Aldona Shumway
(1991-92)
I arrived at Asia Center in June of 1991, fresh from my Master's degree studies at the School for International Training. After a week or two of observing the veterans teach the final courses of the semester, I was given a schedule of my own for the coming term. As a Community Program teacher, I would be teaching all ages and levels of English. There were the nervous kindergartners and eager elementary students, the elegant Wednesday morning ladies, the somewhat shy junior high kids and the high school students always in uniform, and last but not least, the genki Saturday and evening adult classes.
Looking back ten years later, I can see that most of my memories of Japan are made up of experiences shared with LIOJ students, teachers, and staff. A list of my favorite times in Japan would have to include watching movies with the high school students, teaching a hundred high school girls how to dance, telling spooky stories at the Halloween party, singing karaoke with students at an end-of-semester outing, intensive discussions with Japanese teachers of English during the Summer Workshop, and dancing at each and every party. Best of all were those moments of deep connection when teachers stopped being teachers and students stopped being students and we could all enjoy the pleasure of each other's company.
September 2002
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