Inakamono

Santa Claus

Today I did something I never thought I would let myself do in Japan. I dressed up as Santa Claus. I have been asked to do this before, but always politely declined. I don't mind being the pet gaijin on occasion but I drew the line at the big red jolly guy. However, the kids at Minami Kindie are always a joy and the mums asked me so sweetly that I crossed the line and donned the red suit.

And had a ball. I had a humungus beard and pulled the hat down low so the kids could hardly see my face. Some parents brought their babies over to meet Santa. They all cried (the parents, not the babies). The kindie kids were more resilient. One boy insisted I was fake because I was wearing a watch (never underestimate a 5 year old). Most asked me for presents. Some pummeled me and tugged at my beard and trousers.

ALTs make it to TV

Yesterday I saw an ad on TV which featured a Japanese schoolboy lusting after a blonde European woman in a new car. In the next scene he is lusting after the same woman as she walks down the hallway of his school. She could only have been an ALT (Assistant Language Teachers, ie foreign nationals teaching at Japanese schools) This is the big time -  ALTs (at least female ALTs) can pride themselves on the fact that they are no longer merely linguistic ambassadors, they are officially objects of desire.

A Japanese teacher's view

Via the GenkiEnglish Forum, a Japanese teacher critiques the education system and society as a whole. Nothing new - expats have been saying the same things for years, but their comments are usually dismissed as Japan bashing, even if the commentator has lived in country for years and has a decent command of the language and familiarity with the culture. When a Japanese national says something like this it is harder to make it go away....