Kame & Teaching = NO WAY!!

Hm,

Before university, I went to "Gh. Rosca Codreanu" high school in my native town, Chemistry- Biology class in following the times trend .... everyone let`s become a doctor (money and prestige)! At first my parents wanted to send me to the Pedagogical class to become a primary school teacher because I could play piano, I was good at sport, I was good at history and English and according to them I had a talent with children??????

Me, a teacher?? NO WAY!
I was a pupil myself and seing my mates screaming in some classes and driving the teachers crazy or making fun of him etc, so ... a bunch of 6 years old running and screaming and fighting .... Oh, my GOD!

So, go with the fashion and let`s become a doctor. Still the problem with this idea was that my parents insisted me to become a teeth doctor (stomatology) which I totally repulsed after seing my stomatolog aunt extracting a tooth with her knee holding down a screaming patient .... That was the day when I locked myself in the room until my dad agreed I can be any kind of doctor, but a dentist.

Anyway I started studying for Medical School (Biology, Physics, Chemistry) but I discovered soon I am totaly retarded when it comes to Physics, so between my struggles through the above mentioned subjects, in the 3rd year of high school I start thinking of an "alternate" career.

I made up a list with likes and dislikes, but got more confused as the logical result would have been being a ... teacher?!
as I couldn`t be an advocate (I LOVE talking - to be honest I don`t really know how to shut up ... - but memorizing is such a torture), doctor (Biology was a lot of memorizing and Physics), shop assistant (not really a career and I have ended up in family bussines and having as a boss my own mom!! - I love her, but she is a PERFECTIONIST ...), engineer (who am I kidding), secretary (making coffee for misogin bosses?), model (do you want to see my pictures?? anyway, short, plump, wearing glasses and totally hating my nose shape! )

Favourite subjects: NO WAY I am going to get it subjects:
English Logic (there is not a more illogical subject than logic)
Economics Geography (just disliked the teacher! Sorry ....)
Chemistry Physics (so again ... you close the circuit down, but actually open up the light ?)
Literature French (after 4 years of doing nohing but singing the same song on 3 voices ....)
Sport Mathematics (I got so pissed off because I could solve every single difficult problem doing corecctly all the steps, but when doing the last ecuation my results were always wrong - bad arithmetics abilities)

I thought I would like maybe to work as a guide, a translator or something using languages, even a teacher, but my inability of French left me only 2 option: becoming an English- Romanian teacher or start learning another language (in Romania the gasp of only one foreign language is highly un-competitive!)
German was not quite a thrill, but maybe some Spanish or Italian woudn`t be too bad, the only obstacle in my town being that no one was able to teach either of them.

To be honest, learning Japanese would have been ..... the greatest present ever! Why, oh, I forgot to tell you: one year before I started practising karate. By the 3rd year of high school I was Romanian vice-champion in kata sincron and kumite and a Bruce Lee maniac fan.

The answer came from the sky : as a present for my birthday, my English teacher (very aware of my Japan mania) gave me: Learn Japanese without a teacher, by Mrs. Angela Hondru.

From that day one, my life got a purpose and I discovered is such a plus as an adolescent to HAVE A DREAM.
Trying to write for the first time in HIRAGANA (Japanese Silabar), I decided one day I will be able to speak Japanese, I will get a scholarship and I will go to see Japan!!! I WILL!

From that day:
- my high school graduation note was the 4th highest in the whole high school
- I went for Medical School Exam failing 5 points due to my inability to calculate the correct result in a Physics problem
- getting the courage to tell my parent I refuse to accept them to pay another year so much money for getting me to Medical School as I can`t do more than that with Physics
- asking them to have confidence in my and let me go for Japanese language
- knocking at every door possible to find the address of Ms. Angela Hondru and than convince her to accept me as a private student
- learned in 2 months the same Japanese her other students she had leart in 8 months
- slept from 8 to 12 in the morning, studying Japanese, eating studying, sleeping from 5 to 8 in the evening, waking up and eat and study Japanese until next day at 8 (for 3 months daily)
- failing the entrance examination for Japanese department at Bucharest University (the second under line)
- going for English- German section at Spiru Haret University to put my parents mind at ease that I will at least have a diploma in something
- failing the 2nd time entrance examination for Japanese department at Bucharest University for the same reasons (poor mark at English)
- understanding that to get a higer mark at English I need to pay lots of money to be tutored by one of the Bucharest University English staff if I want to have a higher mark
- taking a big risk in trying to convince my parents that I want to give up German to get as a fresman in the Japanese - English department starting that year in Spiru Haret University
- 4 years in Japanese section and involving in all the Japanese related events possible
- crying because my university was a private one, so no scholarship were awarded by the Japan Embassy
- working part- time as a baby sitter for a Japanese family to improve my Japanese (not with too obvious result because my baby was only one year was learning his first words)
- although a student going to the Japanese classes Ms. Angela Hondru taught in ION CREANGA (the only high school with Japanese language class)
- bitting my nails as I could never got to the high level IOn CREANGA pupils had in Japanese (they were studying the language from secondary school as Ms. Angela Hondru initiative, than a teacher in 190 School, Berceni)
- going for an awfull graduation exam at Bucharest University as my faculty being a private one needed recognizing from a state one (only me and Oana from Brasov got the guts to take the exam; everyone else waited 1, 2 year until our university received the right to have its own graduation exam)
- graduation exam results: Japanese 10; English 5; Final paper on Enchi Fumiko 9
- start looking for a job related with Japanese other than working for Japan Embassy (no way I could easily get a job there) or a Japanese company as many books about the Japanese salaryman made me aware I cannot possible work as a robot long hours or follow rules without sense (no ofense here!)
- closing my eyes and remember I had so much fun in teaching my baby first words in Japanese (it was fun!!)
- start thinking that being around children is not so difficult because I can tell a lot of stories and I sill have this great pleasure for play
- deciding I would like to teach Japanese from 0 and I would love to transmit my fascination for this language , my passion and everything I knew to someone else
- taking a big step and going to Ion Creanga high school and meet the principal, Ms. Emilia Dorgosan to ask if she knew any other institution I could go as a Japanese teacher and what do I need to do to become a teacher
- being asked if I have a graduation diploma and being hired on the spot as Ion Creanga high school`s Japanese Language teacher (the one they had got a scholarship in Japan)
- getting out, absolutely thrilled: I DID IT!!
- getting chillled all of the sudden because I didn`t know what meant to be a teacher .....

Anyway, got really freaked out!! 怖い！！！

So could you believe that from not knowing how to be a teacher, I evolved to be in the committee creating Japanese Language curriculum, organizing Japanese Cultural Day every year or apearing on TV??

I can`t really believe it myself, but it is there and to be honest I am not convinced is about being a good teacher or a being a specialist in a certain domain, I think is more about having a dream, entering with joy in the classroom, speaking from the bottom of you heart with passion and having a bunch of most terrible pupils, always asking questions and challenging me and most important ALAWAYS THERE to do things together!