Secret Elf Week IB2
CAS journal entry #63
For the last day of the secret elf week, I decided to get Angka Bayu a list of animes/mangas that he would probably enjoy watching/reading. From the fact that he brings a manga to school, possibly to read in the train or during break time, I deduced that he was very interested in the Japanese modern culture and art. Also, he would ask me frequently what life is like in Japan (living conditions, food, prices of goods and services etc.) and that made me assume that he would like to visit there someday.
The famous Japanese manga series including “The Attack of the Titans”, “Detective Conan”, and “Naruto” have already been read by him and I realized that as a Japanese national it is important to teach him works not many foreigners know. For example, “Liar Game” which is a manga/drama series and was a major hit within the Japanese society is considered a psychologically/sociologically manipulative form of art. Although it might seem almost impossible for drawings to trick the readers, the main aim of the artist or the writer was to use different language tools and hidden messages in order to give hints to the readers (so that they could solve the problems themselves). I personally found this work very inspiring as it was unique and hence I decided to add it in the list. Also although I already acknowledged my lack of art skills, I decided to draw the main characters or logos of some the books he has read. (My personal favourite was the picture of Gorgo, a manly character who is pretty famous in Japan)
Although my last gift wasn’t as festive as the ones I gave him before, I think I accomplished my role as a secret elf better than last year and I am satisfied with all the gifts I’ve made. This week tested my understanding of the students in my class who I have studied with for almost 4 years and I believe this became one of my final year memories.