Being Married at MeySen

I never thought that having a married teacher would amuse students so much, but they really seem to get a kick out of it.  Part of it is probably the fact that Kris and I work on the floor of same building (MeySen has 3 classroom buildings at the MeySen campus), so my kids see him all the time.


As a disclaimer, I would like to note that I don't encourage or prompt their comments or interest in our relationship.  While on campus, Kris and I never touch or hug or hold hands (as the Japanese are not at all into PDA and as MeySen is our workplace).  The most interaction we have is to stand next to each other as we wave off the buses.  Still, this doesn't keep the kids from being interested.  Below are some little stories of marriage-obsessed 3rd grade class.


When I first met my students (when I was practice-teaching in their 2nd grade class in March), I explained that I was "Mrs. Lauren" instead of "Ms. Lauren" because I am married.  One girl then asked, "Mrs. Lauren, how much children do you have?".  When I answered that I had none, she suggested, "You need to make babies RIGHT NOW!!!!"


When I first started teaching the class, they liked to ask me personal questions such as, "Do you love Mr. Kris? Do you kiss Mr. Kris? Did you say 'I love you' to Mr. Kris? Who do you like more, Mr. Kris or Mr. Greg [my grade level partner]?  Who do you love more, Mr. Kris or the eraser?"  To their kissing question I either replied, "Ew!  Kissing is gross!" or "We don't talk about that at Friends Club."  To the love question I answered matter-of-factly, "Of course I love Mr. Kris. He is my husband." and then moved on to another subject.


When we had indoor playtime during the rainy season in June, my students got a kick out of spelling things with dominoes -- including messages about my relationship with Kris.  This was actually a frequent inspiration for their domino creations! One time they wrote Kris' name at the doorway and made arrows pointing in to the class room.  Then they wrote my name with a heart around it.

Once Kris left me a post-it note inside my cupboard that said, "I <3 you, Kris."  I left it there, and when one of my students went into the cupboard to get something, he found the post it and told the WHOLE class about it and they all laughed and came running to look at it.


One of my girls said, "Mrs. Lauren," and held up one hand in a half heart shape, "and Mr. Kris", and held up the other hand in a half of a heart shape.  Then she put them together and said, "is THIS!"


Another time, after class was over and my students were lined up outside to get on our field trip bus, I saw Kris and was asking him if he would sweep my room for me since I was going on a field trip.  During this conversation, one of my boys scurried around us and pretended to take pictures with an imaginary camera, like paparazzi!


One day during spelling time, the spelling word was "kisses".  When I introduce new spelling words, I ask the kids to say sentences with the word to make sure they understand the word.  "Who has a sentences for 'kisses'?" I asked.  Giggling, most of the students put their hands in the air. "Okay," I added, "who has a sentence for 'kisses' that is not about me or Mr. Kris?"  Immediately all the hands fell!  Later that same week, I was saying the spelling words for them to practice.   I gave a sentence with the word, which was the only MeySen appropriate sentence I could think of: "I think it is silly when the dog kisses the cat."  One of the girls, without missing a beat, said, "I think Mrs. Lauren is the cat and Mr. Kris is the dog."


One boy made this origami for Kris and I (but not all the pieces are pictured).  It is Mr. Kris and I with 2 chairs, a table, and a wall for the kitchen!  When he gave it to me, he had us both (a blue Kris and a pink Lauren) sitting in chairs at the table.  Adorable!

Every week this same boy tries to get Kris to come into our class when he first arrives by saying things like, "Mrs. Lauren needs to talk to you about something important!" or "Mrs. Lauren made pizza for you!".


Greg's class, the other 3rd grade class, is also intrigued by mine and Kris' relationship.  One of his students wrote this story about us.

"One day Mr. Cris and Mrs. Lauren said, lets eat dinner together. At dinner time they talk about tommarow date. He said, "lets go shoping tomaro." "Oh! Yes! [the exclamation points were made of hearts]" said the Mrs. Lauren. "And then let's eat a lunch together! [another heart] Let's eat pancake."

When they were learning how to make Venn diagrams, two of Greg's students made this venn diagram about us.


Mr. Kris - boy, big, Kris
Mrs. Lauren - girl, small, Lauren
Both  - teacher, people, the wanted to mary [sic]

One of the Christmas songs that the regluar friends club students are learning has lyrics that say "Christmas is a time to love" three times in a row.  They have hand motions for a tree and a heart that they do while they sing the words "Christmas" and "love".  One day my class was in the big hall with regular friends club for an assembly.  "Christmas is a time to love" was playing in the hall and kids were singing and doing the motions.  Instead of making a heart with his hand, my student pointed one finger at me and another finger at Kris, who was about 20 feet away!

Do you see how cute my kids are?!?!  They make being married and even better thing!

Giving It Another Go

This week we signed our contracts for 2012.  That's right: we've decided to stay another year.  Though we are sad that we will be away from our friends and family for another year, we are really excited about sticking around for another year.  Staying for another year was what we both wanted, so we felt that such a mutual agreement was a sign that God wanted us to stay too.

For us, the decision was easy:  We are both really enjoying our jobs and have gotten positive feedback from our supervisors; living in Japan has been a fun adventure that we don't want to end yet; we've made some good friends (and I've got an AWESOME grade level partner who keeps me laughing and helps teaching be easy-peezy-lemon-squeezy) and our salaries are enough that we don't have to worry about money (though we still live frugally so that we can save up our money for a down payment on a house someday).  As I've told many of my family members, MeySen is a teacher's dream and I can't imagine teaching anywhere else (at least for the time being).  After getting used to short work days, plenty of prep time, a class size of 13, opportunities to build friendships with students, and ADORABLE kids, I may have to retire from teaching when I return to the States! haha! 

We both prayed about our decision to stay and feel that God wants us to be here.  Teaching at MeySen gives us an incredible opportunity to share the gospel with kids that come from non-Christian homes.  I get to read the Bible to my 3rd grade students every day and talk to them about God openly, though their families are not Christian and some of them are not either.  God is continuing using us to share his message of grace and forgiveness and love and redemption with the kids of Japan, so as long as He wants us to be here, we will be here.

Thank you to all our friends and family who continue to love and support us from across the ocean.  We wish we had a teleporter so that we could come and see you (and eat American food) more often.