On my first day the owner said my job was to become friends with the agents 🐧

There was a time when I worked as the Japanese manager at a language school in Clark, in the Philippines.

On my first day, the owner told me: "Aki, your job is to become friends with the study abroad agents." That was the whole explanation.

Part of my job was managing lessons, like telling a teacher to give a certain student a certain kind of class. But it was not only that. Dealing with the cleaning staff and the maintenance staff, and with the real estate company that managed the dorm, was part of the job too.

The biggest part of the job was answering questions from study abroad agents in Japan, like "please introduce the school to us" or "can you accept this kind of student from this date?"

It was so much fun, and it was a time I am full of gratitude for.