Kids say the darndest things

A few observations and qoutes from my middle school students....

So I told them that I was from the United States, and that my state was in between new york and florida (two places they might actually know.) Even after repeating the name of the state, "North Carolina" a few times, when I go over the information and ask them what state I am from they start shouting: "Canada!" "Austrailia!" They don't seem to realize that these are not American States, wouldnt the Canadians be happy.

They are only middle school students, but when the teacher asked them where Mt. Kilimanjaro was (after explaining before that it was in Africa) the most eager kids chime in "Russia!" (Understandable from a 12 year old-- or to be honest most adult Americans) and "LA!" I actually cracked up in front of the whole class at this one.... can you even imagine, Mt. Kilimanjaro in LA?!?!

Another personal favorite are the kids who say "I like sports is _____." instead of "my favorite sport is _____." It makes total sense in Japanese grammer, but sounds ridiculous in English!

"Imprinted" instead of "Impressed" also seems to be a common mistake. "I was imprinted with such and such earthquake."

The kids also frequently ask:
1) Can you eat Japanese food?-- As if doing so requires some superhuman skill, that Westerners could not possibly possess.
2) Do you have a boyfirend? And most recentley, Is Steve (another JET) your boyfriend? -- They have seen us riding around town together and in Japan it is virtually impossible for young men and women to be friends, so no matter how many times I tell them, no he is not my boyfriend, they do not seem to believe me. I cant even get the boys and girls in class to play with each other in class games!