Surprised Silence

When students are caught off guard they will seldom respond to questions. Instead, women will place their hand on their chest and look wide-eyed with their jaw hung open, or turn away shielding their face. Men may do a variation of this or with extended jaw and raised eyebrows express surprise. Pointing to the nose and asking ‘Me?’ (boku? or watashi?) signals a recognition of a question, without yet establishing responsibility. If students are genuinely frightened, they may laugh from nervousness, blink nervously nervous tics are common when pressure is applied by superiors, wipe their moistened palms on their pants, shake their legs unconsciously, tilt their head against their shoulders a sign of incomprehension or confusion, nod as if in agreement as a sign of compliance and apology, or scratch and hold the back of their head to express bafflement and modesty, a gesture considered humorous and non-offensive.