Tenipuri: creating bridges
Nov. 15th, 2008 08:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blodeueddHow To Be A Rockstar At An All-Girls Middle School In 3 Easy Steps:
1. Cultivate an interest in anime, musicals based on anime, or Japanese boy bands.
2. Collect related phone straps or charms and display them proudly.
3. Sit back and wait for the squealing to begin.
It was pretty hilarious. The first part of my morning was games and conversation in the classroom (I had a grade 9 group), so they asked me basic questions about what foods I liked, which actors, which tv shows... When I brought up テニスの王子様, and pointed out the tenipuri bling on my purse, I got questions about who my favourite character was (one group in particular seemed to find it vastly amusing when I answered, "Ooishi!"), and then when I said the magical word "musical" and said I had seen Hyoutei A on stage and was going on Christmas eve, I got some really excited shrieks and "Ii na~~~~!"
My phone (which has about 394590 Yuu Yuu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin straps hanging from it) also generated quite a buzz. I took it out to show the girls pictures of my cat, and was suddenly surrounded by girls pawing at the straps, wanting to know, "Dare? Dare???" and exclaiming, "Ah! Kenshin! Yuu Yuu Hakusho da yo!"
The second half of the morning had all the grade 9 girls gathered in the gym for free conversation, and as soon as I set foot inside, two of the girls from earlier appeared, dragging friends along behind them, to introduce us tenimyu fans to each other. After I'd gotten a picture with all of them, I mingled with other students and, regular as clockwork, each time I produced my phone or showed off my purse, there would be a collective squeal. I really wonder what the other participants thought was going on in my corner...
All in all it was a fun morning, and the girls were so adorable when trying to share their excitement with me. A couple were shyer in the group, but came up to me afterwards to ask me about which other series I liked, and one girl in particular was almost hyperventilating, she was so wound up.
1. Cultivate an interest in anime, musicals based on anime, or Japanese boy bands.
2. Collect related phone straps or charms and display them proudly.
3. Sit back and wait for the squealing to begin.
It was pretty hilarious. The first part of my morning was games and conversation in the classroom (I had a grade 9 group), so they asked me basic questions about what foods I liked, which actors, which tv shows... When I brought up テニスの王子様, and pointed out the tenipuri bling on my purse, I got questions about who my favourite character was (one group in particular seemed to find it vastly amusing when I answered, "Ooishi!"), and then when I said the magical word "musical" and said I had seen Hyoutei A on stage and was going on Christmas eve, I got some really excited shrieks and "Ii na~~~~!"
My phone (which has about 394590 Yuu Yuu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin straps hanging from it) also generated quite a buzz. I took it out to show the girls pictures of my cat, and was suddenly surrounded by girls pawing at the straps, wanting to know, "Dare? Dare???" and exclaiming, "Ah! Kenshin! Yuu Yuu Hakusho da yo!"
The second half of the morning had all the grade 9 girls gathered in the gym for free conversation, and as soon as I set foot inside, two of the girls from earlier appeared, dragging friends along behind them, to introduce us tenimyu fans to each other. After I'd gotten a picture with all of them, I mingled with other students and, regular as clockwork, each time I produced my phone or showed off my purse, there would be a collective squeal. I really wonder what the other participants thought was going on in my corner...
All in all it was a fun morning, and the girls were so adorable when trying to share their excitement with me. A couple were shyer in the group, but came up to me afterwards to ask me about which other series I liked, and one girl in particular was almost hyperventilating, she was so wound up.
