Teaching Spanish in Japan (in English, of course)

One month ago when my friend, Takako, asked me to teach a beginner's Spanish language course, my response was excitement. My eyes grew hazy as I remembered shaking my hips to Latin beats at Salsero Mayor, meeting my friends to botellon in Plaza Nueva, taking a siesta every afternoon and drinking a bottle of wine with my bartender-friend, Juan Jesus, every night. "I love everything Spanish!" I thought.

"I love everything Spanish!" I said.

"Good," Takako replied. "Classes start on May 14th. We'd like you to teach the entire course in Spanish."

Reality quickly fast-forwarded four years to the present day. I am living in Japan, speaking Japanese, and I haven't studied Spanish since my final test at the Universidad de Granada. When I search for a word, it's like reaching into a bag of languages and pulling out whatever is nearest to the top - How do I ask the time? Emne caat? No, that's not right. Nan ji desu ka? No, that's not it either. My Spanish is rusty, to say the least, and I'm beginning to feel sadly as though it was never very good to begin with.

Now, when driving to class, I find myself chanting, "I love everything Spanish. I love everything Spanish. I love everything Spanish." To bolster my sense of well-being, I conjure images of elderly Spaniards playing bocce ball in El Parque de Lorca as I run laps around the perimeter. I block out the memories of random men exposing themselves from park benches.

Before I drown in this bath of self-pity that I've drawn for myself, I will look at the upside. What better way to refresh my passion for Spanish than to teach it to others? Taking on this class has really inspired me to pursue a higher level of language ability. The first step is going back to Spain - I'm convinced that some cultural immersion will force all of those Spanish words back to the top of my brain. Also, the daily siestas, bottles of wine, and salsa dances will help me to remember that, really, I love everything Spanish.