The Crazies

It is high time I describe the people that I'm working with, though I think it would do well to be noted that my knowledge of these people is rather shallow. Not speaking their language, I think, is an inhibiting factor in truely understanding their personality.

The first person I should make note of is my supervisor, who insists that he be called Bill. I call him Mr. Bill, usually, only because he doesn't know who Mr. Bill is. Whose clumsy now, Mr. Bill?


In any case, he is my favorite person here. He often stands up while he talks to me and announces to the office, "everybody. This school sucks." No one pays attention to him, but it makes me giggle at his complete passive aggressiveness. His English is so much more superior than that of the other teachers, that he'll purposely say something they don't understand. Whether this is score cool points with me, or to make him feel better about himself, I cannot say with certainty. I do, however, think it is for both reasons. His favorite phrase is, "any fucking way", and he repeats it twice, mostly because I laugh at it. Of the many things you expect an ESL to say, any fucking way is at the bottom of the list.

When asked to describe my supervisor, I often say that he is "too American for the Japanese, and too Japanese for the Americans." Two weeks later, I am still confident in this assesment. He is often complaining about things in Japan for some reason or another. When I said that I was excited for the Togi matsuri, he said, "why? It hurts your shoulder (refering to carrying the kiriko) and it's boring." However, I think he's more comfortable here, where he knows the rules of the game. He is two different people, he tells me. With me, he cusses and makes dirty jokes. He tells me that the him I see is a secret, and I need not tell my other co-workers that he is like that. Being two different people, myself, I can sympathize.

Location: Suprise, surprise, my desk.
Listening: Stop Me - Mark Ronson (cover)
Wishing: that I wasn't a slave to public image.