I'm Officially an English Teacher
Well, I took a slightly circuitous route to becoming an English teacher, but alas, I am now one! (For those of you that don't know, I went off to college to become an English teacher and switched half way through to Nutrition.) I only had to travel half way around the world to become one.

I fell into this role two weeks ago while eating at a Japanese "shabu shabu" restaurant. (I crudely describe shabu shabu as "Japanese fondue," in that there is a broth and each person cooks their own raw ingredients in the broth--although not with skewers, with chopsticks!) Our Japanese waitress, who formerly worked at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Yokosuka, knew of a group of Japanese ladies in need of some English instruction, so she asked if we knew of anyone who would be interested in teaching them. Since I had been thinking I'd like to teach English while here, I volunteered.

So, last Thursday was my first visit with six ladies of all different ages. (Sydney was the seventh and youngest! I told them the 10 Japanese words I know, one of which they used repeatedly, "kawaii!") I took the train about 30 minutes from here to the Kamiooka stop, which is in Yokohama. They met me at the train station and we walked to the small condo of one of the ladies. She served Japanese green tea and fresh strawberries (in season now, which is so strange to me!)

It was so fun! They mostly want to practice their conversational English, so we talked to get to know each other and I found out how I can better help them. I also found out they have many talents and hobbies that I hope to learn more about, such as Japanese cooking and calligraphy. Of course they were also willing to teach me some Japanese. So, it is hardly a "job" and more like a cultural exchange!