My Twelveth Job

This picture really reminds me of the feel of Sapporo.  (Link missing.  It was probably of a lot of snow).

I taught English in Japan for almost two years. I tried to get a job before I went, but everywhere insisted that I come to Japan first. So, I flew in without a job and without speaking a word of Japanese. It was relatively easy and I got a job at EC, Inc. EC stands for "English Circles". Training was by this jerk from Canada who made it his personal mission to make every trainee cry before training was over. I never cried and I think that made him harder on me than a lot of teachers. Word of how he treated me traveled all over Sapporo and when he quit to find another job, no place would hire him. Such a perfect example of Karma.

It really was a lot of fun and very interesting. I learned Japanese a little, which I have now all forgotten. One problem though was that they fired a couple of guys while in training for being gay.

The snow in Sapporo is amazingly deep. The siberian winds come down over the Sea of Japan and really cool of the place. It would be a lot better if they didn't have such inefficient heating. I had a little kerosene heater that I would have to keep filled. Ever so often a little alarm would go off to remind you to open a window to let out the fumes. It really seemed to defeat the purpose of heating the room in the first place. Their water heaters, however, are the most efficient things I have ever seen. You never run out of hot water, because it heats it as it goes through.

I met the top drag queen of Japan. She was one of my students. Yep, "she". She was a cute little lesbian with the drag name of Luciano. It was a real Victor/Victoria situation. She was pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman. I was told to keep it secret. I also participated in the first ever gay and lesbian parade in Sapporo. It was pretty sparse. Drag queens were in the back of pick up trucks with a boom box. Perhaps 75 people showed up and there were very few spectators and even less spectators that knew of the parade.



The sign says "Mother, your son is gay". It was from the parade.  (Another link missing.  I look great though).