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| 5. Foreigners |
| OTHER FOREIGNERS IN TOYOOKA page 2 |
| OOKA GAKUEN -- A private school, Ooka Gakuen hires two native English speakers to teach English, and one Taiwanese to teach Chinese. The two current English teachers, who began their contract in April, are Benjamin Dunlap (USA) and newcomer Claire (New Zealand). Ben was the ALT at Kita Junior High School from 1996-99, and he just returned to Toyooka from Hawaii. If you ever have any questions or problems, he's a good person to ask. He can also tell you the sordid history of JETs in Toyooka, and all sorts of other anecdotes and insights about this town! |
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| "Big Ben," violating his car. (Is this what's meant by "traffic violation"??) Down, boy! |
| GEOS -- A nation-wide company that offers English lessons to people of all ages, Geos has a branch school in Toyooka. A new teacher should be arriving soon from the UK, I believe... INDEPENDENT -- Another wonderful person you'll probably meet is Tania, from Australia. She teaches her own, independent, English classes to the people of Toyooka. She's a lot of fun, and is another good person to turn to if you have any questions... |
| NON-ENGLISH SPEAKERS -- Aside from the English-speaking foreigners, there are a few people from Latin America (primarily Brazil), most of whom work in factories, living in Toyooka. Actually, the Brazillian population has dwindled drastically since I've been here, probably due to economic hardships. There is also a small number of Philippine nationals, as well as Chinese and Koreans. Although TIA does a lot for us English-speakers (and I am grateful), it seems to me that the rest of the foreign population is largely ignored. But that's just my opinion... |
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| Tania and friends, acting goofy (as usual)! |
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| Back to Foreigners, page 1 |