Are Japanese classrooms nothing but teachers administering corporal punishment and students sitting quietly?
Read more »
Are Japanese classrooms nothing but teachers administering corporal punishment and students sitting quietly?
Read more »
Teaching English in Japan comes with its own set of rules. Have you thought about a private language school, or a program like JET?
Read more »
Everything seems different the second time around teaching English in Japan. Here are some of my thoughts after just a few days in the country.
Read more »
Where will I end up after a year? In a relationship? Searching for a publisher for my finished book? Out of debt? In deeper debt? Lonelier than I've ever been?
Read more »
I turned down the first offer in Japan. There were simply too many unknowns and too short a time to give an answer. I’m still in communication with the company for additional postings, but my mind is drifting elsewhere… There’s a lot I left unresolved in Asia. I’m one of those travelers who intentionally...
Read more »
This is the first time I’ve seen anything like corporal punishment in Korea. I witnessed my old boss grab students by the ears, but generally this was done without malice and only if students had really been misbehaving, e.g. hitting others, making others cry with insults. Nevertheless, my current employer is taking things to...
Read more »
So, a little background. I’ve taught in the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand. Most of my experience with non-native speakers has been in east Asia, where standards are low, pay is high, and the majority of expats sure to be English teachers. All well and good. South America is a completely different...
Read more »
It’s not the same as it was before, when I had to return to Dallas with my head hung low, lacking any job prospects and feeling pretty miserable about myself and the direction my life was headed. Such was the state I was in when I decided to apply to schools in South Korea....
Read more »
Disclaimer: Based on initial impressions, I realized I really should have been much more specific when referring to “expats”. In this scenario, I’m certainly not referring to the zainichi and those with Japanese citizenship, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t considering foreigners with permanent residency. In any case, this is...
Read more »
Four years ago I was doing pretty much the same thing I am now: staring at my computer screen and contemplating life abroad. The difference is, I was fresh from wrist surgery at Imakiire Hospital in Kagoshima, having shattered my distal radius in December 2007. How could I possibly feel nostalgic for such a...
Read more »