1. My Life
Andrew Steltzer, 2008-2009 Fulbright fellow studying Japan’s Englisheducation at Kanazawa University up in Ishikawa-ken- Currently live in Mie’s Shima-shio Below Ise and Toba, was previously five smaller towns
o Small area but I live in Ugata, the most populated area
- Working as an ALT at two JHS and three elementary schoolso Not JET but private sector ALTo ALTIA Central- My usual day Mon – Frio Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri – bigger junior high school, walk to schoolin the morning with students, track practice after schoolo Thurs – small junior high school, one class per grade, very
fun/different class dynamic- Weekends are usually free, but sometimes I’ll have track events
2. Small Town Goodness----

For me what makes life really enjoyable is living in a small towno I come from a very small town in Maine
NE US, 6,000 people, rural
Scenery is obviously a part of thiso Walk to work is green, you can hear nature rather than cars andpeople
More than the closeness to nature is the closeness to peopleo After living in Japan for a while, a place that is very different frommy home in many ways, I’ve found that what makes me feel
comfortable, even at home, is not the location but the people
around me
The ‘family’ that I make for myself
Growing up I thought I would only be able to live in thecountry side since I always thought big cities felt cold andlonely
I’ve learned it’s the home that you make for yourself that’s
important and makes for a good life
Quickly found that I was literally close to people around me
o Lived within shouting distance of 8 students
o Morning walk to school/evening walk home was usually withstudents

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I speak pretty good Japanese and I figure part of an ALTs
job is to get to know students, so outside school in particular
I have no problems using all Japanese to just chat with mystudents
Because I worked at all three local schools parents and students in the area
almost all knew me or knew of meo In Jusco I was always saying hi to people
This is what makes life great for me
Where ever I go, there’s someone to say hi to, someone whoruns up to me saying “Andy, Andy!”
I know people who would bemoan the lack of privacy or theinability to escape their students even after school, but I
love ito Even all the way in Ise, I’ve had students shout at me from cars as
they pass by
Even had a student chase me down around new years while
I was jogging to give me some fresh picked lemons from his
grandfather’sStudents at the pool grab their swim coach and explain whoI am
It’s this sort of stuff that starts to make me feel grounded
someplace, when people reach out to you, even if it is justyour wacky students
I really like this stuff because one of my ideals in life is no matter where I
live I’ll have a ‘neighborhood’ to call homeo Someplace within a town that I can especially call my own, a place
where I really belong on a personal levelo Didn’t have that much last year in Kanazawa
Considered it a small victory when I got my neighbors to
say こんにちは back to meo Now though I really feel like I fit in where I live
I’ve gotten to know a lot of my neighbors and one family inparticular often brings me food
• Mother makes all kinds of sweets and extra sushi
also tends to come my way
If it starts to rain and I haven’t noticed the boy next door
will go out on his veranda and shout to me17

One really cool thing was when my neighbor, the father of
one of my students who I had never really met, stopped andgave me a ride home when I was walking home in the rainfrom the bank one day• I thanked him and he said “think nothing of it, we’reneighbors”--

Something else I’ve found I really enjoy is cooking
Many people ask me if I had any big culture shocks when I came to Japannot many because I was prepared
BUT the grocery store was a culture shocko Supposed to be a familiar daily place, but I was at a complete loss
Language and unfamiliar items
20 varieties of miso, what the heck is a gobo, renkon?
o All had to be learned from scratch
Now I enjoy cooking and am much more familiar with thingso Often make niku-jaga, tonjiru, yakizakana, saba no miso ni, iridoufu
Also a good way to get to know peopleo Ask for cooking advice

3. Getting Involved and Being Open--I’ve told people about how much I enjoy my life for the above reasons andmy Japanese friends especially will say “oh, well that’s because you speak
very good Japanese”
o I think that is definitely part of it
People at the pool I go to light up when I say something tothem in Japanese and they realize that I can speak with them
BUT THE KEY IS THAT I TRY TO SPEAK WITH THEM!
Regardless of culture, people are people, no matter where you areo When I studied abroad in Nagoya I became really close with thetaiko group that I joined and my Japanese wasn’t spectacular by
any means
But I went with a big smile and my electronic dictionary in
my pocket and managed to make some really close friends• Actually stayed at the leader’s house last night andhad dinner with a bunch of the members
Taiko is actually one of my favorite hobbies and wherever I
am in Japan I try to join a local group18•--

