I was talking to a previous student of mine, who has since moved to High School. We were chatting (albeit slowly) so I asked her, "Do you like English" and to my surprise she replied No. But she was happy to continue talking to me.
Usually, the kids who don't like English either ignore me, or spend the whole class being disruptive, generally yelling "Kato, Kato". If the kid likes English then usually they acknowledge me in the corridors, or when they see me out and about in Hagi.
I have one 9th grader who looks in the other direction when he sees me coming, and tries to hide under his desk when I come into the class. I try not to take it personally, and that extends to not taking pride in the kids who love English. I know it's not all due to me, and that most of them will forget me when I'm gone. I mean, the elementary kids say hello and run up to me around Hagi, but when I leave it's not like they will notice.
What surprises me the most, given the number of JETs who have come through Hagi, is that to most kids I am the representative of the english language, and how they respond to me is based on their (dis)like for english.
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