Moving On To Another Job

Starting in April, I will have a new job. I will work full-time as a senior high school assistant language teacher.

For the past five years, I've worked for the outsourcing division of a well-known foreign language teaching company in Japan. I had a hybrid job; half the week I was teaching at public and private schools, and the other half was spent working in the personnel department of the outsourcing division. I enjoyed most of those five years. I enjoyed both teaching and personnel work.

However, I think it's about time for a change. I still like teaching, despite the various troublemakers I've had in my classes over the years. Personnel work, however, has started to affect me, I think. Personnel work is always stressful, but I think I'm becoming less tolerant of stressful situations. Maybe getting into teaching full-time will help me out... I'm hoping.

Anyway, I'm excited about my new position, and I hope it works out for me. I'll keep you updated.

Walk like an Egyptian...

Me with some buddies on the wall at the Luxor in Las Vegas. (December 2008)

Start spreading the news...

A shot of New York New York in Las Vegas. It does look a bit like the real city. (December 2008)

Ca va?

I'm standing next to a scale model of the Arc de Triomphe at the Paris Las Vegas. One day, I hope to stand next to the real thing.

Bonjour!

At the base of the Paris Las Vegas. (December 2008)

Ugh!

This is me after tasting some really sweet cake at the Bellagio Buffet. (December 2008) Having lived in Japan several years, I don't have the tolerance for sweet American dessert anymore. The cake in Japan has far less sugar, and you'd be lucky to find cake in Japan with frosting on top.

Fountains!

A glimpse of the fountain show in front of the Bellagio in Las Vegas. (December 2008)

What are you looking at?

It's a fact of life in Japan: if you are a non-Asian foreigner living here, Japanese people are going to stare at you. It's something that you can't change, and it's something that you have to live with if you plan on living here a long time, like I am.

I have to admit, it bothered me a couple of years ago. Nowadays, I don't let it bother me. The same can't be said for my wife, who is Japanese. Whenever we go out together, there will be at least one person we pass by on the street or see on the train that is staring at me. My wife will get upset, make an angry face, and stare back at the person, who quickly looks away! It's nice to have people stand up for you, isn't it?

Back when I was in elementary school in Alabama, there were a few times when a white boy or girl would stare at a black classmate. The black kid would say, "What are you looking at? You act like you ain't never seen a black person before!" To which the white kid would say, "Sorry." I thought at the time, I gotta use that if that ever happens to me.

But here in Japan, where 98 percent of the population is ethnically Japanese, that doesn't quite work. Imagine:

JAPANESE PERSON:
ME: What are you looking at? You act like you've never seen a black man before.
JAPANESE PERSON: Well... I haven't.
ME: Oh.

Just taking it in stride, man, just taking it in stride.