I’m a member of a small group in Shima thatpractices a few times a month• Not only great exercise but also a great way to getout and meet people• Again, all part of getting yourself out there andmaking that feeling of community for yourself
o Most people in my neighborhood I’ve become close with becauseeven those I don’t know well or live a ways away from (people I
see on my walk to Jusco) I’ll still greet
Those nearby, I’ll stop and talk with them, show them that I
want to be a part of the community
Certainly language allows me to do this easier, but I
personally think that even if my Japanese wasn’t so great I
could manage
In getting to know people like this on a more personal level I find thatthey’re often really curious about America or how my life iso As a Fulbrighter last year it was one of my duties I think to get toknow people and really be a working part of cultural exchange
o Even though I’m no longer Fulbright I still believe that making
these international personal connections is really important
These people in the small towns may only get to know ahandful of Americans in their lives and so my actions canactually have quite and impact on what they think ofAmerica
Because I have such an impact, especially on young kids who may havenever met/gotten to know a foreigner I need to check myself, my pridesometimes

4I’m often told that I’m very Japanese because of the way I act or say things.
Part of the time this is because I’ve learned how to interact in Japan and Japanese soit’s intentional on my part to seem “Japanese” in the sense that I react appropriately tothe situation. There are times, however, when I’m simply acting the way that I always
act and I’ll often tell people “no, Americans can act like this too, this is normal forme.” Seems to be this idea that I’m either American and different or not very
American and more Japanese when I’m the same. Why can’t I be an American who
just acts similarly? Again, I think it’s just because people don’t have much of animage of Americans besides stereotypes shown in the media or the one or two ALTs

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they’ve met. I think the key is that no matter how frustrating it might be for me
personally to be repeatedly told I’m more Japanese than Japanese people I have tomeet the comments and questions with friendliness and patience. If I seem frustrated
or upset then that will become part of people’s image of Americans.
Get angry with people saying “hola” to me or laugh a little and be happy thatthey at least tried to say something in a foreign language to me. Probably a lot ofother people think that I’m Spanish, but don’t bother to do anything about it. Thesepeople are trying to do something out of kindness.
When people ask me what I eat regularly they seemed shocked when I say I cook
standard Japanese food; niku-jaga, iridoufu, yakizakana, nabe, etc… And they sayagain, wow that’s so Japanese of you. I’m thinking in my head “well…I’m in Japanand the ingredients in Japan do lend themselves to Japanese cooking.” But again, I
hold back. If I put myself in their shoes and I had a Japanese friend living near me in
America I might say a similar thing if he/she loved cooking steaks or thick chowders.

5. Challenges--Size issueso Being 191cm in Japan (6’3.5”) can be a blessing and a curse
Crowds are never stifling for me and I’m wicked easy to find ina supermarket
Most seats on buses and doorways aren’t built for my size
• Doorways in my apartment are too low for me• Besides general inconvenience it is pretty hard on myposture I thinko Clothing, particularly pants and long sleeved shirts, is generally a nogoo Shoes are also out
Languageo I’ve passed the JLPT 2 級 but there is still an enormous amount that I
cannot read or understand
Usually I view this as a welcome challenge, a way to learn• Every day I come home knowing how to use anotherword or phrase
But there are times when I’m tired that I just wish I could easily
and naturally read through things without requiring so muchbrain power

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--Worko I’m only the assistant
Despite my deep interest and more than your typical level ofknowledge (for an ALT) there are times when I just have to dowhat I’m asked to doThis is my job as the ALT, to support the teacher to the best of
my ability
Rewarding side of worko I spent a lot of time last year looking at the pressures and expectations
being put on elementary school teachers who will soon have to teachEnglishSome not well prepared and many just don’t have confidence inability to teach Englisho My personal goal is to help these teachers have the confidence to teachEnglishI think an ALT should support teachers as much as students
I’ve offered to teach mini class room English lessons toelementary school teachers after school• Been really funo This is extremely satisfying for me because I’m actually helping out
one of the areas I thought needed help, one of the areas I thought as anative speaker of English I could put my abilities and interests to bestuse21