February 28, 2016
JET teacher Laurence's February Blog Post!
Hello again!
It is still very cold in Japan despite some days being surprisingly warm. I am however, proving to be surprisingly good at layering hoodies, blankets and heated blankets when it comes to trying not to get sick and surviving. Many of my students and colleagues have caught influenza or colds, so I��m doing my best to stay healthy. This month has been slow, mostly because of the students leaving for a couple of days to go skiing in Nagano and also preparing for their final exams. I took some time to study Japanese, work on personal projects and go out with my JET friends. I am exploring Tokyo more, little by little, finding good burgers places and coffee shops.
Coffee culture has actually been booming in Tokyo during the last few years and being a ��big fan�� of caffeine myself, I know there are still many many interesting places left to discover. This is a nice change of pace from Quebec City where coffee shops either tend to be a franchise from a bigger chain or so little talked about and hard to reach they��re usually not worth the trip. Back home, actually, it isn��t coffee culture that is expanding right now, but tea culture. So while last year, I used to go look for new tea blends and accessories all the time, now I am on the hunt for Tokyo��s cosiest coffee shops��
�� that also happen to serve great coffee, of course.
Isn��t it interesting that a small cultural difference, like what the trendy hot drink of the hour is, can completely change the things you choose to invest time in? There��s still so many things I want to do before next school year, let��s get started!!
See you next month!
Laurence Dube
JET Assistant Language Teacher