Sarah
Claire
Minato
Sakura
Question 1: Where did you go to high school and what were you like?
“I went to Fall Mountain Regional High School in Langdon, New Hampshire, USA. And I was kind of a fly on the wall for my first three years of high school, I wasn’t very popular. I wasn’t very bright. I did play hockey, on the hockey team. Then during my senior year I made a lot more friends and I was really sad to see my high school career end just as I felt it was getting going.”
Question 2: What is your opinion on Mr. Boyd?
“Mr. Boyd is… I have a favorable opinion of Mr. Boyd. I usually am attracted to friends who will speak more ‘cause I’m kind of quiet. Mr. Boyd has always got his mouth running so he’s a good friend for me.”
Question 3: Why did you want to become a teacher at Saint Maur?
“Well, let’s see, I decided a long time ago that I was going to become a teacher and I decided even longer ago that I was going to be living in Japan. In Yokohama. So, moving to a school in Yokohama was the most natural progression for me. I was trying to find a job in Yokohama and I knew Saint Maur is a Catholic school, and I’m a Catholic. Maybe not a great Catholic, but I’m Catholic nonetheless. So my mother’s proud that I’m teaching at a Catholic school.”
Question 4: Where were you working before this?
“Mr. Boyd and I worked at the same school… it’s K International School in Tokyo.”
Question 5: What was your dream job when you were a kid?
“I don’t know, I think for a while I wanted to be a lawyer. Maybe it was because I saw that movie with Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson. I was attracted to the idea of being a lawyer because of representations of the law and the law as a profession in media.”
Question 6: What made you want to become a teacher?
“It’s interesting my mom was a teacher and a principal and an assistant in superintendent schools in the state of Vermont. And my sister is a fourth grade teacher right now. She works in the state of Connecticut. And my father’s grandmother was a teacher, as well. My mother did her student teaching at my great grandmother’s school, that’s how my mother and father met. I decided I wasn’t going to be a teacher. So, when I went to university I started studying English and people would always ask me ‘are you studying to be a teacher?’ and I’d say no. I don’t really know what I’ll intend to do with an English degree. I ended up coming to Japan and then after I got a job in a Japanese private school, I decided to get a teaching certificate because I wanted to know how to do what I was doing better.”
Question 7: What is your favorite memory while working here?
“I haven’t had much memories, but this was a good one. I brought my son and daughter to a parent-teacher group function. Where they were giving away free hotdogs. That or, there was some sort of sports day where Mr. Bedard, Mr. Ito, and I did street hockey up on the roof. We had four groups and we played street hockey, that was fun. I enjoyed that too.”
Question 8: Where would we find you if you’re not at Saint Maur?
“Probably at home. I don’t get out that much. I’m married and I have two kids, one is fourteen and one is ten, and they’re usually around the house on their devices or studying, so I’m usually home with my family.”
Question 9: What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
“It’s probably not that crazy though. I saw you asked this question to Mr. Boyd. One of the craziest things I ever did was to move to Japan. Because the place where I was, picking up and moving to another country seemed like a very strange thing to do. I don’t know anybody who moved to Japan to teach English. A lot of people thought I was crazy and thought that I wasn’t going to make a full year. I originally came for a year, working in Eikaiwa and then now it’s almost twenty years later.”
Question 10: What is your favorite thing about Saint Maur?
“When I first got here, I thought I wasn’t going to like it because I was getting lost. But the building situation at Saint Maur is very interesting. Saint Maur is kind of like a growth on Futaba’s school. They intertwine, it’s really cool and unusual. There are four floors and each floor is the ground floor, each floor comes in contact with the ground at some point. So, the architecture of this school is interesting. I know I should say the students, but I know Mr. Boyd said the students, so I didn’t want to copy him.”
Question 11: Any advice for your students?
“Tie your shoes. You always see students with their shoes untied. Also, tuck in your shirt. For the boys, for several occasions I have shown different tie knots. There’s the overhand knot, half windsor, the full windsor and then the prag knot. If you want me to show you these knots, just let me know.”
Thank you to Mr. Davignon for agreeing to be interviewed!
Sarah, Minato, Sakura, Claire