What's a Girl To Do?

One small thing that we have noticed in our time here is that there are very different cultural faux pas from Canada. For example, walking down the street and eating are considered by many to be quite rude. Picking your nose as you walk down the street is completely acceptable; however, one of the rudest things you can do here is to blow your nose in public. I recently read in the National Geographic Traveler Guide to Japan that of the three absolute non-nos in Japan, “nose-blowing is so frowned upon that you should try to sniff and dab discreetly with a handkerchief until you can retire and blow your nose in private.” Until now, this cultural taboo has been only a minor annoyance. Many times, students in class will sniffle the entire 40 minutes, and I would just like to tell them (very kindly of course), “it’s okay, go ahead and blow your nose….really!” But, yesterday morning, I woke up, feeling rather miserable and with my nose completely stuffed up. I have a little pile of Kleenex beside me as I am writing this. Yesterday, in one of my lessons, I had to pause the lesson three times to ask for a Kleenex, because I had left mine in the staff room. All that to say, it’s been a bit of a challenge going into classes and trying to maintain a “professional” appearance when all you are doing is sniffing and dabbing and wanting more than anything to blow your nose!