I'm a real gaijin now

Finally getting to do some teaching this week has been fun. Not surprisingly the kids don’t know much about the UK, beyond Manchester United and David Beckham. I’ve been repeating a variation on the theme of a self-introduction. My favourite bit of the lesson, however, is the Q&A, where I am interrogated by all manner of inane and insane questions. Frequent questions are: ‘Do you have a wife?’ ,‘Do you have a girlfriend?’ and ‘How tall are you?’ which was worded as ‘How many centimetres are there in your beight?’ today.

Other favourites include:

'Do you like beatles?' to which I reply 'yes they're a good band'. 'No do you like beatles (gestures insects with hands)?'. 'Erm I suppose so'.

'Do you like the Backstreet Boys? I like the Backstreet Boys'. [I thought this one might be sarcastic trick but was actually asked by a very serious 2nd grade boy]

‘Which do you like more cat or dog?’

‘What blood type are you?’- Apparently this is a big deal in Japan


On my first day at one of the elementary school the lady looking after me, was the nicest person I’ve met since I arrived here. She must have read up on my profile before I arrived because she had specially baked some English style scones for me. Not only that but she also made a cup of black tea, that was ready for me, when I arrived in the staff room for break. I’ll have to bring some omiyage next week, especially after mentioning Anne’s shop in the presentations. Whenever I repeated my thank yous, she would point out what an English Gentleman I was too. She may be something of an Anglophile. She has visited the UK three times. Which is many for a Japanese person and especially for someone her age (around 50). Her English was slow but very clear and often she would say the Japanese slowly beforehand, which is really helpful to me as I am beginning to learn bits. She was very modest about her level of English too but then all Japanese people are modest about their English. No matter what level.

Today I went to City Hall, where I picked up my gaijin card. Making me a fully fledged member (even as an outsider) of Japanese society. I will have to carry my gaijin card around with me wherever I go and if I’m stopped by the police without it I could face a hefty fine, imprisonment or deportation. I’m not sure if this is a cultural throw back of the 18th century, closed state Japan, where foreigners could face execution for trespassing on Japanese soil, or maybe its just the backlash against the Americans after the occupation but either way it seems archaic and unnecessary. Its just another indication of what a monolithic society Japan is. There has been so little immigration here over the years.

I’m really happy how everything has finally come together. I applied for this job about a year ago now and I’ve been building up to it for a while. At the back of my head there were a lot of doubts about can I survive the culture shock? How will I find the language? Will I just end up alienated and depressed? can I cope with teaching? and will any of these cause me to retreat back home early? However, a month in and none of the doubts are relevant anymore, which is a relief. It was always going to be a bit of a mammoth task, relocating to Japan, but I’ve finally done it. I think this calls for a celebration. I’m heading to Ibaraki this weekend for a Birthday. Sounds like a plan.