...but on the flip side

I made two kids cry this week.

Not because I was angry nor because they had misbehaved or required any sort of discipline. Not even because of anything I said.

I entered this one school, a pre-school, and I peered my head around the corner. One little boy, aged 3, looked at me for about 3 seconds with The Stare and then immediately started bawling. Inconsolable. All before I said, "Good morning!" or I moved an inch. After a few minutes of being held by one of the Japanese teachers, his wails quieted to a wimper, and he eventually gathered the courage to look at me again. He did, and began wailing again.

The other student who cried because of me is also 3. She was playing on a computer we have set up for kids to use before and after lessons, and was all excited when my Japanese co-teacher walked in the room and announced it was time for class. Then she saw me, and gripped onto the table with all her might. Her mom was there, and was trying to console her. All this girl did was shake her head repeatedly. When her mom finally broke her death grip on the table and held her in her arms, the girl clutched to her mother's neck with a look of desperation and terror in her eyes.
The girl eventually joined the class, puffy-eyed and all, and for the entire 45-minute session, stared me down as if I had broken her favorite toy.

I guess a smiling 6-foot American with curly hair is terrifying.