Life In Japan: My Bike Ride to Teach English

I’ve recorded what is possibly the most boring video ever made but some snoopy folks wonder if I really do live out in the country, in the middle of rice and soybean fields.  Well skeptics, here’s proof.  Sorry the camera shakes so much but maybe viewers can get some idea how incredibly beautiful it is here in rural Japan.

If you actually make it to the end of the video, you’ll see that I teach my classes in a yurt (photo above), a structure which is Mongolian in origin.  What can I say?  The Japanese love to mix and match.  Unfortunately, this one leaks in the rain, is a cauldron in hot weather, and a freezer in cold.  What I endure to spread the mother tongue!

Now I only have adult students.  But a while back I had two young sisters, ages 6 and 7, who were about to move to Guam.  Because it’s a U.S. territory, English is the predominant language and for them to attend school there required them getting up to speed.  Here are Mio and Joyce.

I also had some “guest teachers” for one class, a recently-married couple from Sweden — actually they’re German but live in Stockholm — my wife Masumi and I met couchsurfing a few years back.  They came to Japan and since their English is so good, I paired them up with my adult students for practice.

That’s the story.  I ride my bike to and from class whenever it’s not raining.  Many of the photos appearing in other essays at this site were taken on that bike ride.  I frankly never get tired of riding anywhere here in our traditional, rural town.  There’s still a lot to see and discover.  People I hardly know often wave.  Smiles are our common language.