So I teach English now.
However, I don't want to use the word "teach." To "teach," I'd have to be some sort of a "teacher," right? To be a "teacher" I'd have to "know what the fuck I'm doing," right?
If anything, this part time job is just a 90 minute block of English conversation where I stop them when something sounds funny (grammar, pronunciation, word choice, etc.). The issue is that each person I am working with has a different ability level and a different goal for learning English, so at this point I'm just trying to establish a "base" (basic scenario, idea, etc.) and then specialize for each person. We'll see how well it's going soon enough. *throws hands into the air*
Luckily for me, though, my "students" are all there by their own volition, meaning they give a shit to some extent. I don't have to fight for attention and when they don't understand something they raise their hand. In reality, this may be the perfect place to start out teaching, since I've been given free reign of curriculum and face no normal classroom obstacles. I also have no problems with administration, teaching to standards I haven't personally set, or a big class. There's also the added benefit that one of my students runs a bar and she's chill with us coming over and drinking after class.
Wait, what?
Teacher-Student bonding time, suckas. After class we all hopped in B&P's car, met up with one of the girls that works in his company, and dropped by Mama's bar to enjoy some drinks, food, and casual conversation. I had no idea what Mama's establishment would be like, what B&P's coworker would be like, or what it would be like to go drinking with these adults that I'm teaching English, but it sounded fun so I tossed caution to wind, gave a middle finger to Monday night and homework due Tuesday, and started downing beer and whiskey with B&P. Nothing crazy, just a night to spend with acquaintances. Since we were out of the classroom the language of choice was Japanese, but it wasn't too bad. B&P, I have come to learn, is really good at explaining concepts and stories in simple language. That night he was kind enough to pause and help me out when I got lost in the conversation. He sometimes translates in class for me (I have a rule to not speak Japanese unless necessary), and listening to his translations/explanations I am constantly surprised by how well he breaks things down and relates them. He's using Japanese I know and understand, just in a way I didn't know I could use it. This class has soon become part me teaching English, part me listening to B&P and learning from his Japanese.
I digress. The group was B&P, the girl from his office(?), Mama, myself, and two of the workers at Mama's establishment (the night was slow and Mama invited them to come hang out). Bambi was a no-show. I think she felt a little uncomfortable about coming out with us, but then again, that's just the feeling I got. :( However, even though Bambi wasn't there, we managed to enjoy the night, exchanging stories and broken communication. One of the workers at Mama's bar was from Georgia (the country) and managed to speak English decently well. But, she preferred Japanese since she had been living here for the last 10 years and it was her lingua franca. The other worker was an older Japanese woman who was kind of quiet but was friendly enough to talk to. The third new person this night, the girl from B&P's job, was VERY quiet. I think she might have been a little overwhelmed by the situation, since from what I gathered B&P asked her somewhat abruptly if she wanted to come out that night; this event was definitely not something she was planning for. However, she didn't remain silent the entire night, and from the few facts I was able to wrestle out of her, I found out she's 20, likes working for B&P, and thinks the weather is cold. At least I tried. *throws hands into the air*
OH, I'll take this moment to say that TONIGHT is the reason for "P" in B&P; all throughout the night he would talk about his business, matters and ethics, and then pull a 180 and mention some girlfriends from his past with a silly story, then pivot back to his whiskey and cigarette while cracking jokes with Mama and the other workers from the bar. The guy likes mixing business and pleasure.
Anyway, the night was chugging peacefully along and then Pachinko Yatsu came along. No, that's not a seque to say something crazy happened; I'm just poor at introducing characters sometimes. Regardless, PY arrives, starts shooting the shit with B&P while the VERY quiet girl sat there living up to her name. At one point PY turned to her and struck up some conversation... but that quickly faded and was soon overpowered by the background music. I guess my failure at chit-chat wasn't strictly because of a language barrier.
Around 12:00 I thought it might be a good idea to get back home and try to make sure I could wake up for class the following day. I signal to PY, he breaks it to the group in a polite and courteous way, and we are off. To a cabaret club. Yeah.
So for the longest time I have wanted to go to one of these places. From the stories I had heard -- mostly from PY himself since he worked kitchen (?) in one at some point in time -- they seemed pretty interesting and non-threatening. I was approaching this strictly from a cultural excursion perspective: another facet of Japanese culture that I should experience while I am here. Admittedly, I think that might have ruined the point of going in the first place. At that time, to my understanding, a cabaret club was a place to go and talk to attractive women. If you paid more, maybe you got more, but the premise was just conversation. In a sense, a cabaret club is a darker (literally and metaphorically), more adult version of a maid cafe; both places cater to their guests through drinks and conversation, special treatment and attention. The main difference is that in one of them you (may) have a samurai cat referring to you as master and serving you tea, while in the other you are sharing your alcoholic beverage of choice with someone that is "genuinely" interested in you and talks with you about anything. An oversimplification, I know, but for the sake of this blog, as well as me not having neither enough experience nor knowledge to go much deeper into the topic, I'll keep it at that and say look up the rest yourself if you wish.
But yeah, we were at a cabaret club at 12:30. Originally I had no idea we were gonna go to one. As PY and I left Mama's we walked in the direction of his car, but then stopped in at a convenience store. I asked him, "what's up?" and he responded, "check the mirror and fix yourself up. We're going to a cabaret club now."
Aight, aight. I can swing that.
And off we were. I was hesitant at first because I was a) in a place I had never been, with b) people I didn't know, and c) was speaking a language that I wasn't fluent in. HOWEVER, shit was fine. The girls were accommodating, PY left good social cues for yes's and no's, mhmmm's and laughs, and the liquid courage didn't hurt. Soon the hour of conversation was over and I was left with the feeling that we all had a good, fun time talking about random shit. It was kinda nice. And then the bill for ~$150 came and I remembered where I was and what was happening. Yeahhhhhhhhhh. I really don't need to pay that much money for conversation and cheap beer.
After that PY took me home and dropped me off. I think I managed to get some work done before succumbing to the z's. Regardless, I woke up the next morning feeling great, and had the secret little confidence/cockiness/possible-misconception that my night was infinitely more interesting than everyone else's. The day goes by a lot easier when you think you're better than other people.
Peace.
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