7 Questions I’ve been asked by students

I’ve been meaning to post a new entry for some time now, but a lot of the topics I want to write about concern deeper, complex cultural-related issues. It takes me a while to write those posts. But in the meantime, I thought I would make a short entry about the types of questions I have been asked by students while giving my self-introduction.

A self-introduction, or jikoshoukai, is a pretty standard practice in Japan. Not only in classrooms, but also in clubs and other activities, it is common to give a short speech about yourself so that the other people can get to know something about you. As an Assistant Language Teacher, I’ve had to give mine many times, but luckily I get to do it in English. I just had a new round of self-introductions this month (if you’re wondering why I’m doing them in October, it has to do with my schedule and it’s complicated) so I thought I’d write about some of the funny things my students ask.

At the end of my self-introduction, I generally have question and answer time. The students are usually pretty curious about me and it gives them a chance to interact with me more. However, it does involve some risk! You never know what they might say… Luckily, my students are generally pretty polite but that doesn’t prevent the occasional odd question. Here are some examples.

1. How old are you? This is a pretty common question in Japan. In America, it’s generally rude to ask or talk about someone’s age. In Japan, it’s essential information. Because Japanese culture is so hierarchical, an age difference of even one year can change the dynamics of a relationship. Japanese has special verbs and grammar forms built into the language in order to show respect to those who are older or in higher status positions to you. I remember going out to eat with a few of my colleagues last year and they all found a way to casually mention their ages during the conversation! I’ve gotten pretty used to answering this question by now. It’s never really bothered me, but it is something that took some getting used to.

2. How tall are you? I always get asked this! I don’t know why. And because Japan uses the metric system I always have to remember the answer in centimeters and I never can. This always turns into an explanation about how the US doesn’t use the metric system which is pretty difficult to explain and generally causes a lot of confusion.

3. What is your blood type? Ok, I actually haven’t been asked this during my self-introduction but it is a question I’ve gotten a couple of times. For Japanese people, blood types are like those personality sorting tests we take in the US. (INFP!) Apparently most (all?) Japanese people know their blood type. There’s an article about it on Gaijinpot and another on JapanToday.

4. Are you married/do you have a boyfriend? When I first started teaching English in the US, this was my least favorite question. Generally the intention behind it is innocent, but I’ve always been the type that considers my personal life to be, wait for it, personal. But I’ve gotten pretty used to it by now and just answer honestly and try to refrain from making jokes about how I will die alone with hundreds of cats.

5. What do you like about Japan? This one can be more difficult to answer than you’d think. If you’re a tourist you can say things like “the food” or “Mt. Fuji” or “Kyoto,” but when you live here it becomes more of a fraught question. Imagine row upon row of fresh faced, eager young students beaming at you in expectation of what praise you might impart on their country. I usually talk about things like the language and the history and how interesting it is because it’s so different from America. All of which are true.

6. What is your motto? I never know how to answer this one. They generally want some English phrase or proverb. “Mine is, ‘Time is money,'” one student told me. After responding like a deer in the headlights a couple of times, I’ve tried to come up with some catchy English sayings that might do the trick but I still have a difficult time knowing what to say.

7. (In my case) Were you born with gold hair? The Japanese for “blonde” is kinpatsu, or “golden hair.” My hair is a constant point of interest among the population of Aomori. You have to understand that over 98% of Japan’s population is ethnic Japanese, and much of the remaining 1.5% is east Asian. Being white and having blond hair kind of makes you a unicorn (which is another great video about life in Japan by Rachel and Jun). So yes, people notice and people stare. But to be honest, it hasn’t been as bad as I expected it to be. Part of it is probably that my Japanese is not very good, so I don’t understand what people might be saying about me. Also I may just not be very observant. But I really don’t notice too many people acting out of the ordinary with me. Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t feel the difference.

So there you go, some of the random questions I have to field about myself. I’ve found that teaching English forces you to become very comfortable with yourself as students will notice and want to know everything about you. Have a physical peculiarity or weird mannerism? I guarantee that you are going to hear about it. Students notice everything: the clothes you wear (down to your socks), your makeup or lack thereof, your laugh, your gestures, everything. It can be awkward to have this mirror of yourself reflected back at you all the time, but as I said, you get used to it and in some ways the self-awareness can be helpful. I’ve become a much better public speaker and much more confident since I started teaching. And I’ve also learned how to not give a damn concerning what people think of me.