Before I came to Japan, I did this thing called BodyRock. It is an online workout program that you can do in your home. It uses minimal or no equipment and usually takes no more than 12 minutes. It was awesome and it is what has kept me in shape the past four years of my life. I also participated in other running and obstacle course events, but I knew those weren’t going to happen in Japan.
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The whole gift-giving culture in Japan is rather ridiculous—if I do say so myself. If you travel somewhere, you must buy presents for everyone in your office. If you receive a present from someone, you must give them a present back. If you have just arrived from a foreign country (or if you are starting a new job) and are going to be working at a new office, you must bring something for everyone. Et cetera, et cetera. When I first learned that my predecessor was called by her first name, I was appalled. How disrespectful, I thought. I made a silent vow to have my students call me by my last name, at least, if not Mrs. Smith. And they did call me by my last name. For a while. I think what was confusing was the fact that I didn’t mind if the teachers called me by my first name, so they called me Melanie in front of the students or referred to me as Melanie-sensei instead of Smith-sensei. Also the fact that in Japan, names are given family name first, so it could have been confusing as to whether Melanie was my family name, or Smith was my family name. So, for a while, I was able to have students call me Smith-sensei as I told them to do in my self-introduction lesson (and some still do), but now it is mostly Melanie-sensei. And for some reason, I am okay with that. I think it makes me feel closer to the students, in a way. Also, they can pronounce it better than Smith, which comes out su-mi-su. However, when I am a teacher in America, I will most definitely have my students call me Smith-sensei, as is proper. It started off as an innocent question: why was the drinking party cancelled? I had waited a few weeks until I had returned to the school to be able to ask the question to my JTE. However I did not have the courage to ask him face-to-face, so earlier that day I had messaged him on Facebook. After classes were over, he came over to my desk and told me the truth: a student had died in a car accident and the teachers didn’t feel right about going out and celebrating that week (which makes perfect sense).
Wow. Not what I was expecting. |
Myself
Video blogger and now a blogger as well. My life in Japan has changed me for the better. However, it wasn't easy... Archives
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