The paperwork is in…but the Personnel Head is not

This morning, after the usual 25-minute walk to campus from the station, I headed straight for the General Affairs office (Soumu-ka). In my hands, a plastic sleeve folder containing the four pieces of paper so far required for the Child Raising Leave Application (Ikujikyugyou-moushikomi-sho). The problem: the Chief of the Personnel Department was on a [...]

The story begins…

I’m an American teaching English full-time in the heartland of Japan. Next year I have applied for paternity leave, making me the first male teacher at my school to do so.  This blog will document my experiences raising a bilingual daughter in a monolingual culture (or is it truly monolingual? guess again…) I’ve been in [...]