A new adventure!

It's been over a year since I last posted here, and a lot has changed since then!  Let me update you on some things.

First of all, and most obvious, I am no longer in Japan.  I had to leave when the semester at Kansai Gaidai ended because I was on a student visa.  However, that didn't mean I had to leave Japan the last day of classes. Instead I spent some more time with my host family, traveled to South Korea to visit my American friend Jo who was studying abroad there, and returned to Japan where my family came to visit and tour around for 2 weeks.

THEN I had to leave Japan, and that was a sad day.  As the plane took off, I kept saying 「いってきます、いってきます」 ("Itte-kimasu", traditionally said in Japan when you leave home, literally meaning "I go and come", or "I'm coming back"). That was my promise, that I would one day go back to Japan.

Well, that wish is coming true!  In two weeks I will be returning to Japan to teach English in the public school system to middle and elementary school students. I'm going through a program called the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme, commonly referred to as the JET Programme, or just JET.  It's run by the Japanese government to hire young native speakers of English to teach in rural areas where the students are less likely to come in contact with foreigners.  I'll not only teach them English, but also about my country and culture. I guess you could say I'll be something of an American diplomat without all the formal training. ^_^

And I get to work with kids! I will be working with 3 middle schools and 4 elementary schools. That doesn't mean I visit all 7 schools in one day, but I visit them on a rotating schedule.  I'll spend most of my time at one middle school, teach at the other two less often, and visit the elementary schools 3-4 times a month.

I'll be based with the Board of Education in Katagami City, Akita Prefecture, Japan. For those of you who might not know much about Japan, here's a map showing where I'll be (yay Microsoft Paint!):


I wanted to show you how far I am from where I was before. Osaka is about 7 hours away by Shinkansen (the bullet train), so that means I'm not quite within easy visiting distance of my host family and all the people I met before. A little sad, but this will indeed be a new adventure, with new friends and experiences! The more I learn about Akita, the more I'm really looking forward to being there. I'll share some of that next time, but I think I've kept you reading long enough for now.

Anyways, I hope you'll be reading along!