Asahi English Classes

While in Japan, I've had the amazing opportunity of filling in for Linda, teaching two of her weekly English classes at the Asahi Cultural Center in Tachikawa. What an amazing experience! These men and women are so amazing ... all coming from different professional backgrounds ... some are former businessmen while some of the women are retired dentists, pharmacists, and housewives. All so amazingly generous and sweet ... sharing a weekly topic with me and the entire class as they practice their conversational English.

While Brent was in town, he came along to class and enjoyed meeting these amazing people. He did a fabulous job of trying to understand their broken English that is so heavy-laden with the Japanese accent. He asked them questions and shared background on Southern Utah.

The classes were so generous, too. The morning class treated me and Brent to lunch at a Japanese restaurant where we carefully tried to select familiar items. It was a buffet, so quite difficult. What a nice gesture for the entire class to pitch in and treat us!

The afternoon class then introduced us to karaoke! After class we headed to Big Echo. Karaoke in Japan is different from the Americanized version. No singing in crowded bars to drunk people in Japan. At Big Echo we rented a sound-proof room where we ordered drinks and selected favorite songs, singing only to the small group. So much less pressure ... and so fun! Taking a few minutes to warm up -- joining in on a Carpenters song and some Madonna, I struggled through my favorite Pat Benetar song "Love is a Battlefield" and then joined in on a few other favorites.

Brent, who swore up and down that he would only be an observer and wouldn't sing, completely shocked me when he began singing along to the first Carpenters song. I was floored!! I don't think I've ever even heard him sing along to the radio!! I was completely impressed! But then ... he sang Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror." Fabulous!! Talk about hidden talents! We had a great time! I could have sung a dozen more songs, but we were running out of time. Again, what an amazingly generous gesture for the afternoon class!