Seriously?

Our new school year has started and the seniors I teach in my elective Oral Communication classes are some of my favorites. I've got a soft spot for them because I remember teaching them as freshmen and I'm sure they remember my fresh-off-the-boat awkwardness and wacky behavior from those first few months. (Not that that's changed much over the last year and a half.)

I've asked them to write me a journal entry every week and I hope that this is something that will continue when the next lucky devil arrives in this island paradise and starts teaching English. I got my first batch of journals on Thursday. I read them and wrote responses to my students and piled them in a corner on my desk. I just so happened to take a closer look at the cover of of the notebook on top. It looked innocent enough. Then I noticed the "fine print."

Bizarre, isn't it? Whenever English like this pops up, I'm always a bit taken aback. Where did it come from? How did it get on the cover of a notebook of one of my students'? There are countless examples of inappropriate (or just plain strange) English popping up in Asian countries. It's so rampant that there's actually a website devoted to these snafus. (www.engrish.com)

Here's my contribution. I took this at an Indian food joint in Fukuoka's Canal City a long time ago, but it still makes me giggle SO much. I just love the idea of choosing my own "hottie."