If you can, listen to "The New" by Jay Dee/J Dilla while you read this...
Things have changed, considerably. I was once a rare foreigner in the middle of Nowhere, Japan. Children ran from my grizzly, dreadlocked form, but peered at me from the safety of their parents' sides, unsure if I was some beast to be feared or a giant trinket to be collected. English was hard to come by, and anyone who could speak it wanted to get out of town as quickly as possible.
But now, after a grueling interview and what was apparently one of the most stressful months of my life (first time my shoulders were ever stiff), I am now under the employ of the Board of Education of Science City. My fellow English teachers come from 9 other countries, and many are graduates of the Science City University. People only comment on my height (the dreads are gone), and kids no longer run, but smile bash fully. It is a strange world, this Science City. There's technology everywhere. Lots of researchers, doctors and lawyers live here, so their kids are a lot more...serious about their studies. It's amazing what a real future will do for kids' motivation. The teachers seem nicer...which is a big surprise, if you ask me. City folks aren't usually known for their friendliness when compared to the denizens of the countryside. Then again, a lot of these teachers are actually commuting from other places.
But fear not! I still live in Nowhere, Japan. But now, I drive the exhausting 17 miles to work every morning. I know what you Florida folks are thinking, "What is that, 20 minutes? Exhausting? Pfffffft." Well, let me tell you now, that Japanese miles are three times as long as Florida miles. So, I'm driving for about an hour every morning. And evening. I won't complain, though. That is some excellent wind down/study time. And the scenery is really nice. It's more relaxing than I was expecting.
As for my old schools and classes, that'd be where the stress came in. Leaving them was hard, even though I had obviously outgrown them. March was the month of goodbyes. Nearly every foreigner I knew left, and I had to bring most of my extra classes to an end. There were long faces, hugs and tears... Really, tears! Some of my school students were sobbing, but...I think it was for the other teachers, not just me. See, every year there's a kind of surprise ceremony, where the kids suddenly find out which teachers are leaving and which teachers are staying. It's kind of a jerk move, to be honest, and I had to play along. I knew I was leaving way back in February, but everyone said that it was probably best if I didn't tell the students. So when the kids asked me things about the next school year, all I could do was shrug and say, "We'll see!" Ate me up inside. Plus I had to drop that bomb on a class of nice old ladies, and another class of good friends. The timing was never right, and the news got delayed... My heart felt like it was trying to eat itself. March...March was just a hard month. The final week was a marathon of goodbye parties and hangovers. I'll come back and write more about the last six months later... For now, I just want to say that I am here, still trying to figure out just where I am. But, I think I have a better handle on it.
Take care, all.
