Where It Started

Kyoko-sensei, Christian and Masa-sensei, reunited in 2006 at Aitas Japanese Language School, Toronto.

Just after graduating from University, I decided that if I was going to make this Japan thing work, I had better start studying the language. I had been told by a lot of people that an English teacher need not worry about studying Japanese; English was written everywhere and most people would assume that I knew little to no Japanese and would be willing to struggle it out with hand motions and broken English. It was probably the worst advice I never heeded.

I was scheduled to spend a month in Quebec City on the French language bursary program that the government of Canada awards to Canadians interested in becoming bilingual. More than anything, it was a chance to pull myself out of the English cocoon of Toronto to see how I would fare in a place where my native tongue was not primary language spoken. It was also a great excuse to get paid to party en français. But I had some time to kill before that fateful July of 2004, since it wouldn't make much sense to try and get a job if I needed to ask for an entire month off right off the bat. I needed to make good use of my time.

I took a course on teaching English overseas and received my TEFL certification after a few long weekends in May. One of the instructors had asked me where I had planned to go with my new desire to teach and I explained that while the money sounded good in Korea, Japan had been my Asian destination-of-choice since I was a young lad. Though he had taught in Taiwan, he was really excited at this because he had visited Japan and studied Japanese independently while he was still a traveller. After asking him to recommend a good textbook on Japanese to get started with, he took it a step further and recommended a sensei.

I called Aitas Japanese school not knowing quite what to expect. Would they speak any English when I called or would I have to struggle even to set up lessons? I had spoken only English my entire life, and while the desire to learn more was alive within me, I wasn't sure if the skills required would ever surface. Could I be saved? As it turns out, I could.

From the moment I took the free trial lesson, I knew that I would not only enjoy studying but that Japan was probably the place for me. Kyoko-sensei and Masa-sensei were both so polite and excited to meet me that it was the absolute best first-impression of Japan that anyone could experience. In my heart I secretly wished that everyone in Japan would be this awesome when I landed overseas.

After a month of lessons with Colin Moock, another Japan-bound student of Aitas, I had a firm grasp on the basics of Japanese that would lay the foundation for everything about the language I know now. It was a sad day when I had to part for Quebec City and Colin was going to continue into Level 2 without me, because we had had a lot of fun trying to communicate with each other using only Japanese (as was the rule in the classroom) despite our obvious lack of practice.

Just before I was to (secretly) return home for Christmas of 2005, I received a newsletter from the school. Kyoko-sensei mentioned that life was getting pretty cold in Canada and it was unfortunate that Canadian drug stores didn't stock hokairo; in Japan, the ubiquitous hot packs for your clothes and shoes that keep you warm were a required purchase during the winter months. I decided I'd better bring some home. While visiting Amber Ebert in Toronto, I stopped by the school with a pile of hokairo for her and she was ecstatic at my return. My Japanese had really improved, Kyoko-sensei explained proudly, and it was fantastic that I was enjoying life in Himeji so much.

This year, with Japanese girl in-tow, I returned once again to Aitas school to give my best wishes to Masa-sensei and Kyoko-sensei. This year, I'm proud to say, the entire interchange we had was done in Japanese. It wasn't until Miki and I left the school that I realized this, for Miki hadn't heard either teacher use English and so she wasn't entirely certain that the couple could speak it. I suppose that this was a testament to my Japanese ability. But my Japanese ability is a testament to Aitas Japanese school, who laid the groundwork for not only my understanding but for my love of all things Japanese.

December is (still) update-a-day month! To read all the posts this month, click here!