Hey everyone, sorry for the pause in posts again. To say I have been busy for the past couple of weeks is a bit of an understatement. I feel like the past two weeks have passed in a whirlwind of outings, classes, train journeys, cooking experiments.. I have had an amazing time with my boyfriend arriving in Japan, so I'm writing this post now whilst I'm buzzing and feel positive about everything. He got on a plane home this morning and I still feel on cloud nine to have seen him, but I know this will wear off when the evening draws in. I'm already missing the sound of his voice.
I feel.. revived. (Not physically, I may actually have an acute case of tonsillitis, but more about that another time.) I have a renewed determination to do so many things. I want to try harder at school and do better in my classes and make things more interesting and relevant for the students. I want to study Japanese even harder and really get some vocabulary down. These past two weeks I haven't had the safety net of my linguistically gifted American friend to fall back on, so I've had to muddle through for us as best as I could. We managed quite well (I like to think) but I'd like to do better now that I've done okay.
I want to discover more places and learn more about Japanese culture. Unlike many JETs, I'm not all that interested in visiting as many places as possible in a short space of time. I like to visit slightly fewer places and meet more people and learn about specific things. That way, when I see something unusual in Japan, I can truly grasp the meaning behind it instead of having a brief overview. There are so many things about this country that I don't understand.. why were the shrines selling arrows during the New Year holiday? Why does a big carton of orange juice cost the same as a small carton of the same brand? One of my colleagues told me that the food that people eat on New Year's day isn't particularly tasty but each foodstuff has a particular meaning.. but he doesn't know what the meanings are. So what can they be?
My boyfriend gave me a lot of encouragement about my teaching and my Japanese ability whilst he was here, which is one of the main reasons I feel so inspired. The other reason is that last week I signed the recontracting JET papers - with the decision not to renew. In August I will be coming home to the UK, so I feel like I really need to have something to show for it. Not necessarily anything concrete, just a sense of achievement and accomplishment. Almost half a year has already flown by so it won't be long before I'm home again; now I've had this little holiday I'm going to knuckle down and work hard. がんばります!
As for the stuff that I did over the past couple of weeks, you can all expect spurts and bursts of posts. This post is already long enough as it is ^_^ I hope you're all well!
I feel.. revived. (Not physically, I may actually have an acute case of tonsillitis, but more about that another time.) I have a renewed determination to do so many things. I want to try harder at school and do better in my classes and make things more interesting and relevant for the students. I want to study Japanese even harder and really get some vocabulary down. These past two weeks I haven't had the safety net of my linguistically gifted American friend to fall back on, so I've had to muddle through for us as best as I could. We managed quite well (I like to think) but I'd like to do better now that I've done okay.
I want to discover more places and learn more about Japanese culture. Unlike many JETs, I'm not all that interested in visiting as many places as possible in a short space of time. I like to visit slightly fewer places and meet more people and learn about specific things. That way, when I see something unusual in Japan, I can truly grasp the meaning behind it instead of having a brief overview. There are so many things about this country that I don't understand.. why were the shrines selling arrows during the New Year holiday? Why does a big carton of orange juice cost the same as a small carton of the same brand? One of my colleagues told me that the food that people eat on New Year's day isn't particularly tasty but each foodstuff has a particular meaning.. but he doesn't know what the meanings are. So what can they be?
My boyfriend gave me a lot of encouragement about my teaching and my Japanese ability whilst he was here, which is one of the main reasons I feel so inspired. The other reason is that last week I signed the recontracting JET papers - with the decision not to renew. In August I will be coming home to the UK, so I feel like I really need to have something to show for it. Not necessarily anything concrete, just a sense of achievement and accomplishment. Almost half a year has already flown by so it won't be long before I'm home again; now I've had this little holiday I'm going to knuckle down and work hard. がんばります!
As for the stuff that I did over the past couple of weeks, you can all expect spurts and bursts of posts. This post is already long enough as it is ^_^ I hope you're all well!
