"Sayonara Turtles!" Shredder's famous last words before the Ninja Turtles thwart his diabolical scheme--every episode. Silly spikey Japanese ninja man, evil never wins! Not only does this catch phrase mark a special time in my life of idolizing pizza-loving ninja punks, it was also my first lesson in Japanese. Sah-Yoh-Nah-Rah. Goodbye. 15 years later I now know two words in Japanese. Hello and goodbye. Not sure where I learned hello, but until I remember I will credit the Ninja Turtles as I do with most things worth while in my life.
I'm teaching English in Japan next year to adorable little middle school Japanese kids who I am totally hoping dress up like ninjas, since that's how I imagine all Japanese people. Concurrently, over the summer I will be developing year-long English lesson plan based off of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series.
Lesson 1: Pizza toppings.
