Saturday September 29, 12:34 p.m.
Well, I've had Mr. Moriya for the better part of a year as a Skype student. Now, another former student may be coming back into my depleted flock. Swank (a nickname I gave her since she looks somewhat like Hilary Swank the actress) has contacted me after several months to see if I could help her again with her written English. Apparently, it looks like she's back on the Eiken wagon again. Eiken is the Japanese abbreviation for the English Proficiency Examination back there which is one of the pillars academically and professionally for how good one is in the world's lingua franca.
I don't think she'll become a Skyper since this is all about the written stuff, and besides, considering my current Internet package with Rogers, I don't think my bandwidth could suffer another regular student through Skype. However, she'll probably be thinking about having me proofread her stuff regularly, and she was quite adamant about making sure I get paid. Hey, no complaints from this teacher. Plus, I've got the structure for any of that processing down pat thanks to Mr. Moriya. So, I'll be doing some light work today after all.
I used to teach Swank first at a nice cafe in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo for a few years before the gigs switched over to the local library near her home. I also taught her husband, the president of a company in Shinjuku for a year or so. Both of them are the nicest Japanese Trekkies one could meet. And the fact that Mr. Swank also likes kayo kyoku meant some classes went by without a single stitch of meaningful English grammar getting perused. Man, what I got away with at times!
