When I look back on my 8-year career teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in Japan, I can’t think of another job that could have brought me into contact with a wider range of people. Because I spoke Japanese well, I never had a shortage of job offers, which is kind of odd when you think about it since my abilities as an English teacher would presumably be more important — whatever. I taught a wide range of age groups, including kids so young my only real role was to get them used to the idea of being around a foreigner. I taught older Japanese at community centers, too, and would smile when they brought me vegetables they’d grown in their garden. The wealthiest student I ever had was the wife of a former president of the Sapporo Ichiban Ramen Company, and we’d regularly hold “classes” while drinking green tea and admiring the momiji trees turning red in the autumn. I also taught English to a great group of handicapped people at a facility in our neighborhood, and learned a lot about competitive wheelchair racing.
Teaching English in Japan wasn’t a walk in the park, but I did meet a lot of people.
