There are quite a few Japanese families living in Harrison, NY. Many of them get relocated to different countries or return to Japan in a couple of years, but some families stay up to five years or more.
So today, I would like to talk about Japanese mothers who live in Harrison, NY. Many Japanese in one town means more convenience to live without using English. It can be easier to find friends, shops and information from other Japanese who live in the same town. As a matter of fact, some people literally only use Japanese while they are here.
Under the unique circumstance (living in the US, not having to speak English), mothers who join our lessons have their own clear goals to master English. Having a fulfilling lifestyle each day and making good lifetime American friends are the goals for some mothers to enrich their lives in the US.
Often, 60 minutes lesson time is overtaken by the endless questions. Chris gets excited to see their ambition which makes 60 minutes feel like 10 minutes! This one lady had a lesson about how to reschedule her doctor’s appointment, then at the end of the lesson she made a call to the doctor’s office. Yes, she raised her arms and “Yes! I did it!!” She was so happy which made us happy, too.
Some mothers were fulltime business women at well-known companies in Japan. But, they had to resign their jobs to move overseas with husbands and kids, but they take living overseas as a positive change and are brushing up their careers while they are here. Another woman is in the middle of chasing her dream with her husband, and came to the US to attend law school and in the meanwhile she is brushing up English skills with us. Wow, how impressive!
We are absolutely impressed by their willingness and so motivated to support our students who keep their positive Japanese identity and are open minded to meet local people, enjoy different cultures, spontaneously communicate with school teachers for their kids, and are able to state their opinions when it comes to emergencies.
It’s fun and actually quite easy to come up with our lesson plans when we carefully listen to their accidents and wonders. We would like to create lessons which benefit both Japanese and local people here in Harrison.
It’s been almost two years since Mattison family started life in Harrison, NY.
Our magic word, “Oh, we’ve just moved here from Japan” is no longer effective…
It’s time for us to dig in and enjoy every part of our life!
There are millions of ways to live your life. Let’s choose one….or more.
