Welcome Back

Wow, I can't believe I've been living in Japan for a year and a half already! Let's get in an update, shall we?

I am now an assistant language teacher in Kagawa Prefecture. I am based at my city's Board of Education and I have a very, very busy schedule. Four days I week I assist Japanese teachers of English at one of three junior high schools. I rotate between schools every two to three weeks. On Thursdays, I teach classes at one of ten elementary schools or one of ten kindergartens. Sometimes two. I also teach an hour-long adult English language class on Wednesday evenings. In addition to those duties, I also give lectures, seminars, and arrange English-related community activities.

I live in a city that is really just five country towns going under a united name and government. I happen to live in one of the smaller towns on the coast of the Inland Sea. This, of course, has its good points and its bad points. On the one hand, people are very generous and helpful here, I get to have many experiences I wouldn't have had were I based in a city (such as farming potatoes), the view is better, and my living space is much bigger than it would be for the same price in the city. However, I am more likely to be stared at out here, there is absolutely no shopping in the area, and it's a little difficult to go many places without a car (which I don't have).

The last time I lived in Japan I joined the kendo club at the university I was attending. This time I decided to start taking koto lessons. The koto is a Japanese harp that is about 6 feet long, low built, with 13 strings, and is of Chinese origin. It is often accompanied by the shakuhachi, or the Japanese wooden flute. In addition to, and because of, this I have also learned how to dress myself in kimono and yukata. But I'll go more into that later.

Today, you find me in the middle of winter. And it's COLD. We've actually had snow flurries over the past several days. I really feel bad for the public school students here, though. Unfortunately, the junior high schools do not have central air conditioning/heating, nor do they use heaters. As a result the classrooms are literally freezing. And the students aren't allowed to wear anything over their uniforms (which for the girls is a skirt)! It's almost as equally bad in the hot and humid summer, when they only have oscillating fans in use.

As for travelling, I haven't gotten much in since moving here. I hadn't left Japan until a year and 5 months after arriving. But going home for Christmas and New Years was nice. It was nice to see everybody again and get some new clothes. However I am planning a trip to Thailand during Golden Week (spring break) this year. I am very much looking forward to relaxing on the beach. I am also planning a four-week-long trip to India for spring next year, about which I am extremely excited.