It has been ONE YEAR
One Year! I have been living in Japan for one year. I do not know what to say to that. On one hand, the time had gone by so fast and on the other hand, it feels like I have been here for ten years. I think I have adjusted pretty well for living in a foreign country; I have made some wonderful friends, I have a job that I really enjoy, and I am able to shop, drive, and function on my own.
I am slowly starting to branch out and meet new people. I am hoping to meet the new Ami Chu ALT by the end of this month and I have met a wonderful Korean girl named Kim who I am going to be teaching English too. Of course, there are the interTalk (Yomo’s new name) ALTs who I hang out with a lot. We just got two new ALTs named Katie and Brooke. Katie is from Superior, we had a couple of classes together at the university, and Brooke is from New Zealand. They both seem awesome and I am looking forward to getting to know them more.
At this time last year; I was sitting at my desk at Ami Chu and I was scared out of my mind. I had no idea how to teach English, no idea how to go to the post office, order food at a restaurant, and how to drive. I was stuck riding a bike and relying on people for rides. I was a bit homesick, I was nervous about making friends with the other ALTs, and I was worried about getting along with my co-workers. The terms typhoon, rainy season, and earthquake scared the crap out of me, also.
It is amazing how much can change in a year. I now consider Japan to be my home; I am planning to stay another year at least, I have amazing friends. I can get around and do what I would normally do back in the United States. I love the students I work with, the teachers that I work, the ALTs, the staff at interTalk, and I am now used to the earthquakes, typhoons, and the rainy season.
The only thing that I do need to work on is that I really need to buckle down and start studying Japanese. I am talking studying for at least two hours a work four days a week and finding someone to practice speaking with at least once a week if not more. That is what I need to work on; speaking Japanese. I understand a lot of what is being said…well, at least I understand the subject but I still have problems with the words forming in my brain and coming out of my mouth. Well, I am going to start speaking…even if I end up talking to myself in my apartment or to my Genki 1 CDs.
(Ok, someone made coffee…I smell it…this means I must get some coffee.)
I now have my coffee and I am set to start the next part of my post.
As I stated today was the first day of school; there were no classes but all of the students and teachers came today for the opening ceremony. It was great to be back and I really do mean that. It was nice to get to the school and have the head teacher greet me with a smile and a thumbs up as I drove to the teachers parking lot and it was nice to get to my desk where a hot cup of green tea was waiting for me.
I had a wonderful conversation with Maemura Sensei about our summer vacations and what we did during them. She went rafting after a typhoon and the water was really wild. I cannot wait to see her pictures. I also talked to the head second year teacher during lunch and we had a great conversion about the difference between Japanese and American rice. There is a difference and trust me, Japanese rice is so much better. I realized during lunch today that I really did miss rice while I was back in the States and the wonderful green tea that my school serves. I am glad to back so that I can get my fill of those again.
I also saw my two Stooges today. My Stooges are two third year boys who are in my elective conversation class. Their goal is to make my hair turn gray before the year is out. They stopped by after the opening ceremony to say hello to me.
My desk right now is filled with goodies from all of the trips that the teachers went on. I have a couple of small cakes, some seaweed wraps, and a nice package of fresh blueberries. I cannot wait to start eating.
Next week there are no classes because the students are going to be practicing for the sports festival, which is taking place on the 9th. I am looking forward to seeing how the sports festival is different from the one at Ami Chu. The students appear to be excited about the festival and are looking forward to starting practice on Monday. The teachers also seem to be looking forward to it…it gives them a chance to escape the correcting of summer homework.