How Can You Expect Me To Go Back To Being A Common Schmuck?

While it's true that any foreigner in Japan (outside of Tokyo) is a minor celebrity, this is doubly true for foreign teachers I think. Students are curious and less inhibited anyway, so that awards the foreign teacher immediate popularity, but if you are even mildly outgoing and show a slight interest in the students you can approach immortality.

A long-winded example? Is that what you want?

Sure!

This weekend I ventured to one of the Outer Island of Okinawa (pictures later), and naturally I was the only foreigner on the boat ride there and back, so I was already doing a minimal amount of blending. So there I was standing around at this tiny port on some random tiny island, waiting for the boat back, when I hear someone behind me say "Ano...sumimasen?" I look up and it's some younger-looking guy (I say it like that because, as we all know, it's impossible to tell the age of a Japanese person. I just put him in the 15-25 age range, because that's as close as I could get.).

I look up nervously, because I know I'm about to have yet another communication failure. I respond with a suspicious "Hai?"

So the guy says my name. And I respond with an even more suspicious "Hai???"

At this point everyone around us in the waiting room is looking at me, and I know it. So this guy explains that he is one of my students. And while students will come up to me all the time in the grocery store or convenience store, I was especially flattered and impressed this time because: a) we were clearly nowhere near school b) we were both on vacation and c) he is definitely not one of my best students. I was also completely ashamed that I had absolutely zero idea who he was (to be fair, I do see like 300 students a week, who all pretty much look the same). So we struggled through a conversation, shook hands, took a picture and that was that. And he's now my favorite student.

So that alone made me feel like quite a celebrity. But after he left everyone was staring at me, and not trying to hide it, which was odd. Then I thought, 'Oh man, from an outsider's perspective, especially one who speaks no English, this totally looks like I am some sort of foreign celebrity (And not to be a douche, but I was kind of looking the part that day...)." So for the rest of the time while we waited, and all the way back, people would periodically stare, then talk amongst themselves.

And I will unashamedly say that I enjoyed every minute.

If fame was a drug, I'd definitely be the junkie on the corner selling sex for my next hit.