Yes, we can!!

If you say the name Obama in this country, it is almost a guarantee, in my experiences with children at the very least, that the next three words you will hear will be “Yes, we can!” When I first got to Japan and the election hadn’t even happened yet they were already spouting this catchphrase. Even (especially?) the kids who didn’t know what it meant. My junior high first graders (and often those who were the worst students) would blank on something to say to me in English and so would revert to the easily remembered, “Yes, we can!” I would look at them and think, “I read your textbook. You haven’t learned the potential form yet and won’t for another month…you don’t even know what that means.” But that has never stopped them before.

I taught my elementary sixth grade class about “can.” The book uses penguins as an example, so it’s one of my favorite lessons so far. Here is the chant for the lesson: “Penguin, penguin, can you sing? No, I can’t. Can you fly? No, I can’t. What can you do? I can swim! I can swim! I can swim very well!” So I had lunch with that class, and while hanging out during recess one of my girls was dancing around saying, “Yes, we can!” with a big grin on her face. While this could be just another example of randomly repeating English, the timing of it makes me think she put two and two together and figured out what it meant. Or that the teacher explained it to the class after I left. Either way, it made me very happy.

A slightly sadder story comes to mind if I’m talking about Obama. This story comes from another ALT and takes place shortly after the election. The Japanese English Teacher was talking to her class about Obama. She said, “Isn’t it great? In America, anyone can become president! Too bad it doesn’t work that way in Japan…” And all the kids just kind of nodded. They know they will never be in politics. Why? Because they are not members of the richer elite. They have not gone to the special private schools since kindergarten, the ones that are on an elevator program that virtually guarantees acceptance into the colleges that produce politicians. I guess that’s when it hit me how “American” the American dream is.

When I was a child, if I had told my parents (and I’m sure I probably did at some point) that I wanted to be President one day, I would have been told that that was great, but it would take a lot of hard work and determination. I grew up with the idea that I could achieve anything, so long as I was willing to work for it. I’m not sure that my students have that same view of what they can do.

I live in a village that is mostly made up of fishermen. I often wonder how many of my students will eventually be fishermen themselves. There is nothing wrong with being a fisherman. I just wonder if it’s what my kids WANT to do. Or if they are stuck in this idea that that is the only option (or one of very few) available to them.

One final, happier (or at least more amusing) Obama note. There is a city here in Japan called Obama (which means “little beach” in Japanese). They produce tee-shirts and buttons and towels and whatnot all with Obama’s face that read “I  Obama.” When Obama won the election they had a party that included hula dancing to celebrate Obama’s home state. Tourism is apparently booming.  Some Japanese people must say, “Hey, let’s go to that town with the same name as the American president!” Are they hoping it will promote international tourism, such as Americans wishing to go because of its convenient name? If it’s the latter they’d better start some sort of advertising campaign. The name of their city may be a household name, but most people probably don’t know it exists! Did any of you stateside know there was a Japanese town called Obama before this entry? For all I know there was national news coverage of the city with the name of the American president!

In Obama they make manju, which are a traditional Japanese confectionary filled with sweet bean paste. These too now spot Obama’s face, leading one of my kids to write the sentence, “I’m excited to eat Obama.” At least that’s what I’ll assume she meant anyway. I’m 95% sure she was trying to be funny. So can we eat Obama? Yes, we can!