Teaching English in rural (inaka) Japan - Appreciation for the life here and being genuine

My friend and I have been working as assistant language teachers in Japan for a few years now, my friend's case 5 years and myself 3 years in rural Iwate prefecture in Japan. In this video following on from our discussion of how my friend came from the. Philippines I ask her about the differences from her home country and how Japan was a step up in her living conditions.

I found this very enlightening from the traditional "western" narrative, and certainly over my time of living in Japan and being friends with Bea, I have really felt a great appreciation for many things she has pointed out to me that I would have otherwise taken for granted.

We also talk about the challenges to integrate in a genuine fashion where instead of being the best version of ourselves and somewhat benign, of how we came to allow ourselves to be more naturally ourselves with our quirks and interests in our workplaces and living environments. Often it is drilled into us that we represent ourselves, our colleagues, our companies and our nations and this is really true, but this doesn't need to mean that we need to hide away and and cover our identities.

During this series of discussions we will talk about the job, learning Japanese, Japan itself, what we enjoy and maybe at times some of the struggles as well. Also, I won't be afraid to ask her about some of the issues that maybe she faces that perhaps I don't.

Join us for a far reaching set of conversations about the experience of teaching English in Japan as we walk around rural Japan, crunching the ice and snow underfoot, look at beautiful rivers coursing down the deep in Kitakami mountains, on one of my favorite locations in Iwate that I was privileged to work in and also happened to be my regular running route.


#Japan #ALT #english
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