ahhhh I know what you mean

Today, my student Ryou, 11, who I have known since he was 4, said to me, 'Oh, Alex....Kagawa, is Manchester'.

Now, what he was trying to say, and not doing a bad job of it, is that Japanese player Shinji Kagawa is going to join Manchester United. Ryou knows full well I like football and that I'm from England and so was trying manfully to engage me in conversation. I, childishly, curled my top lip and said something along the lies of 'oh yeah....yuk, I don't like Manchester (United)'.

Ryou, as a just turned 11 year old Japanese boy, looked slightly confused, even disappointed by my reaction and I realised I needed to expand on my reply....it wasn't hard.

'OK Ryou, do you like Yomiuri Giants?' I asked him. Giants are the baseball team in Japan with the biggest fan base, spread all over the country and in the past dominated the league. When I came to Japan originally, in an attempt to drum up some interest in myself for the sport I decided that Giants = Man United, Hiroshima Carp = my local team. It worked. Up to a point.

Anyway, back to Ryou...

'Do you like Giants?' I asked

:Slight sneer: 'No, NO!' he replied,

'OK, Man United = Giants' I said

'Ahhhhh' he replied, with an understanding smile and a nod of the head.

分りました！

I don't think we'll be talking of Kagawa again.