Give me a foot, give me an acre, I am the jolly matchmaker!

Yon-Hee, my afternoon student (female, cute, 36, single, Korean, waitress), needs a study buddy for English. Takashi, my evening student (male, handsome, 30, single, Japanese, engineer), also needs a study buddy. Well, two plus two makes four.

On a no-chance-of-a-relationship note, Ji-Young, my morning student (female, cute, 37, single, Korean, waitress) is already in a relationship. However she is an athletic type and I will pair her up with a group of peole who go hiking every Saturday morning. Hopefully my new student, Sachiko (female, cute, age unknown, married, Japanese, housewife), will be interested in going along also. That will get them out of the Korean and Japanese society and language patterns and into an English speaking environment to practice their new language.

Teaching English can be a very difficult job. I have to speak slowly and clearly, I work with people with heavy accents so I have to listen very carefully, I have to explain words without using most of my vocabulary, and I need to help my students conquer their pronunciation problems and keep the lesson interesting. Sigh, this working for a living sucks. Last week I had to work 24 hours! Of course it's much more than that because I need to prepare for the classes. But I went to work every day! I'm exhausted. How did I ever manage working 40 hours a week?

Of course the men and women I'm working with are, overall, interesting. Takashi is an engineer working for a Japanese firm installing underground power on the island. He is thin and tired all the time. He works incredible hours for a lousy boss. He get Sundays off, sometimes, and has no time to study. He just started studying English and it shows.

Ji-Young is here from Korea trying to start a Korean restaurant with a business partner. She has a Japanese boyfriend. She spends a good part of every day running, swimming, or going to the gym. I hope she knows that business owners don't have time for that kind of thing. She has been studying English for only three months and has made wonderful progress.

Yon-Hee is here from Korea working under a special visa as a waitress in a Korean bar. I believe the job was set up for her by the bar owner, her sister. It's probably just an excuse for an extended visit with an older sister who is trying to get her to do something with her life. Yon-Hee is single but says she wants a boyfriend. She has six more months on her visa and then she has to go back to Korea. She hopes to go home with fairly decent English in her repertoire.

Sachiko is a new student. I know a little about her from my very first experience at Liberal Academy. She was a student then also when I substituted for someone. Sachiko is a housewife. She doesn't seem to have much more in her life right now. If I can pair her up with Ji-Young for extracuricular activities outside the home then her English, which is already pretty good, will improve dramatically.

Next week at the school will be the Japanese summer camp. We'll have thirty two kids screaming around the place with only a few escorts to keep them under control. I, fortunately, will not be one of them. I am off next week. And it's about time for a vacation.