Role Reversal

One of my students is a 9-year-old boy. I've been going to his house almost every Friday evening since last December. He is usually a little tired out by his school week and all the homework and extra studies expected of Japanese students (of which English is one). He is restless and doesn't seem to be too happy to be in my lessons. I mean, he's 9 years old, loves baseball like it's the end-all, be-all and wants nothing more than to be outside playing or at least playing a baseball video game... not inside studying another language!

We use flashcards to learn vocabulary for things like food (talking about our favorites) or actions (talking about our abilities), and I do my best to keep him interested by playing various games with them or hiding them around the room. Sometimes I even shuffle them loudly and quickly or fling them at him when he gets them right to keep him alert. One lesson, he was especially drowsy and restless, so I spent the lesson teaching him baseball terms in English and running imaginary plays, having him be the sports announcer. But it always seems like a serious challenge to keep him present.

Like a good little Japanese boy, he is super polite and offers me the first tea and sweets his grandma serves us. He greets me at the door and then later walks me to the door, telling me "thank you. see you next week" as I put on my shoes to go.

When I showed up for my lesson with him tonight, he wasn't smiling like usual. He took me up to the study room upstairs and as he turned on the light, he said rather abruptly and strongly "America kaeru?!?" (are you going back to America?)

Apparently, his mother just found out from another student (yes, the grapevine is alive and well in Kyoto) that I am leaving here in about 5 weeks. So she told him last night.

I told him I was leaving in a few weeks, and his eyes dropped. We did the lesson, and in the middle, he asked me to show him how I shuffle cards. We spent some time on it, until he got better, and then his mom came home. He ran out, without a goodbye, peeking back inside for a quick "thanks."

She told me that he cried last night when she told him I was leaving. He apparently talks about me to his family and how I shuffle the cards like magic and how I study aikido and what foods I like and how I know about baseball... She said that through his tears, he asked her if they could prepare sushi for me for our last meeting, since I told him it was my favorite food during one of our lessons.

My heart felt so heavy and so light at the same time...

I had no idea he even liked me, let alone that he would be sad when I left!

I realized that just as people unknowingly make a lasting impression on me, I must do the same for others. I need to remember that every little thing we do is probably secretly scrutinized by someone and impressed upon others. It reminded me to be mindful of my actions and to feel proud that I make a difference, even when I'm not aware of it.

I feel honored to have been the student tonight, learning from the heart of a 9-year-old.