Flag Day

Tuesday, June 14 was just another day at the office for you, but in this school district it was reason enough to break from lesson plan routine and educate unsuspecting Japanese students about Flag Day. I chalked up Betsy Ross’ first flag for the 13 Colonies, and explained how America has grown since 1776 by adding 37 more stars to form our current banner. And just like America’s flag, its states come in two colors. The blue states are good and the red states are bad. New York is a good state, okay class? Okayokay, they said.

What better way to celebrate Flag Day than to bestow on foreign students my mother lode of pencils and erasers (see previous post) bearing Old Glory? Winners of games had a choice between pencil and eraser. After all, class, democracy is about choice. One smart aleck, however, wanted a grander prize: a plane ticket to New York. Sasahara, not even five feet tall, was the last man standing after a heated game of Simon Says. He chose the eraser. Another student piped up, saying that they sell those in Japan. Maybe he had a point; they are made in Taiwan.

The free prize also came with gratuitous political commentary. “The eraser is so you can help erase America’s mistakes in the world,” I quipped. Ms. Kimura laughed and translated. Blank stares for fifteen seconds. “Like Iraq,” I added, thinking of how I wanted to air mail a carton to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Some smiles of recognition. “Too deep,” Kotomi, an active girl in the front row, said. She just as well could have meant America’s blunders committed in the name of the war on terror, but it turns out she only was referring to the double meaning of my eraser comment.

Meanwhile, a delighted Sasahara was counting the stars on his prize. I braced myself to hear him shout nijuu-hachi. 48. He was only going to find 48 stars on the Taiwanese-made American flag. Much to my chagrin, I admitted that the eraser was incorrect. But this was a Taiwanese mistake. Nevertheless, so much for the finer points of today’s lesson on Flag Day stars.