Mr. Russell: the Science Teacher of Our School

This interview was written by Uran O.

“I didn’t want to live in just one country for my whole life. The world is a big place and there are interesting places. You can go on a holiday, but it’s not the same as living there, and I wanted to have an experience of people and culture in other places in the world.

“I chose Japan because I like Japanese things like Nintendo, movies, and books that have Japanese influence and culture. I think the Japanese language is hard and interesting. I had learnt German and French at school but European languages are all similar, and I was curious about a whole different language. I still haven’t learned Japanese. I thought 6 months was enough and I would be done, but it’s been 5 years now, and I still only have learned basic Japanese.

His philosophy:

“I try not to have regrets. Lots of things happen and you can make bad choices, but that’s okay. No one can make perfect choices. It’s natural to sometimes fail. Sometimes we make a bad choice, but it’s important that we learn from that and not just regret it. That’s my philosophy.

“I could say, I regret that I didn’t study more. At university, I wanted to become a computer programmer or scientist, but I failed in my degree, so I couldn’t do that, which is why I decided to become a teacher. I came to Japan to teach and I’m happy here! So do I regret that? I don’t know.”