Monday, August 24, 2009

Autumn is in the Air

When I was still in school, September first, and the crispy autumn air always had a very special meaning, the feeling of a new beginning, of new things to learn. In university too September had the same special meaning, of new and exciting things to come.

This morning it was windy, and the clouds were so high in the sky, and the air was so crisp, with a fragrance of leaves... It almost felt like September is here.

This year I won't be stepping into the classroom as a student.
Instead, I will go to class as a teacher. Isn't it weird? I am so used to being a student...
But regardless, I am really excited, because I know that this is just a continuation of my learning, every day I will learn just as much, if not more than in university, from my students and fellow-teachers.

This was a long way of saying, I am so excited about school starting soon.

Monday, August 3, 2009

JET Orientation

I am so sleepy, I could use a nap or a big can of coffee. But there
are some interesting and useful presentations, so I am glad to be here.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Train Tickets

Either this weekend is JR's nation-wide crack down on ticket-less
passengers, or just my luck, but I had my tickets checked 3 times in
the past 24 hours. That's more than in all of the past year since I
came to Japan.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

My New Home in Mie

My new supervisors are so wonderful, they were so kind to me today. My co-worker is just as great as he seemed from emails, and really kind too. My apartment is absolutely beautiful, perfect size, and new, and it has everything I need, including kitchen stuff, bedding, books left by other teachers, and even some cleaning supplies and stuff. They even bought me new bed sheets.

This morning when I was leaving Toyohashi I was hoping that since I leave at 7:30, I will escape my boss and don't have to talk to her. No such luck. She caught me as I dropped off my keys at her place, as silently as I could, and blabbed away about totally random stuff until I had to excuse myself, saying I'll miss my train.

So coming here, and being treated like a responsible and reasonable adult, as opposed to a five-year old baby, I couldn't get over how happy I was to be starting this new job, and I told my supervisors so. Man, you should see my new place. It's so nice that I don't even have to decorate it. It's just clean, and new, with new furniture, and new wall-paper, and no dust or old dirt left by decades of teachers. I really hated cleaning my old place because it was so nasty from the start, but this place is so wonderful, I'd take pleasure in keeping it neat. The school board got professional cleaners to come in too, so I didn't have to do anything besides washing the dishes, just in case (hehe, I am not OCD, I just like to be extra sure with dishes).

I am so happy. Of course I haven't started actual work yet, but hey, I'll do anything if I get to work in a school, and have such nice supervisors.

I didn't get to see too much of the city yet because I was going through stuff left by previous teachers and putting away things I don't need. I am so tired now, I think I'll sleep early today. I still have to go through some documents I got, and read the welcome letters from the previous teachers.

On My Way

I am on my way to my new home!

It's so lucky it's raining today. The heat would not have been fun.

The view from the train is nice. I wonder if it's still Aichi, or already Mie.

I feel so excited, almost the same as moving to Japan all over again.