Just Call Me 'Sensei'

Today was pretty laid back. I woke up to fabulous sunny weather. Sunshine always seems to get me in a happy mood, so I knew that today had to be a good one. I stopped in to one of my favourite little shops (that is conveniently in my neighbourhood) to pick up a couple of things I had planned to come back for (see previous blog). The girl working in the store noticed the Canada flag pin I was sporting and asked if I were on holiday. I told her that I am studying at Keio University on exchange, then she asked me if I knew anyone that could teach her english. I was ecstatic! A part time job is something I have been considering since I arrived and this was the perfect opportunity; it's really amazing how things fell into place. I will be teaching her english lessons privately for 3500 yen/hour a few times a month ($35/hr). Now I just need to make some lesson preparations, she is a really sweet girl and I certainly want to make sure she gets her money's worth! When we made plans to meet for our first 'lesson' she made a note in her agenda that referred to me as 'Tory Sensei' (Sensei meaning: Teacher). I think it has a nice ring to it...

I decided that today's plan would consist of accomplishing some matters of business (being productive also contributes to my happy moods). I would purchase my commuters pass for school and then make a trip to the bank. I bought my commuters pass as soon as I got to the station...and I was pleased to have gotten that checked off my (lengthy) list of things to do. Soon enough I was on my way to my next errand - or so I thought. However, the train ride seemed unusually long and I had lost sight of any familiar landmarks; sure enough, I was on the wrong train. I hopped off at the next stop and asked for directions to get back on track (no pun intended).

As I was walking through the station I was approached by a man from behind, he was holding out a little piece of paper in front of me - it read: "Could I be a friend of yours?". This definitely caught me offguard and I wasn't really sure how to respond to such an upfront question. While racking my brain as to what an appropriate response would sound like, it soon dawned on me that many Japanese are extremely interested in learning english. In a matter of seconds, I reacted with a smile and a "yes". He explained to me that he is an english teacher at an elementary school, and while he has an understanding of basic english, he wants a native english speaking friend to converse with in order to improve. I told him we could hangout sometime and share in english conversation, if he would agree to help me with my Japanese. Needless to say he saw this as a fair deal and we exchanged contact information. When I told him where I was headed he informed me that I was heading the wrong way (yet again), then he walked me to the right station and waited with me, where we conversed briefly before parting ways.

As I was waiting for the train I looked up at the time and noticed that it was too late to make it to the bank in time before it closed, but I figured it was all worth it to have made a new friend. :)



Sincerely,

Tory Sensei.