Yokatta....

I just had a lesson with an avid student. She lives in Tokyo and sad to know that her area has been affected badly by the earthquake. She has a very friendly and warm voice that I was teary-eyed listening to her. I felt really happy and sorry to know her situation which kept her from attending lessons since the earthquake. If I could be with her in person, I would like to hug her.

She said that her husband tried to contact her that day but it was to no avail. Communication was cut-off at the time, even for mobile phones. Trains, which are the most convenient kind of transportation, were also shut at that time. So her husband ran for one hour from his office to their house. His husband was really relieved when he had found her safe, she said. She managed to laugh a little to that thought, even though, I think, she was like fighting back some tear drops ready to fall.

She said that they have been fine, except for some mess the earthquake left. Fallen books, toppled bookshelves, broken cups and plates, and many other things kept them busy the next day. Going to the bank to get some finances also made her busy and kept her from attending the lessons, she said.

I told her that I and other teachers were worried about the students. I was very happy to have a lesson with her again, I told her.

I was happy that I managed to give her a good laugh regarding the news about the radiation. I told her about the news banning Japanese-brand chocolates will be banned from being imported to the Philippines. I told her that some of my friends were concerned about that because they like to eat Japanese brand chocolates. But I told her that some of my friends will still eat Japanese-brand chocolates even if it has radiation on it. She laughed really hard about that.

I felt really happy to have a lesson with her again. She's very nice, friendly, and very eager to improve her English. She is one of my avid students that make my online teaching to be something that I would really look forward to everyday. I hope she would fully recover very soon.

After A Month...

It's been a month since I've written my last post. Come to think of it, I've been busy with teaching English online. I got more students than my first few weeks. I have some regular students also, which is good.

Today isn't so busy. My first lesson of the day will start at around 1600 JPT, so that's around 3p.m. here in the Philippines. We always follow the Japanese Time because our main office is in Kobe, Japan.

The company that I am with started this online English lesson after the great Kobe earthquake at around 1995. Their company branched out here in Davao around 2006. The company has been around for quite some time now.

In the next couple of weeks, I will be celebrating my second month with the company. I've been enjoying every class. Though sometimes, there are some lessons that I don't know how to handle with. Such as lessons with a beginner kid or a person who doesn't even give a smirk on his/ her voice. But it's interesting to be a home based English teacher. It's kind of a win-win situation. The student can learn English from me. At the same time, I get to have a glimpse of the Japanese culture from them. And I think, that makes my teaching experience to be a really self-fulfilling job.

In a few minutes, I will prepare myself for my first lesson of the day. I hope I will do good and have fun today!