Today it was brought to my attention by Sayako, a young English teacher at JHS, that some of the teachers there have a problem with my dress. She said, for lack of better English, she thinks that I should dress more "polite." Apparently I dress too casually for the tastes of some of the teachers and, thus, am suffering a "bad image" because of it. This was complete news to me. I've been at this school for a year and a half and none ever mentioned that I dress inappropriately to school. Mind you, there is no dress code for teachers. The Japanese teachers wear everything from shirts and ties to t-shirts and athletic wear. I wear the same gear to JHS that I do to elementary school and I get no complaints over there. On top of that, when I first started at the dangone school, I specifically asked some of the teachers and principals what types of items of clothing were appropriate. I named some items and they were like they were all A-Okay. So now, after 1.5 years I'm hearing this flip-flop B.S. like, wtf?
Anyway, Sayako's suggestion opened up a whole conversation about my relationship, rather lack thereof with the JHS teachers. She admitted that there was distance between myself and the teachers and that she thought I didn't enjoy being at that school. Good observations. I thanked her for being thoughtful enough of my situation. Though, I suggested that instead of assuming how I felt, someone should probably ASK ME to find out the truth. Considering the success I've had at elementary school, with virtually the same approach and attitude towards teaching, I asked: what is the real problem? I'm the same guy at both schools, always willing to talk to and cooperate with all staff, and the kids love me at both, so is something really wrong with ME or the way that they perceive me? I've been treated like an outsider by a majority of the teachers since day one, while maintaining politeness and doing my job to the best of my ability, but now, WAAAY after the fact, I'm supposed to alter my dress to appease a small group of individuals who haven't displayed a rat's butthole about me anyway?? Puh-lease. I have no problem following rules, but conforming to make others happy has never been on my to-do list.
Sayako and I basically concurred that there has been a HUGE communication gap between myself and the rest of the JHS teachers. She also admitted that some of the teachers are probably guilty of comparing me to past foreign English teachers at the school and that they need need to revise their attitudes about me. She agreed to help encourage some of the teachers to be more interactive with me.
Man. I don't really know how I'm supposed to feel about this whole JHS situation. I get really confused by the contradicting messages and silent expectations of Japanese folks sometimes. Here I was, thinking that by doing a good job, being popular with the kids, and being an all-around "nice guy" would warrant some favor and respect from my Japanese peers. NOT. I'm really learning more and more that, in Japan, image is everything, while character/merit count for much less...which would seem to explain the shallowness of the dismal "jip-hop" scene. ...Or does this postulate of J-World apply to the rest of the globe as well?
