Anthon and his Japanese

This post may only really be funny to those who speak some Japanese. Nevertheless, I want to share this story about Anthon, who is learning Japanese at his pre-school. The teacher gives the kids a set of words to work on and they practice talking to their teddy bears, which is kind of a cute visual. It's helping him be more proactive in using his Japanese around town. The other day with Shelley, Anthon approached a mother/daughter two-some and said, "Konnichiwa, guys." Then turning back to Shelley said, "I said Konnichiwa to them."

Anyway, One of the words they've been learning is the word "itadakimasu!" (pronounced ee-ta-da-kee-mahs) or basically what you say right before you eat a meal...it literally means "I humbly partake." It's like saying "bon apetit." The teachers explained how you pronounce the word to the kids by saying, "remember before you eat, you say 'eat'-adakimasu."

On Friday night we were eating dinner and had already said, "itadakimasu" when Anthon grabs his drink and said, "I'm not going to say eat-adakimasu again, I'm going to say drink-adakimasu." It reduced Shelley and I to tears of laughter. The kid continues to surprise me with his grasp of language and unique sense of humor.