Junshin

I've been teaching at Junshin now for almost 2 years. (scroll down once you're linked to the college's site - there are pictures of me!) It's an all-girls Catholic college, although almost none of the students are religious. There are many nuns who live & work here - more than I've seen in a lifetime. They always wear their habits (I've heard that nuns in the States usually don't). I got used to seeing them around campus pretty quickly.

Junshin's located on the hills of a neighborhood called Toso. The hills are quite steep, so there are many staircases all around the campus. My mom was here in December, and before she came I adviced her to set her treadmill on the steepest incline when she walks. She didn't really take me seriously, so it's a good thing that walking was already a part of her daily routine. She realized I wasn't kidding once she got here and saw the hills for herself!

The school has 5 departments: Nutrition, Childrens' studies, Business, Science of Living, and of course, English. The English department requires all first-year students to live in the dorm (English-only!) which is where I live with 2 other native English teachers. Most of the students are freaked out about the prospect of having to speak English everywhere at the beginning of the school year, but they get used to it after a few weeks. Short of moving to another country, the dorm is the best place for them to improve their English speaking abilities. And believe me when I say that Japanese people need all the help they can get when it comes to learning English!

English department teachers







It's so strange that I'm living in a dorm now, when I've never even lived in one as a student. There are definitely times when I wish I had more privacy, especially when students knock on my door at night to submit late homework! But it doesn't happen often and most of the time I can just close my door and leave the dorm outside. What I love most about living here is the food. The chef here makes the most delicious curry rice and ramen. The menu changes everyday, and very rarely are there any repeats. Of course there are a few days when the meal is less than ideal (I'm not a fan of the 'saba"), but that's when my emergency stash of 'furikake' comes in handy! ;-)

dorm meals