Dodging Homework
I should be doing homework but instead I thought "You know what I haven't posted on lately? Livejournal. Let's do that instead."
It looks like it's been almost two years since I posted here. My last post had been about me moving to Ibaraki-shi. Ibaraki-shi is about halfway between Kyoto and Osaka. I would have really enjoyed it if I'd moved there first but as that year went on I began to realize I had made a mistake in moving there from Toyama. It hadn't made me any happier (not that I wasn't happy in Toyama, it just didn't make me MORE happy) and at the end of the day I realized that I was still doing the same-old, same-old. I met some great new people and I'm glad I met them but it just wasn't worth the move or delaying anything for that year. I don't hate that I moved there for my last year, I just don't feel it was all I had hoped it would be.
So, in April of 2017, I moved back to the US. The entire point of me moving out to Japan had always been to see if I wanted to be a teacher. Yes, the Takarazuka was fun, yes I enjoyed being able to see friends I normally wouldn't have gotten to see as much, yes, it was a great way to learn Japanese, but always the end goal was to answer the questions 1. Can I teach and 2. Do I want to teach?
I had made a plan that I would only remain out there long enough to answer those questions and then I'd be returning to the US to either return to being a geologist or make the switch to science teacher.
Fortunately it turned out that not only was I good at teaching, I enjoy it immensely. So with that knowledge in hand I came back here and started looking into the quickest, least convoluted way of getting my teaching certificate. I decided to apply to graduate school since there were programs I could complete in three semesters (so 1 year programs if you count summer) and I'd leave with both a master's degree and a teaching certificate. It's not the cheapest way to go about this but it'll do.
I'm mostly enjoying my classes. 95% of them are online with 1 class taking place inside a local public school (basically an observation/internship) and 1 night class I have to drive into the university for (so I guess it's only 70% online ...). In order to graduate in 3 semesters I need to max out at 18 credits which can be rough at times but it's doable. I'm pretty shocked at all the people acting like 18 credits a semester is insane. It sounds like 9 - 12 has become the new norm, which to me seems nuts. I mean, why wouldn't you want to get the heck out as quickly as possible to save yourself money? College in the US costs an arm and a leg. Even as an undergrad I was maxing out at 18.
In addition to getting my main degree, I discovered I could use my elective courses to persue an English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) add on. I don't have a great passion for it but I figured it would be a shame to not build on what I'd been doing for the last 4 years and it is an important program that needs to be supported in our schools.
Anyway, that's pretty much what I've been up to in the last two years. Had a hell of a time getting all of my stuff shipped back from Japan (and tried not too think too hard about how much all the stuff I had to throw out cost). I may have choked up a bit when it came time to lug the kotatsu to the trash pile. It served me well for four years *sniffles*. I got a PS4 as a gift so I've been catching up on all the games I've missed over the last couple of years. I've also been catching up on all the Marvel movies (though I was binge watching them on the 14 hour plane rides over the Pacific). It's probably no surprise to anyone that the Thor ones are my favorite, though to be fair all of them are pretty good. Haven't had a chance to see Black Panther yet since I've been slammed with papers due to mid-terms but next week is Spring Break so I'll probably go see it then. I've heard it's really good so I'm looking forward to it.
Hope you all are doing well! I know no one posts here anymore but best of luck in all you guys are doing now!
It looks like it's been almost two years since I posted here. My last post had been about me moving to Ibaraki-shi. Ibaraki-shi is about halfway between Kyoto and Osaka. I would have really enjoyed it if I'd moved there first but as that year went on I began to realize I had made a mistake in moving there from Toyama. It hadn't made me any happier (not that I wasn't happy in Toyama, it just didn't make me MORE happy) and at the end of the day I realized that I was still doing the same-old, same-old. I met some great new people and I'm glad I met them but it just wasn't worth the move or delaying anything for that year. I don't hate that I moved there for my last year, I just don't feel it was all I had hoped it would be.
So, in April of 2017, I moved back to the US. The entire point of me moving out to Japan had always been to see if I wanted to be a teacher. Yes, the Takarazuka was fun, yes I enjoyed being able to see friends I normally wouldn't have gotten to see as much, yes, it was a great way to learn Japanese, but always the end goal was to answer the questions 1. Can I teach and 2. Do I want to teach?
I had made a plan that I would only remain out there long enough to answer those questions and then I'd be returning to the US to either return to being a geologist or make the switch to science teacher.
Fortunately it turned out that not only was I good at teaching, I enjoy it immensely. So with that knowledge in hand I came back here and started looking into the quickest, least convoluted way of getting my teaching certificate. I decided to apply to graduate school since there were programs I could complete in three semesters (so 1 year programs if you count summer) and I'd leave with both a master's degree and a teaching certificate. It's not the cheapest way to go about this but it'll do.
I'm mostly enjoying my classes. 95% of them are online with 1 class taking place inside a local public school (basically an observation/internship) and 1 night class I have to drive into the university for (so I guess it's only 70% online ...). In order to graduate in 3 semesters I need to max out at 18 credits which can be rough at times but it's doable. I'm pretty shocked at all the people acting like 18 credits a semester is insane. It sounds like 9 - 12 has become the new norm, which to me seems nuts. I mean, why wouldn't you want to get the heck out as quickly as possible to save yourself money? College in the US costs an arm and a leg. Even as an undergrad I was maxing out at 18.
In addition to getting my main degree, I discovered I could use my elective courses to persue an English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) add on. I don't have a great passion for it but I figured it would be a shame to not build on what I'd been doing for the last 4 years and it is an important program that needs to be supported in our schools.
Anyway, that's pretty much what I've been up to in the last two years. Had a hell of a time getting all of my stuff shipped back from Japan (and tried not too think too hard about how much all the stuff I had to throw out cost). I may have choked up a bit when it came time to lug the kotatsu to the trash pile. It served me well for four years *sniffles*. I got a PS4 as a gift so I've been catching up on all the games I've missed over the last couple of years. I've also been catching up on all the Marvel movies (though I was binge watching them on the 14 hour plane rides over the Pacific). It's probably no surprise to anyone that the Thor ones are my favorite, though to be fair all of them are pretty good. Haven't had a chance to see Black Panther yet since I've been slammed with papers due to mid-terms but next week is Spring Break so I'll probably go see it then. I've heard it's really good so I'm looking forward to it.
Hope you all are doing well! I know no one posts here anymore but best of luck in all you guys are doing now!