Graduation Trip

I recently finished my degree in finance and didn't know when I'd be able to get back over to Japan and Kesennuma, so I figured now, when I didn't have a job or any other obligations, would be the best time.

Giovanni was supposed to go with me but his job got busy and he couldn't go unfortunately.  I went from October 13th, 2016 to October 31st.

I stayed in Tokyo, in Akihabara for about 5 days at a place called First Cabin Akihabara.  Really nice capsule hotel actually with space to stand up in.  I got to see Keisuke who actually loaned me his pocket wifi which was super helpful.  I saw Atsushi who took me around to Tokyo Tower and paid for a rickshaw (人力車) which was really fun, and we also went to eat monjayaki (もんじゃ焼き) which looks like puke but it's pretty good actually.  I met up with Ami and we saw the new Godzilla movie.  It was ok, not bad.  I got to see Matsushita Machiko also.  We went out for steak and since she was staying at the same hotel I was, we were able to just go to the Tsukiji fish market the morning after.

I went to Kesennuma after that and saw Sakurai sensei, who gave me the rest of my pension money along with my hanko.  Then I headed to Anchor Coffee where I saw Chuyan and met Dylan, one of the new ALTs.  Jonathan King, another new ALT, showed up soon after.

I stayed at Acomo Inn, which was a temporary hotel near Niitsuki for most of the trip.  I borrowed their bike every day and went around, eating at Yatai Mura and a bunch of other places.  I eventually met the rest of the ALTs at Uotami and other places.  We went to karaoke and Sen (my successor's successor) let me stay at his place for the last two days since I had already paid for the hotel for most of the other days.  I met Laura at Anchor Coffee Mother Port during the English Cafe they have every Saturday, and I trolled her by letting her believe I was Japanese, that was fun.  Aya came and had a blast watching me troll the group as well.

I got to see Megumi who seems to be doing well and has a job now.  I didn't get to see Hiroe or Satoko as neither of them were in Japan at the time.  Onodera Miu, a former student, came down from her juku to see me at Anchor which was super sweet of her.  She said as a 3rd year high school student she goes to school then juku, then studies until 3 am, then wakes up at 6 am to do it all over again.  Absolutely crazy schedule.

Hisana, Rine and Hazuki met up with me at Sakura Bowl.  They looked to be in high spirits and I was happy I could see them again.  Too bad Mahiro couldn't make it.

The Yatai Mura is going to disappear in March, so I was glad I could get back before that happened.  Went to Stray Sheep and saw Rina and Maki (different times), and made it to Katsuko and Dejikonju.

I ended up getting a finger infection in Tokyo, and an ear infection.  Fun times.

Miyuki, Muzafar's ex-wife, had a Halloween party thing for kids where she just made the ALTs figure out what to do for the 1st half of it.  It was pretty irresponsible and I made a joke earlier about the ALTs being used as free labor, but after that I felt like that's exactly what she was doing.  It went ok though.

I was able to get to Niitsuki and see Junichi and Chie sensei.  I wanted to go back again on Saturday but got caught up in lunch, but I was able to see Dai again, who is now teaching in Karakuwa with Rebecca, so that was good.

I went to Jonan's Bunkasai where I was able to see Kikuta Miu and Suto China.  China actually skipped out on her high school club activities to come see me, which was super humbling.  That night Sen and I went to Coco's, Rebecca showed up also before we went to Dylan's and played Fibbage until it was time to go to the bus stop.  The trip was super good and I wish I could have stayed a little longer, but now on to real life!

Rereading my last post, I forgot to mention that Yumiko got a favorable position in the Sendai speech contest and was able to go to nationals in Tokyo!  She didn't win there, but I'm so proud and wish I could have seen her speech!

Update, Speech Contest Results

Update
It's been around a month and a half since I got home.  For a good part of that time I've just been lazying around home, not doing all that much.  Felt pretty good actually to just take some time and do a whole lot of nothing.  Currently I've gone back to work for Reside Residential, and will be working graveyard somewhere up in Washington most likely.  I've also started taking prerequisite classes for nursing.  I only need two more classes, so I'm just taking one class at a time right now.  Will be applying to schools in the winter sometime.  I'm also still trying to get some start-up businesses up and running, so we'll see how that goes.

