Interview with Diana Crawford
What's your name?
Diana Crawford
Where are you from?
New Zealand.
The place where I grew up is called Cannington and it is a small farming community near Timaru.
What are your hobbies?
Playing volleyball, going walking and reading books.
What schools do you teach at in Kanoya?
I teach at Kanoya Higashi junior high, Tasaki junior high, both Takasu junior high and Takasu elementary school as well as Kasanohara elementary, Kotobuki elementary, Kotobuki Kita elementary and Hamada elementary school.
What are some of the differences between Japan and your home country?
The number of people and therefore the lack of open space here in Japan, and the size of the roads - they are much wider back home.
The difference in working hours, most people in NZ work 8.30 - 5 and then go home almost as soon as work finishes, very different to here.
The method of cooking, I miss having an oven!
What surprised you most about Kanoya when you arrived here?
The fact that this is a "city" of 105,000 people yet I have a field out the back of my house, so looking out of my window you would think that I lived in the country or a small town.
Also the temperature of the sea water in summer, it was hot!
Tell us about your favourite shop/ restaurant/ place /area in Kanoya.
I love the area out around Hamada beach, it is so beautiful and I am so happy I have schools out there.
I also really like the Kirishimagaoka Park area and the view from there.
One of my favourite restaurants is the small restaurant Bondo across the road from the City Hall, they have the best set menus and they are so reasonable. The chicken katsu is really yummy but so big!
Tell us something about yourself that the people of Kanoya mightn't know.
Well I grew up on a farm and then went to boarding school when I was 12 so, I effectively moved out of home when I was 12.
I guess that is kind of interesting.
Is there anything that you would like to achieve/ learn while you are here in Kanoya?
I want to learn how to cook a whole range of Japanese food as it is all so delicious.
Nathan’s Comments:
I’m really glad we have Diana working here in Kanoya as an ALT.
Not only because she is one of the hardest working ALTs in the city, but also because she is our only Kiwi ALT.
There are not that many Kiwis in Japan (let alone Kagoshima) so I hope Diana has the chance to teach everyone here in Kanoya about New Zealand’s culture as well as giving them all strong Kiwi accents.