My Racist Experience Teaching English in Japan [G0WWN9pda80]

Ever since the age of 16, I had a burning

desire to live in Japan, one of my

favorite countries in the entire world.

But I knew Japan wouldn't just let me live

there without providing some kind of value

to society. So I thought to myself, what

can I provide to Japanese people? And then

I realized I could use my native

English-speaking abilities to help

Japanese people learn English. I thought

becoming an English teacher would be my

best way to secure some kind of visa so I

could live in Japan. However, things

didn't quite go to plan. There was one big

problem: my face.

If you've been listening to the video and

you don't know what I look like, then you

might be surprised to find out that I

don't exactly look like your stereotypical

English man. You see, when applying for

English teaching jobs in Japan, they

usually ask you what your nationality is,

and when you tell them that you are

British, they usually automatically assume

that you look a certain way. And even

though England is a pretty multicultural

city, Japanese people kind of have this

fixed idea, this expectation of what

someone from England should look like. I

applied for so many English teaching jobs

and got rejected time after time after

time for the same reason, and that reason

was I just did not look like a native

English speaker, and because I didn't fit

the Japanese description of what an

English man should look like, I found it

very difficult finding English teaching

jobs. Even the small-sized self-run

English schools that were run by

foreigners didn't want to employ me as a

teacher at their school just because I

didn't have the right look. And when I

asked why, they said that their Japanese

students preferred to have a more

native-looking teacher. And even though I

did my best to try and explain to them

that I am a native English speaker and I

had a B+ in GCSE English, they still

weren't interested just because of the way

I looked. So I decided to try out private

tutoring. There's certain websites where

you can create a profile and Japanese

people who are interested in learning

English will sign up to the website and

browse through the list of teachers. And a

few Japanese people did contact me and

signed up for a trial lesson. But when I

met up with them face to face, they seemed

disappointed. It was like they were

expecting a more native-looking English

speaker, probably a white person, and then

I show up and they think, wait a minute,

he doesn't look very English. Is he really

a native English speaker? I even had one

student who cancelled the lesson only 10

minutes in. She just got up and said she

had to go and meet a friend, which seems

like a load of rubbish. Why would you book

an English lesson and then have to meet

your friend only 10 minutes after it

begins. I don't know exactly why she

decided to cancel the lesson, but I have

my suspicions. So I talked to my friends

at the guesthouse I was staying. They were

from countries like America, Europe,

and they were mostly white, and they just

didn't understand the problem I was

having. They said stuff like, I don't

understand, Daniel. I managed to find a

teaching job straight away. On the very

first week, I managed to find English

teaching jobs and students, and it's so

easy. I don't know why you're having such

a hard time, Daniel. And I think it's

pretty blatantly obvious what the

difference was. The difference was those

friends at the guesthouse, they fit the

stereotype of what Japanese people think a

native English speaker should look like.

After a while, I gave up on the idea of

becoming an English teacher. My dreams

were crushed and my hopes were shattered.

But I didn't give up. I was still

determined to find some kind of employment

in Japan and provide value to Japanese

society. I had to resort to taking very

low-paid work and working in places like

convenience stores and kitchens doing

washing up. One of the main topics people

like to talk about a lot at the guest

house was usually about jobs and money.

So you'd be sitting around the table with

a bunch of foreigners and they'd ask me,

so So Daniel, what, what kind of work are

you doing in Japan? And I'd say, I'm

working at Lawson. I'm working in a

kitchen. And they'd be confused. They

would say, why are you working at those

low-paid jobs when you could be an English

teacher and be making 5 times more money?

It used to really annoy me actually when

people kept suggesting that I should teach

English, as if I hadn't tried to get an

English teaching job, as if the odds

weren't stacked against me just because of

what my face looked like. I was utterly

shocked to find out that a a white German

guy who spoke really good English. He

managed to find an English teaching job

and he wasn't even a native speaker. So in

Japan and probably in many other Asian

countries, looking like a native speaker

is more important than actually being a

native English speaker. It's just so

silly. So I tried my best working at the

convenience store. I managed to last a few

months before giving up. Because the hours

were just too long, there was too much

work, the customers were just rude, and

the pay was absolutely abysmal. I decided

to quit my jobs at the convenience store

and the kitchen, and I never got a job in

Japan ever again. I gave up on the idea of

being employed, and I gave up on the idea

of providing value to Japanese society.

So how did I survive in Japan without a

job, you might be asking? Well, to keep a

long story short, I went on to Tinder and

I on a few dates and I met this Japanese

lady who was very interested in learning

English. And we met up, had a few dates,

and she seemed to really like me, and I

thought she was pretty okay as well. One

night we went to karaoke and we had some

drinks, and that sparked a night of

passion. She wanted me to move in with her

and she said I could stay without paying

any rent on one condition: that I help her

learn English. I agreed to her conditions

and I packed my bags from the guesthouse

and moved hastily into her one-room

apartment. And there we lived together for

several months. It was pure bliss and

happiness in the beginning. It was like a

symbiotic relationship. I had a burning

desire to teach English and she had an

unquenchable thirst for English vocab and

grammar that burned brighter than the

stars of Venus. I finally felt like I was

providing value to Japanese society and to

Japanese people. It wasn't quite how I

imagined my English teaching career to

begin in Japan. I was expecting to be

standing in front of a classroom in front

of dozens of people, but instead I found

something much better. I got to have free

cheesecake on a daily basis. Plus, I got

free accommodation and plenty of hugs and

kisses. Unfortunately, this relationship

was not to last very long. The flame

fizzled out almost as quickly as it was

ignited. One evening she came home from

work and she sat down. She had a very

serious look on her face. She said to me,

Daniel, I don't think there's much more

English I can learn from you. She said she

met a new guy called Gareth from Canada

and she's going to be meeting him soon.

And then she asked me to move out. I

couldn't believe she was breaking up with

me like this after we had been together

for so many months. It was the longest

relationship I ever had, and I felt so

used. Used and spat out. I packed

my things and I left. I turned my back on

her and I never saw her again. And from

that day onwards, I vowed to never again

teach anybody English.