Hello faithful followers,
Sitting in the Chicago airport after a too-short trip home, reflecting on the past 6 months, I am once again apologizing for my long absence.
Where do I start! It seems like a lifetime since I wrote last. Winter finally came to an end and was ushered out with the most beautiful spring flowers. They were all so short-lived, but staggered in a way that each week it seemed like something new was blooming. My first sakura season exceeded my expectations, but there were so many other flowers that took me by surprise. They would pop up everywhere, places I never fully realized had plants growing there.
My spring was dominated mostly by yosakoi. We worked SO hard for the Sapporo tournament in June. I ended up moving into a new dancing group, so I got to learn a new part of the dance and dance with new props, lanterns and an umbrella! It was very very busy, but the tournament was incredible and so much fun! Our team came in the top 30 out of around 250 teams! I decided to take a break from yosakoi for now though, as I plan on starting a Masters program online in the fall. In addition to working, I will be (hopefully, actual admittance tbd) pursuing a Masters in Language and Linguistics!
That said, I don’t think I ever formally announced that I’ll be staying in Japan for at least one more year. I can stay with my current program for up to 5 years and the contract renews annually, so I still don’t know for sure how long I’ll stay. I’m pursuing a Masters in case I decide to stay for good ;), so that I can get another teaching job! But only God knows what the future holds!
I also want to talk about my new community in Kanazawa: Hope House! Hope House is the church I attend in Japan. It’s a small community (fun fact: Japan is only 1% Christian), but my heart is so full there! It’s very international! I’ve made friends from Japan, Philippines, Australia, France, Norway, Denmark, and more that I’m sure I’m forgetting. Hope House also puts on an English Cafe once a week where anyone can come to have snacks, play games, and talk in English. I’ve made so many friends from English Cafe and I’m so thankful I was introduced to it. Special shoutout to my (former 🙁 ) co-ALT Michael, who introduced me to Hope House! My time in Japan would have been so different without it.
Two weeks ago, I surprised Mom with a visit home. Another special shoutout to Kelly and Kellen for keeping the secret so well and helping me organize the reveal. I wish I could have stayed longer and visited more people, but it was so nice to see family and friends in Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Columbia, and Georgia. And of course it was wonderful to eat all my highly desired fast foods and shop at Walmart once again. I’m heading back to Japan feeling renewed and rested (although I only slept for an hour last night to try and beat the jetlag) and ready to start the second semester!
My new students this year have been amazing and so much fun and I’m excited to get back to them now and start classes again. It’ll be busy again the next couple of months, but all of the people I’ve met and experiences I’ve had over this past year were so unexpected, so I can’t wait to see what the future holds. Please keep in touch on social media! Here are a few extra pictures that didn’t fit into the rest of the story:
