Doesn't she realize that I can't understand much of anything she says? Bobbing my head, trying to rest on torturously bent knees with a smile iced onto my face, I wonder why she is so desperate to get in all of those words. They don't really sound like words, but they are.
The usual frustration of "blab, blab, blab, bob, bob, bob" sometimes plunges me into hopeless silence, or even whirls me around until my throat gurgles, making me feel as if I am about to be washed up at the base of Sensei's altar.
Sensei: my teacher. I should be able to understand more. I have been in Japan for a few years, and spent many long Saturdays in language classes at the Y, so why can't I?