Speech Contest Results
I learned that Yumiko at Jonan got 1st place in the composition speech contest and that Riko at Niitsuki got 2nd.  I'm really proud of those girls and I could tell that Yumiko had the ability to get 1st place.  I'm excited to hear about how they do at prefectionals in Sendai.  I really wish I could go with them and coach them right now.  Should have stayed a 4th year!  The other two girls did well with the recitation parts, but didn't place apparently.

優勝【ゆうしょう】 (yuushou) overall victory; championship

Thoughts on Driving in Japan

This is just slightly old, and I posted it on Facebook but thought I'd do it here as well.  Driving in Japan is frustrating.  I imagine it's frustrating no matter where you go but each place has different reasons it's frustrating.  The majority of thoughts I have on driving are frustrations but there are a few good points.

1. Please turn... please turn... please turn... YES!!!  Finally!!! *2 minutes later* Please turn... please turn...

2. I'm going to pass this bicyclist... if he ever gets off to the side far enough so I can.

3. Why are people obeying the speed limit?!  It'd be faster to walk than obey these things.

4. That was a close one!  I haven't had someone suddenly turn in front of me since maybe... yesterday!

5. Should I just hit the gas and go through or should I stop?  Well, I guess I'm still going.  Yeah that was pretty red, I should have stopped actually.  *Looks in rear view mirror to see 3 cars followed me through*

5. Did that woman just turn off her car at the red light, then start it again when the light turned green??

6. Japanese joke: Calling THIS a two-way street.  There's barely room for a bus.

7. Turn signal BEFORE brakes, please.

8. Good thing my shaken (car inspection) is so expensive this year!

9. I'm paying to sit in a traffic jam on this toll road for SOME reason, I'm sure.

10. The magic of hazard lights are amazing.  They allow you to park anywhere, even in the middle of a busy street!

11. Nice roads.  So that's why the tolls are so expensive.

12. Sensors on traffic lights sure would be nice.

13. Does that guy not see the irony of pimping out a yellow-plate car?

14. Backing up is the only way you've ever parked in your life and it still takes you 3 tries?  Wait, one more time.  You're 2 centimeters off the middle.

15. I completely agree with the mother in the car in front me!  Your kid doesn't need a seatbelt!

16. Striped white line on this curvy road, solid yellow line on the road with vision for miles.  Makes sense.

17. Slower than a snail in the single lane roads, faster than a Ferrari when there's a passing lane (reminds me of home).

18. Wow people are actually willing to stop their lane on the opposite side to allow me to turn, and even give me a signal (flashing lights) to make it clear!  This does NOT remind me of home!

19. How to pull out into a busy intersection: Creep forward ever so slightly every few seconds until you are sticking out in the road, forcing people to stop to let you in.  Forget to blink your hazard lights twice to say thank you.

20. Is this guy gonna complete his turn before Christmas?

21. It's probably a waste of money to have 3 guys standing almost within arm's length telling me to go the obvious direction in this construction zone.

22. Why are all the "Baby in car" signs written in English?  I know how hard you studied in middle school and I don't know if you can read that!

23. Cop cars back home tried to hide.  Here, they try to stick out like a sore thumb.  I actually do like this better.

運転【うんてん】 (unten) driving

Sayonara Japan!

I'm sitting here in the airport, about 15 minutes before boarding starts on my flight.  Of course, the feelings of wishing I could stay longer are extremely strong right now.  But this is how it's supposed to be.  These feelings of not wanting to leave the place I called home for 3 years is proof of how much I loved Japan, loved Kesennuma, and how much I loved all the people I met there.

It's almost unreal to think about going home.  It's not the first time I've done this whole process, but the bonds I made this time are much stronger than the ones I made the previous times.  What I'm not looking forward to is the moment when I'm back in my room and the entire trip to Japan feels like one big dream.  I hate that part.  Also not looking forward to learning how to drive on the right side of the road again!

I thought about ending my blog soon after I got home, but I noticed the title of this blog, and I think I'm going to continue writing in it.  I'll write about the reverse culture shock I experience, the impacts Japan will ultimately have on me, and of course, the time I end up coming back here, because I most definitely will.  Speaking of which, I need to write a list of places to visit when I come back, because I imagine it'll be many years before I'm able to.  My guess (because I like doing that) is that I'll be back in 5 years when the Olympics are being held... or maybe 4 years.  Tickets during the Olympics will probably be through the roof.

