Japan and Zombie Jesus, 2005, by Paul Scobie

From MemoryArchive

Who: Paul Scobie, Sato sensei, Shiho, Erika, and Kurumi
What: High school English club discussion
When: November 2005
Where: Kitakyushu Japan

I came to Kitakyushu Japan in July 2005 as an assistant language teacher (ALT) with the JET programme. I had just graduated university with a bachelor of commerce and a minor in economics, and was looking for some new and exciting experiences. Japan seemed new and exciting, not to mention over 10,000 km away from home. In Kitakyushu, I taught at three high schools; Moji Shogyou (commercial school) Moji Daishokan (academic school) and Dairi (academic school). By far, my favorite school to teach at was Moji Shogyou. The students were much more relaxed and easy going than those at my other schools, and really made an effort to try to get to know me. On the downside, the students’ English levels were much lower, which is quite normal for commercial high schools in Japan. The ALT who had been teaching at Moji Shogyou before me had started an English club after school, and upon arriving, I was expected to continue planning and running it. The club was comprised of 3 third year students: Shiho, Kurumi and Erika, Sato sensei, a business teacher who was interested in improving her English skills and myself. We met every Thursday and Friday after school for an hour or so. The first few meetings went by rather smoothly; we introduced ourselves, I talked about Canada, they talked about Japan, we played English games, and practiced pronunciation.

As time went on, I began to run out of ideas for activities to do. So, it wouldn’t be uncommon to just talk about current events, sports or anything that was on the students’ minds at the time. During one session in November, Sato sensei told me that she heard an unfamiliar English expression on TV and hoped that I could explain it to her. I said "no problem, what was the expression?" She said "Jesus Christ!” I told her that people often said it when expressing frustration or anger; which explained a little. However, she wanted to know more about Jesus Christ the person, Himself. Oh boy, I thought, how am I going to explain the son of God when they barely understand English, and I barley understand Japanese? Well, it was difficult, but we got through a lot. Diagrams worked surprisingly well when language failed. As time was beginning to fade, I thought I had better explain some of the big events in his life; and what bigger than his resurrection. I talked and drawed, drawed and talked. Jesus died and was buried, but, after a few days, he rose from the dead (no reaction). He was born again (they don’t understand). He came back from the dead. At this point, Sato sensei gasps, her eyes wide and says, " You mean... like a zombie?" At that point, I remember thinking how far I really was from home; how someone might confuse Jesus with a zombie, and above all, how absolutely hilarious it was. I had a good laugh, and told her, it wasn’t quite like that. But I don’t think I was really able to explain it to her; at least not in any meaningful way. I've had some great moments and memories from my time spent in Japan, but Jesus the zombie will always be one of my favorites.