As I stepped off the plane with my fellow volunteers, we looked around at the foreign scene in front of us. Screens saying, “Welcome.” Others saying, “Youkoso!” Was I really in Japan? I was. And no amount of language training had prepared me for the barriers I would face in the weeks to come. I struggled to grasp even a drop of the fire hydrant … Continue reading 8 Tips for the First Week of Student Teaching
Before my first visit to Japan, I was reading blogs everywhere on life there. I happened to stumble on this: “Christmas in Japan was definitely… Different. Apparently Japanese Christmas is a couple’s holiday like Valentine’s day. It was definitely a different atmosphere. But they really do try to act like Americans, so they eat KFC and cake.”(See her full post here.) I wasn’t so sure myself, … Continue reading Do the Japanese Really Eat KFC on Christmas?
When I found out that I was finally getting my chance to live in the land of the rising sun, my mind began racing. What do I want to see? Where will I stay? Is there anything interesting going on while I’m there? But perhaps the most important question was do they speak English? I started thinking about the English print I had all around me … Continue reading Do I Need to Know Japanese to Survive in Japan as a Tourist?
Onward! Japanward! 