This is the last post officially from my journey in Japan.  I'm about to board now, so with this, I'll say thank you Japan, for everything.  Thank you Kesennuma for allowing me the opportunity to call you home for 3 years.  Thank you to the people, the teachers, and the students who watched over me for 3 years.  It has been an incredible journey that not everyone will get the chance to experience.  I will never forget any of you!  I love you all!  SAYONARA!!!

さようなら (sayounara) good-bye

Minato Matsuri, Feelings of Leaving

It's 2 am as I write this.  Minato Matsuri, a 2-day summer festival with street dancing the 1st and fireworks and taiko (Japanese drums) the next, just wrapped up.

The festival was fun.  I got to dance with my students and see a lot of them that I'll likely never see again.  I went to Jonan before the thing started to record a video for the kids who are doing the speech contest, and the teacher will show it to the kids before the speech.  I hope they are happy and it inspires them!  I really want them to do good and I can't wait to see the video of them!  Ok end tangent.

The second day of the festival was taiko and fireworks right outside my apartment.  I saw more of my kids and got to take a lot of pictures with them.  It's hard to leave them.  One of the speech contest kids said she didn't want to be friends with the new ALT, that she preferred me.  I don't know if she was joking or not but she didn't seem to be.  I felt bad for the new ALT but I was happy that she was sad I was leaving.  She also wanted a woman but, too bad!  She said men were hard to talk to, and when I whined about that, she said I was ok because I wasn't a man.  Damn kids.

It's not the first time I've been in this situation, but the feelings don't get any easier.  It's weird being in places and seeing people for what I know will be the last time ever in my life.  It's almost like I can feel a part of me dying.  It's painful.  But it's good in that, those sad feelings are the validation that this journey was meaningful in a good way to my life.  I'm incredibly lucky to come on this program that not everyone can come on, and I'm so thankful for the opportunity.  Anyway, got to get back to packing.  Kuroneko is coming tomorrow!  I leave Kesennuma on Tuesday and Japan on Wednesday!  Here I come Oregon!

そろそろ (soro/soro) soon; momentarily; before long

Regret

One of my English teachers cried before we said goodbye for the last time today at a goodbye party.  It was then that I knew I had messed up.  One of these days I will make the right decision when it comes to women.  It won't be today.

Edit: Well, maybe I didn't make a mistake after all.  I never received a reply for one last meeting even though the message was read.  Whew!

やってもうた (expression) (yatte mouta) oops!

End of School, Goodbye Parties, Speech Practice, Getting Ready to Go Home

School has ended.  I've taught my last class I'll likely ever teach as an ALT.  I had to give goodbye speeches in front of all my schools and they presented me with flowers and goodbye gifts.  It was nice, but I'm glad it's over, I hate giving those goodbye speeches.  I also received a lot of those cards where everyone writes goodbye to you on those big cardboard things.  I'm going to miss all my students and teachers.  I had one student cry.  Secretly, that is what I wished for and I would have been really sad if I didn't get that.  Thank you for all the great memories, it has been fun!

Even though I'll have had two weeks to do things, I'm super busy and haven't had time to do everything I wanted.  I'm trying to fit in a bunch of goodbye parties in between trying to clean, it's a hard deal.  I've met a lot of awesome people over the 3 years I've been here.  It's hard to say goodbye to them, especially when I think about how everyone has moved on quite a bit back home.

I'm done with school but still going in for speech practice.  I've got one student who I'm hopeful for, she's got really good English.  She's writing about her grandparents' cooking soy boiled food.  Hope the new ALT can lead her to prefecturals because she definitely has the talent!

We've had a few meetings at the BOE on getting ready to go home, said our goodbyes there, and just today they came to pick up our trash.  They said they were going to the dump, but they were really going to the garbage/recycle place.  I didn't put my trash in bags so we all had to help do it before loading it onto the truck.  More lost in translation!  I'm going home on the 6th.  Going to Tokyo on the 4th after Minato Matsuri to hopefully meet some people, then Oregon awaits!

It's been a long journey.  Can't believe it's all coming to an end.

送別会【そうべつかい】 (sou/betsu/kai) farewell party