Everyone has his story.
Mine started with a dream of seeking a greener pasture for my future.
That dream separated me from my family; the same dream brought me to one place I never imagined I would be - Japan, where I experienced countless first times in my once-simpler life…snow, skiing, ice skating, raw fish, nabe, red leaves, humid summer, rafting, sauna, tea ceremony, calligraphy, osechi dishes, even mumps and a major medical operation. The list just goes on and on.

Being a Mathematics teacher back then, my focus was mainly on numbers, everything else did not seem to matter.
However, after living and working in Japan for some time now, my perspective about a lot of things changed.
It offered me first-hand experiences of its culture.
It led me to learn about and explore various fields like business, the economy, politics and sports, among others.
It further awakened my awareness about global current events and issues, thereby forcing me, in a positive way, to increase my knowledge about them.
Equipped with such knowledge and experiences, I believe that I could smoothly and effectively impart concepts to all my Japanese learners who have varied needs, interests and fluency levels.
Online news keeps me updated and reading them has become my pastime along with internet surfing, watching Hollywood movies especially of the action genre, and cooking.
I am slightly addicted to PSP, too!

There is only one thing that impedes me from completely enjoying my life in Japan - its language.
Though I manage to get by everyday with the little words I know, I wish that one day soon, I need not struggle to speak and understand it.
Tasukete, anyone!

My dream has become a reality; along with it comes the sense of self-satisfaction and more dreams waiting to be fulfilled through hard work.

Many things have changed since I started working and living in Japan.
I never thought that I would really enjoy it a lot here despite the fact that I am four hours away by plane from my family and home.
I embraced new hobbies like watching Japanese anime and dramas and listening to Japanese music.
I experienced traveling to some famous places in Japan.
Those travels made me understand Japanese culture and I learned to appreciate more of it.
I gained new friends and got some new ideas from communicating with a lot of people.
I tried new things like skiing and ice skating.

I know that my stay in Japan will be a never-ending journey.
I will continue to explore its culture and its places, to try new things, to meet a lot of people, and to make the most out of my stay here.

Even if a lot of things have changed, there is one thing that will never change in me, and that is my passion for teaching. Of course, teaching in my own field of expertise would be a lot easier but the goal is the same.
As a teacher, my goal is to guide and to help my students achieve their targets learning goals.
In order for me to do that, I am also a student on my own, I need to continue to learn new things, set goals for myself and polish my business skills.
At the end of the day I believe that an effective teacher possesses great communication skills and a burning passion to teach.