Puny Puny and Survivor

Most Japanese are intimidated by my size. I am really not larger than many of the people. It is really the older generation that is shorter. Many of the younger generation, including people my age are near six feet tall. There are three or four students who are at six feet, and these are high school freshmen. I may have a combination of height and weight that they are not used to, but there is one six foot boy who definitely out weighs me by at least 50 pounds. I have also seen some very tall women. Years ago, I read that with the increases of milk in the Japanese, the average height of the Japanese is nearing Western norms.

Yet, there are many Japanese who are intimidated by me. Part of that is definitely my foreign nature. Blue-eyed gaijin are not real common in Nishinomiya. The Japanese are also encultured to avoid eye contact and to submit to authority. So many of the Japanese are intimidated by me.

In class, one of the things that the students need to learn is eye contact. They avoid it. The avoid talking. At the beginning of each class in 9th grade we start with a game called ‘Survivor.’ All of the students stand while I ask them questions. As students answer the questions correctly, they may sit down. I try to make the game as fun as possible. If I hear a Japanese word at the beginning of class I will ask them to define it for me. I pick on words that obviously don’t mean anything. The other day Tashiro, the teacher, told the students to stand for our survivor game. A boy said, “Oy, oy oy!” as he stood slowly. Obviously it meant, “Geez! Not this again.” or something to that effect. I asked them to define it and repeated it several times. It proved impossible for the students. Their English isn’t quite good enough yet. I ended up writing several possible definitions on the board.

During the game, I also look around the room and read their body language. If a student is confident, I will often ask follow up questions to the question that they answered. Many of these students, appreciate the challenge and often do quite well in their responses.

Some students just do not have the social or English skills to cope. I am gentle with them, but I try to play with the ones who are capable of handling the situation. The interaction should make them tougher. These kids all have the same body language. They avoid eye contact, but they have to look at me every now and then. When they catch my eye, they start to laugh nervously. When I see this, I try to move closer to them and give them a little shot of adrenaline. I know this may sound mean, but some kids are so intimidated by me, that as I move closer they actually move away and try to keep their chair, desk or friend between me and themselves. One girl actually had her seat in the front row. I worked my way beyond her and then attacked from behind. She ended up in the very front of the room, hanging onto Ms Tashiro’s arm as I asked her a couple of questions. Her final request was, “If you are brave enough to sit down, you may.” She had to walk by me to get to her seat, but she did so without any fear.


I really am helpful if a student gets close or tries to answer a question, I often assist them. I will walk them through the correct answer. Many times I will model the answer for them in class after I have asked the question. Usually the kids with lesser abilities are the ones standing at the end of the game, so I ask the tougher questions at the beginning of class. The last couple of questions usually are, what is your name and how old are you.

Some kids are quite bold and are not afraid to interact with me during the game or even between classes. One girl surprised me. Last week this girl, stood in the doorway and would not let Tashiro into the class. Tashiro is 29 years old, has taught in West Virginia for two years and Ecuador for one. She is well like by her students, and some students will tease her. So this little girl, smaller than Tashiro was standing in the door and wouldn’t let her in. I thought I would give it a try. I took a step in the door and walked directly toward this girl that is just over five feet. She didn’t move. She looked up at me and poked me twice in the belly with her finger. Then she did it again, laughed and said, “Puny puny.” She wouldn’t let me in either.

I laughed at her and asked her what ‘puny puny’ meant. “Does it mean fat?”

She couldn’t answer. She didn’t know what fat meant. I got in the door and drew the Kanji symbol for fat. She shook her head and said, “No!” She looked at her friend with thick cheeks and poked her cheeks. Then she said, “Puny puny means soft.”

So there it is. Even with all of the activities I have engaged in while we have been in Japan, riding my bike, site seeing and death marches. I still can’t hide the fact that I am soft around the middle. I am glad to see that these kids can give tease me back as I pick on them. I guess I could forever be ‘puny puny’ but I don’t think that my Japanese kids will be afraid of me for as long as I will be soft around the middle.