I was having a conversation with two students today and learned an interesting -- and very disputable -- fact. Apparently Japan is not an island.
One of my students is from a very small island off the southeast coast of the main land. I was asking him questions about his island and he told me it was the third or fifth largest island in Japan. I was shocked because he had just told me that there are only about 50,000 people living on his island. I then asked him, which islands are bigger. He rattled off two random islands and I said, "What about Hokkaido?" not even thinking about the island we were having our class on. Both students in my classroom at the time laughed at me and said, "Hokkaido is not an island!" I said, "Really? Is it attached to the main island?" They said it wasn't. I asked if it was surrounded by water. They said it was. I said, "So its an island." And well, they disagreed.
Am I crazy or is Japan not considered an island? Is Australia considered an Island? Is New Zealand considered an island? Is Iceland considered an island? I would say that I have a little island fever these days but if I'm not on an island then maybe I just have a fever (hit the symbol sound for my bad joke).
