Fun in February

I had a long week at Elementary schools last week. Only one more visit next month to each Elementary school and I won't see them any more. I am really going to miss some of my schools, especially the 1st and 2nd grade students below!

Some of my students are obsessed with my brother. They think he is very famous. This is from one of the students who received a signed copy of my brother's modeling photo when he sent him a Christmas card. He also did a pen pal activity with my brother during the summer.











They have milk every day and they saved all of their milk cartons and taped them together to make a house. They are inside it in this picture!

This is my attempt at omurice, a popular dish in Japan. It's just chicken fried rice with ketchup and an omelet on top with more ketchup. It's kind of like Japan's grilled cheese sandwich, or so I have heard.

More Japan Stuff

I recently went to a new Elementary school for one day for some sort of an international special event. There were other foreigners there as well, including my co-worker Nicole and a guy from Nigeria and Cuba as well as a girl from China and Russia. We each taught a class with a different grade level of students. I had 5th grade and we had a lot of fun. I ended up making the paper somehow, and all of my teachers have been giving me copies of the paper with my picture in it.

I went to Tokyo this past weekend to move my first load of things. It was quite a hassle and I don't know how I have accumulated so many things in only one year!

When I returned to Furukawa Monday morning for school, my car's heater would not work. I figure it's only a matter of time before ol' Roger stops working altogether, considering he sounds like a box full of wrenches falling down a flight of stairs when I drive him. Oh well, only one more month to go before I can be rid of him forever.
This week at Elementary school they taught me how to make origami and then one of my students made me a cute little piece of origami art!

Moving to Tokyo

For the past month and a half, I have been applying to jobs in the Tokyo area. I was hoping to get a job in the city, but I was willing to work on the outskirts or as near as I could get because I knew that it's difficult to find a job in Tokyo, due to it being the most competitive area for English teaching jobs. I think I probably applied to every position in the Kanto area that I qualified for, and maybe some that I didn't. My current company told me that they only had part-time positions in Tokyo. Most of the jobs I applied for were ALT (assistant language teacher) positions like the one I have now. However, there were a couple of Kindergarten positions as well, where I would be the primary teacher. I heard back from several companies, but my interview with one Kindergarten company went really well and, after the second interview, they offered me a position as a Kindergarten teacher in Tokyo. The starting date for my new job cuts into my current contract by three days, but my school is going to work with me to set aside an early farewell, after which I will drive my car (if it makes it) back to my company in Mito, which is about a 4 hour drive, and say goodbye to the most embarrassing vehicle I have ever driven. Starting this coming weekend, I have to begin moving my things, of which I have gathered an abundance, to Tokyo.

I have wanted to live in Tokyo ever since I first visited back in the summer. I have to admit, however, that as March draws ever nearer I am a bit anxious about making the move from what can only be called a small village, to the largest metropolitan area in the world. But above all, I am excited.

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."



My friend Tyler and I found a Mexican restaurant in Sendai, but it was tiny and the food was overpriced, insufficient and unsatisfying, as has become expected of foreign-themed cuisine in Japan.


This is the cool new poster for the new bullet train that is debuting soon. It goes even faster than the current one, making it possible to get from Sendai to Tokyo in only 1 and 1/2 hour (a 6 hour drive by car), as opposed to the 2+ hours it takes now.


Kaminome Elementary School, 2nd grade!