NO. 13 - SENSEI (H)

For my final years of high school my parents thought it a good idea to get me some tutors in those "hard" areas. Namely, maths and Japanese. Sensei (H) was my Japanese tutor, and one of the coolest people you have ever met. Mum was a little apprehensive about taking me to my first lesson as she got this guy's info from his friend's advertisement in the local paper. Super dodgy I know, but well worth the risk. Sensei is a Japanese businessman, who at the time was living and working in Australia while his family remained in Japan.

He lived in a mansion of a house in a well off suburb. For years we had driven by this house thinking "oh to check that place out". When we pulled up for my first lesson we didn't realise it was "that" house. So you can imagine we were slightly excited.

Sensei surely didn't need the money from the classes. In fact his friend had put him up to tutoring as a way of keeping him away from spending $$$$ at the casino. He was one of those sharks that you see in the movies.

The classes were fun for both of us. Sensei did his best to teach me the basics of the language, the area that I've always struggled with. He even managed to score a copy of the Japanese curriculum. I learnt a lot about pronunciation and fine tuned my Japanese writing skills.

Our classes came to an end when Sensei went back to Japan. I can't recall but we had him and a couple of guests over to dinner before he left. The cultural experience alone of having known a Japanese businessman is priceless.