The Future

Who knows which way the future will turn, or as my little man statue from Tokyo Museum shop would have it.

I have now finished my Japanese language course, and got a certificate for keeping up 90% attendance, it looks like this.

Towards the end of my course I heard about an English teaching job in a place called Urayasu, which is the next subway station from where I live so very close by. To cut a long story short I applied for the job and got an interview. It was on a very hot but potentially rainy day in Shibuya. I had a really big umbrella with me and was wearing a suit, tie and uncomfortable shoes and I quickly got fed up of the umbrella so decided to leave it under a bench in the busy area outside the station. This was like the time I left home one evening with a chapstick/lipsyll in my pocket, but on the way to the station when I tried to use it I realised that it was actually the other small cylindrical white object I owned, my gluestick. Anyway, I decided to leave it under a bush rather than carry it with me and then retrieve it later. Later, I managed to identify the particular bush and retrieve my gluestick, but when I returned for my umbrella it was gone. Mysterious, either cleaned away or stolen I guess I will never know. Gosh none of that was really relevant, woops.

The interview was fine apart from the bit were I had to come up with a lesson plan and then explain it in Japanese. My interviewer’s feedback for that part was “nice try.”

But I got the job.

It starts in September and is in a normal elementary school, so not a language school like NOVA or GEOS. I will be an assistant language teacher (ALT) working alongside the Japanese English teacher. My school is the biggest elementary school in the area, there are 1000 students all aged from six to twelve years old. I will be earning around 250,000 yen a month, which is just over £1000.

My company is called W5ss and they get hired to find ALTs like me. For the Urayasu area my company has not managed to find enough ALTs and so they asked me to accompany the boss of the company and my manager Minori San to meet the man in charge of the Board of Education (BOE) for Urayasu.

This was a scary affair. It mainly involved me sitting in a large room between my boss and my manager. On the other side of the table were two Japanese men, one who seemed very friendly and another who was entirely the opposite. The meeting began with lots of apologising from my boss and manager, I tried to look apologetic too although at that point I had no idea what was going on. This went on for some time without me having been introduced. The turning point came when my boss handed over pieces of paper that, rather disturbingly, had pictures of me on them. I sat upright in preparation and smiled. The friendly man left the room.

The person in charge of the BOE turned out to be the less friendly man. He began by asking me lots of questions in Japanese which I tried my best to respond to in the same language. First about my hobbies, which now include sports though not because I have ever liked sports but because my company decided for me that I do. I went along with this enthusiastically and he nodded and told me how much I would have to play sports with the kids between lessons, “it is very important to play with the children,” he said miserably.

Then it got more difficult, “Nicholas San, are you a serious person?” That question was hard to answer for three reasons: 1) he had just told me how important it is to be playful with children 2) the Japanese love modesty 3) I don’t know how to answer it even in my own language. As I spoke he watched me unmoved, his face flickered no expression, I don’t think he even blinked.

Other questions flowed and it was worse than my original interview. He asked me why I had decided to come to Japan etc etc. He was so unimpressed that I switched to English, used hand gestures, props, dramatic pauses and looked deep into his eyes like I was begging for my life. Finally it was over, I asked Minori how it went and she said “he likes you.” “Ha” I thought. “You are seeing him again on Thursday,” she told me. That day was a Tuesday.

On the Wednesday I went into the company’s office to watch DVDs of ALTs teaching and to prepare a lesson plan for the next day where I was going to go to my school with the BOE man and Minori to meet the principal. (Gosh Mum, there are three acronyms in that sentence, you can tell I am going into education can’t you.)

So Thursday came along and I discovered that my school was not near Urayasu station at all but nearer to Shin Urayasu station which is much further away from where I live. This rather destroyed the reason why I applied for the job in the first place, I will have to travel for 30 minutes on the subway rather than three.

As we were standing outside the school waiting for the BOE man Minori told me that I had to appear very “genki” – healthy and enthusiastic, it was very important for me to make a good impression. I should greet all the teachers I see with a polite Japanese “good morning.” The school had been waiting for six months for an ALT and I had to prove that I was worth waiting for.

The BOE man arrived, but on a bicycle. This was a shock to me; unpleasant people in powerful positions don’t ride bikes in my opinion, and so I warmed to him more. He got off his bike, greeted us solemnly and then gave me a pep talk: “Nicholas San, you must appear very genki, greet all the teachers you meet but say “hello” in English to any of the students.” The pressure was on.

We went inside the school taking our shoes off and leaving them in the guests’ shoe boxes. We padded down the pleasant seeming corridors where sunlight lit the children’s drawings plasted over the walls. Pupils passed us staring at me unashamedly like I have never seen in Japan before. There were people watering plants outside and I heard laughter from the classrooms. The atmosphere in the school was so friendly and peaceful, it was unlike any school in the UK I have ever been to.

The staff room had two Japanese men sitting inside and I didn’t know which was the principal. I kept panicking and forgetting to greet people, but formal introductions were had, both men shook my hand but the man on the right really squeezed it so I knew he was the principal. We sat down, had tea brought to us and then it began.

The principal sat with his blue tie resting on the small hill of his stomach like a river flowing downwards. He looked at me through silver rimmed round glasses but his eyes were jovial, he smiled and he laughed and I was so relieved. The other man seemed more prim but echoed the same friendliness. I showed them my lesson plan, they said it was clear and thankfully didn’t ask me any questions about it. They asked me my hobbies and why I came to Japan so I gave them my standard answers. They pushed me further so I hit them with praising Japan by talking about how it was like England; I said we are both island countries with strong histories and a unique culture. They liked that, I could tell.

Outside again, Minori and Mr BOE said I did well. Mr BOE though wanted to part with some solemn speculation: “Nicholas San, Urayasu is a rich area and many of the parents of students here can speak good English. They will be watching how you teach, bear that in mind.” He cycled away.

So right now I am waiting for my job to start at the beginning of September, though apparently I will have to go in during this month to meet the teachers and begin making lesson plans. As I write this I am starting to feel nervous, when I tell other English teachers about my job they say, “oh that will be so exhausting,” they see my look of fear and quickly add, “but you’ll love it.”

We’ll see.