Yesterday I found myself babysitting a classroom full of 3rd years, while my co-teacher tested their reading ability one-by-one in a separate room next door.

I guess after almost a year of having had me as their ALT, they felt comfortable enough to start asking me more personal questions.  Things like:

“How old are you?”

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Who do you think is the worst teacher at this school?”

And finally,

“Why…do you have band-aids on your feet all the time?”

Good question.  Why do I have band-aids on my feet all the time? I frankly answered, “I’m covering up my tattoos.” Reaction(s):

“WhAAAAAaaaT?!?!??!?!”

“Are you YAkuZa?!?!??!!”

“Are teachers allowed to DO that?!?!??!”

…and other things of that nature.

Since tattoos are uber-taboo in Japan, I purchased every box of Band-Aid Extra Wide Sport Strips on the shelf at my local drugstore before I left for Japan.  They are the perfect size to strategically cover up my visible body ink and while they’re not completely opaque, they’re thick enough to erase any possible evidence of tattooage (see photo below and please forgive/ignore hideous pink Crocs that I must wear indoors at work everyday).

It’s an eyesore and a pain in the butt, but probably less distracting to my coworkers/kids than the actual tattoos themselves.  It also used to be a major waste of band-aids (about 1.5 band-aids—I cut one in half for my right foot—5 days a week for around 50 weeks) until I realized that I don’t have enough to hold me over for the duration of my contract.  I started panicking and shopping around for suitable Japanese band-aids but found none.  So, about two months ago, I got smart and started re-using them (eewww gro00sss she’s reeeeusing baaaand-aaaaids nyah nyah nyah, stop your pitiful whimpering because I’m not reapplying band-aids to open-wounds—I go home, rip them off, wash them, dry them, and reapply the next morning with eyelash glue.  Genie-us!!!).

Anyways, I leave you now with a Korean Grandma Story:

Grandma: “Genie, why don’t you get a tattoo?”

Genie: <Eyes bulge out of skull, am extremely confused and utterly disoriented, then lies> But Grandma, I don’t want any more tattoos…

Grandma: I just think it would be easier on you since you wouldn’t have to draw in your eyebrows anymore.

Genie: <Oh, eyebrow tattoos!!! That makes a lot more sense…whew, Grandma has not gone completely insane…>

*For those of you unfamiliar with this practice, Asian women sometimes opt to get eyeliner or eyebrow tattoos to save them the hassle of putting on makeup every morning.  I am not referring to this:

It’s something more like this:

Have a nice day!