MIyagi Gakuin University

This is the campus of Miyagi Gakuin University as seen from the no-smoking room for part-time teachers. This is a Christian Women's university, which would seem to disqualify me from all directions. I teach in the English Department - Business English, Listening, and Conversation - and in the English Graduate program (Academic Writing one year and English Communication the next).

The university is quite old as can be seen from the classrooms.
I teach Business English in the above classroom. It is hot in the summer and cold in the winter, although they finally started the heat on the first of December. Last year they did a lot of construction, reinforcing the buildings so that they will withstand the big earthquake that is coming within the next 30 years or so. One interesting thing to notice is the floor. It is made of wood tiles, quite different from the floor at Tohoku University.
This final picture shows my Conversation classroom. I teach second year students and they are quite good. They spend most of the class time talking in small groups, activating the English that they have learned in other classes. Classes here are probably the most enjoyable that I have.