Donald Ash is an Atlanta, Georgia-born, American expat who has been living in a Japanese time warp for the last eleven years. While in that time warp, he discovered that he absolutely loves writing, blogging, and sharing. Donald is the creator of thejapanguy.com blog. Wanna know more about this guy? Check out his "What's Your Story" page.
By Donald Ash | Foreigners In Japan
Unless I have something extremely pressing to do, I always help the students clean after lunch. As my students and I were cleaning on this one particular day, I was in the hallway sweeping and I overheard some of my 2nd graders randomly calling out colors in English. My ears quickly zeroed in on this […]
By Donald Ash | Teach in Japan Article Hub
One of the things that made my jaw drop as a first-time teacher in a Japanese public school (in a good way) was seeing teachers and students, nearly every single school day, scrubbing, wiping and cleaning their classrooms…their school…together. Yes, there is a staff member who helps to take care of some of the odds […]
By Donald Ash | Foreigners In Japan
I was making my “Wonder Goo” run the other day, it’s this super store with video games, DVDs, books, and all kinds of other cool stuff. As I was walking through the store, being the nerd boy that I am, I stopped because I saw a cool-looking X-Men First Class, DVD display. I watched some […]
By Donald Ash | Teach English In Japan Hub
Quick Navigation Considering My Reasons for Going…THE REASONS I TEACH IN JAPANREASON # 1 – JAPAN CAN BE WAY EASIER ON THE POCKETS IF YOU’RE TEACHERMINDSET SHIFTPUBLIC TRANSPORTATION REASON #2 – SEE LIFE FROM ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE, FIRSTHANDREASON # 3 – YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO TEACH!HAS JAPAN MET MY EXPECTATIONS?”TEACH IN JAPAN QUESTIONWhy did you come here […]
By Donald Ash | Japanese Culture
No matter how you stir it, slice it or serve it, more often than not, teaching public school is a full-time job. So your school becomes like a second home of sorts. This is true whether you’re teaching in the U.S. or teaching in Japan. Spending lots of time at your school means that you’ll […]
By Donald Ash | Teach English In Japan Hub
Anybody ever have “Career Day” in elementary school? If not, Career Day was a chance for guest speakers to come to a school to talk about what they do for a living. This would give kids an idea of the possibilities, of what they could be, what they could do with their lives. I always […]
By Donald Ash | Anime Corner
Ever heard the term otaku before? An English student of mine once explained that オタク translates to mean mania or enthusiast, and later became associated with those endaring expressions “geek” or “nerd.” You probably know the traditional nerd stereotype already: the glasses-wearing, fashion-aloof, pocket-protector wearing, Mark Zuckerberg-ish (sorry, Mark), man or woman who keeps to […]