Colors

We were reviewing colors in the first grade class. Students took turns identifying colors I pulled from a crayon box, then they had to find something in the classroom that was the same color. 


“What color is this?”
“Green!”
“What’s green in here?” One student held up her water bottle with its green cap.
“Yes, that’s right!” Another student pointed to his cartoon character socks.
“Very good!”

“What color is this?”
“Brown!”
“What’s brown in here?” Yuina pointed at her backpack straps.
“Good job!” She clapped for herself. Keitaro ran toward me. I thought he was going to point at my brown dress, but when he stopped at my chair, he pointed at my wrist. 
“Yes, that’s right! I am brown.” Keitaro gave me a wide smile, his two front teeth missing. Negishi-sensei, who was sitting in on the class, made an odd noise. I did not turn to look at her. We continued playing the game until we ran out of crayons. 


Later, in the staffroom, I overheard her telling the other teachers what Keitaro had done and my response. They all responded with a surprised “Eeeeh?!” What’s so shocking? What was my response supposed to be? The kid is not blind. He had, in fact, pointed at the biggest, brownest thing in the classroom. Japanese adults can be so weird. 

March 5, 2020