Christmas, Break, Plans

So I've been on Christmas break for about a week now.  It feels nice going to sleep and waking up whenever I want.  We had Christmas dinner on Christmas followed by some gaming, PS3 and SNES emulator.  It was fun.  I got to talk to my parents on Skype and open the presents they bought for me.  Technology is really cool.  I can't wait to see just how far it'll get in my lifetime.

Last night my teacher invited me out to eat dinner with her and her husband.  We ate at a place called 福よし (Fukuyoshi) and they treated me to a LOT of really good seafood.  I don't even like seafood that much and it was good to me.  They kept talking about how expensive it was, so I'm guessing they paid around 4,000 yen for it all ($40).  She's a really cool teacher and the husband is a principal at a different school.  They're both planning to retire this March (Shhh!  It's a secret!).  I'll miss her.

Hoping to go down to the volunteer center this next week to see if I can volunteer to do some things in Kesennuma.  It would be really cool to help out the city if I can.  I just bought a Nintendo 64 along with one of the other ALTs.  Played games like Smash Bros., Mario Golf and such.  Brings back memories.  I still haven't decided if I want to stay another year or not.  Sometimes I feel like yes, sometimes I feel like no.  The one big thing is that once I leave here, it's almost certain that I'll never go overseas again to teach.  I've sort of been in and out of that throughout my twenties, and finally would like to start making a life for myself in the states.  Not sure yet.  I wish I could read this blog in 6 months and see what I ended up deciding on.

引退【いんたい】 (intai) retire; (P)

Christmas Party, School Evaluations

Last Friday I held a Christmas party at my apartment.  It was fun.  Everybody brought a dish and we played a quiz game where the top spots got first pickings at the presents everyone had bought for secret santa.  The food was very good and we then moved to Stray Sheep for a bit before packing it up.  We asked if we could bring in some game systems for new years and the owner said yes, so that should be fun if we actually do it!

Yesterday we had school evaluations.  But unlike last year, they didn't let us see our individual grades or read the comments.  We just heard the good things the schools wrote about us and weren't let in on any criticisms.  More or less a waste of time, but nice to know that at least they do say good things about me.

I'm currently trying to play Final Fantasy 13-2 in Japanese.  It's a good way to study.  Just 3 days left until winter break!  Looking forward to Christmas!

冬休み【ふゆやすみ】 (fuyu/yasumi) winter vacation