiyaki squeezing
ichigo ame!
