スミス英会話相模原校

※英文は日本文の下にございます！

私は長い間、相模原に住んで英語を教えています。時々スミス英会話相模原校の生徒様から日本にどれくらい住んでいるのかと聞かれます、私の答えはいつも“a long time(長い間)”です。私がこう答えるのは正確な答えには計算が必要になるからです。しばらく日本とアメリカを行き来していました。これを書いている2024年8月で、日本に住んで合計38年になります。

Living and teaching English in Sagamihara is something I have been doing for a long time. Sometimes my English students in Sagamihara ask me how long I’ve been living in Japan, and my answer is always “a long time.” I give them that response because an accurate answer requires some calculation. I’ve been back and forth to the USA a few times. At the time of this writing (August 2024) I’ve lived in Japan for a total of 38 years.

Another question I receive from my English students is “why did you come to Japan.” That too, is not a quick answer. The “short story” is here on a quick Smith’s School of English video. “What brought me to Japan” is easier to answer, so I’d like to share a bit of that story.

At the young age of 20 years old, a US Air Force jet touched down at Yokota Air Base Tokyo (not far from Sagamihara City) at around 6 o’clock AM on a January morning in 1982. I had been assigned to the 296th US Army Band located at Camp Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture. It was a 2-year commitment and I was very excited to see a “new world.” Those 2 years remain the most memorable time of my life.

The band traveled all over Japan, so I was able to see and experience more than many of my English students. Japan’s economy was booming. Building and road construction was happening everywhere. Train stations were tiny! Nothing was written in the Roman alphabet; all kanji, hiragana, katakana. Getting lost on the trains became the norm, but some kind Japanese citizen was always there to point me (or even take me) in the right direction. Going into Tokyo was always an adventure. Shinjuku Station was big; now gigantic. All I had to do was find the Odakyu train line; a crowded but easy ride back to Sagamihara.

Sagamihara and many of the bigger cities were not clean, like it is today. The air was very polluted as well. This was all due to Japan pulling itself out of a very difficult era, and finally becoming the world’s second largest economy. Japan is very clean now; something to be very proud of. When my time ran out, I was sad to leave, but I knew I’d be back. 

What brought me to Japan? The US Army Band. Why did I come to Japan? Why an English school in Sagamihara? The simple and true answer is that I love it. English teaching also allows me to constantly meet new people and potential English students. Come talk to me, even if your English speaking level is low! Trial lessons are free and fun!

Jim