Hero Worship
The other day I had a scary thought. What will life be like when I am no longer stalked by adoring fans? How will I go back to a life of blending into a crowd of people with ease? It may sound conceited, but in some ways I have adapted to the blind hero worship that I have encountered in Japan, and the more I think about it, the harder I believe it will be to go back. I am under no false pretenses. I have done nothing but be a female foreigner in country Japan to deserve this. White skin, eyes like water (words borrowed from my students, very catchy in my opinion), naturally blondish hair, colourful clothes, and able to speak English. It's the Japanese stereotype of what's "cool". Without even trying, I have become the coolest person to walk through those school doors. It does also help, that the previous ALT at my schools where all of asian descent, so I am most likely the first foreign looking foreigner they have ever spoken to. It does wear-off eventually, and fo