Christeph: On the Lam

At first, I thought it was my imagination. I was on my way to teach my first class of the week, which, as usual, means climbing flights of stairs to the top floor of the high school to teach the first years. My mind was on the lesson at hand, how to begin class, when… wait… is that… could it be… are those HANDS on my BUTT?

I’ve heard several reports of, um, curious and free-spirited students of various ages enthusiastically coping a feel when within arm’s reach of their foreign-born teachers.  So far in my year and change here in Japan, I’ve been lucky, and physical invasiveness has been limited to a harmless boob grab at one of my elementary schools.

This particular morning at the high school, I have to say I was equally lucky. I wasn’t being groped, or more grotesquely prodded, as many ALTs are in the line of duty. I turned around to find one of my students, a 15 year old Japanese girl grinning at me, unabashed. Perhaps she thought I needed a little pick me up to start off the week. Perhaps it was her idea of international exchange. Fair’s fair, I thought, and I thoughtfully allowed her to ascend in front me the rest of the way while I returned the favor in kind.

I would perhaps get fired for such behavior at home. Here in Japan, it’s all part of the job.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 6th, 2007 at 5:24 pm and is filed under Work. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.