Introduction

First off, let me start by with explaining the term “gaijin kusai”.  Originally the term was used to describe the bad BO smell of foreigners that the Japanese people were not used to.  Nowadays the term “gaijin kusai” is used to describe a person whose attitude or habits seem foreign and not natural for a Japanese person to do.  Since I am ethnically Asian, I have the ability to blend in with the Japanese people… that is until they ask me something in Japanese and I respond with a confused look most often followed by a “what?” in English of course.  Since I don’t have the typical gaijin appearance, I’m not allowed to perform “gaijin smashes” in public and get away with it as easily as most other gaijin.  In conclusion, because of my Asian appearance but American habits, my behavior can be called “gaijin kusai” at times.  Also, I’m assuming that everyone reading this blog has watched Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift or has taken a Japanese class and knows what the term gaijin means.

As of September I became an English teaching assistant at an all-girls university in Hiroshima, Japan and the gig is for a year.  Although this is not my first time living in japan, I must say that the experience this time around is completely different from when I studied abroad 2 years ago (probably because I’m not surrounded by people who are in a perpetual state of drunkenness).  I have no idea what my duties are and to be perfectly honest I’m pretty sure the university doesn’t even know what to do with me.  I am the fourth English TA and talking to two of the past TAs, it seems they keep changing the expectations and duties we had.  Basically I attend classes and help out students while they are writing or discussing things.  Also, I have to host English lunch times twice a week, where students just come to my office and chat in English.  Overall the job is pretty chill, leaving lots of time for me to hone my skills at Facebook stalking.

Now, I know most men would kill to have my job; however, the job isn’t as glorious as is sounds.  The pay is pretty much shit compared the JETs, plus I pay for my own rent and crap.  As for the all-girls part, it’s pretty cool except being around girls all the time can really make you miss hanging out with guys.  When I’m in classes I swear all I hear constantly is talk about ice cream, cake, sweets, etc.  When you’re with guys, topics like that usually don’t come up.  If it were to, it would probably go something like this,

Guy 1: Hey, I could really go for some ice cream right now.

Guy 2: I could really go for some of your mom right now.

Guy 1: Screw you!

Guy 2: No thanks, your mom already does that.

End of conversation.

            It’s this kind of playful banter that I just can’t have with most Japanese girls, making me miss my bromantic relationships back at home even more so.  Also, I’m pretty sure that I would be fired if I hooked up with one of my students.

            Well, I have a lot of things I still need to post covering the past month I’ve spent in Japan so hopefully it’ll be up soon.  Thanks for reading.

- Eddie Lat