Ki wo tsukete.

It's Saturday afternoon, and I've got the window open as I enjoy a rare cool Japanese summer day. Our apartment is clean, and my bags are already in Narita airport, waiting for me to pick them up and check them in. The only thing left to pack up is my computer, and I've said my farewells to almost all of my students and friends here. I'll leave Tsu early early early on Monday morning and take three trains up to Tokyo in time for my afternoon departure. My desk at OBC has already been transitioned, and I taught my final class last night. Physically speaking, then, I'm ready to come home.

Emotionally? Well, that's another story.

In the past few weeks, as I've watched the new teachers take over my classes and get to know my - now their - students, I've realized just how attached I've become to this place and to these people. OBC has been my home, and Tsu has been my city. I knew when I came here that I'd only be here for a year, and I was open and ready to get as much out of this adventure as I could. I looked forward to making friends and experiencing real Japanese life, but I never anticipated becoming this invested. My students have become my friends, and I will miss each and every one of them in their own special ways. I know I'll keep in touch with many of them, and when I come back to visit Japan, I'll be spending my time catching up with everyone here in Tsu. The fact that I'm not going to see them all again this week hasn't really set in yet, and I'm sure it'll hit me hard one random day in America when I look at the clock and think about what class I should be in at that time. One of the hopes I had when I came to Japan was that I'd figure out of the whole teaching thing is for me, and I can tell you without hesitation that it is. I absolutely love the work that happens in a classroom, the relationships that are formed, the conversations that are had. And I owe my realizations about what I want to do in the future to the incredible talent and kindness of my students.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am very excited to come home and be reunited with all of my family and friends. August is going to be a fantasic month: Chris and Alex's wedding, a welcome home/good luck at school party for me and my sisters, a trip to Madison with Andy, moving Amanda into St. Ben's. But in the back of my mind, I know I'll be scripting letters to my students during all of this, telling them about the events of my first month back at home and taking pictures to share with them. I've got my own quirky little family on this side of the world now, and as I've said many times, family is the most important thing to me. So while experiencing this country and this culture has been awesome, I'm leaving here with my deepest connection to Japan left with the people - my friends, my students, my co-workers, Sarah. Arigato gozaimashita, Japan.

This is the final entry for this chapter of my blog. Thanks for reading and keeping in touch this year, dear friends. Until we meet again...

Wednesday 10:00

Thursday 17:00

Friday 19:00

Monday 20:00

Formerly Friday 11:00

Monday 17:00 (plus her little sister)

Tuesday 10:00

Ki wo tsukete. Take care.

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How do you measure a year in the life?

You might recognize the title of this blog post from the lyrics of one of my all-time favorite musicals: Rent. My year here in Japan can be measured in all kinds of wonderful things, people, and experiences, and I've been reflecting on that a lot lately. Sarah, Peter and I did celebrate our one-year anniversary in Japan last weekend, July 9, by introducing the new teachers to a few of the joys of their new home in Tsu. John and Andrew arrived in Tsu City at the end of last week, and it's been nothing but busybusybusy since their arrival. As they've been adjusting to the way things are done in Japan - OBC training, currency exchanges, speaking Japanese, the heat - Peter and I have been preparing for our impending departure. Sarah is staying at OBC for another year, so it's a big help to everyone that she'll be around for when John and Andrew have questions that Peter and I will inevitably forget to preemptively answer.

Sarah and I took in our final Beatles cover band concert, and it was one of the best. We brought along two of my students and one of our friends, and it turned into a fantastic party. Once the guys in the band learned I was leaving, they made a little announcement and had me get up on stage with them. Sarah and I have been devoted fans for a whole year! And I finally got my picture taken with them! As it turns out, Tadaaki Naganuma, one of the singers, is the top Paul McCartney tribute artist in all of Japan! And he's toured before in the States with the Foo Fighters! He'll be back in Minnesota next September on tour with his band, and you can bet that I will be first in line for tickets. Small world, huh?!

This past week was my last full week of teaching here in Japan. Next week, the new teachers will teach the first half of most of my classes (though not all, since we only have two new teachers instead of three, and Sarah still needs to teach her current classes), and I'll sit in the back and observe them and give them feedback. It's going to be very exciting to help them transition and watch them finally get in front of the classroom, as they are both super excited for this opportunity. But it's also going to be really tough to watch my students get used to someone else's style, since you all know I've gotten so attached to some of my classes. But as my responsibilities at work dwindle, my free time will quickly fill with goodbye parties and the final details that come along with moving out of the country. Between closing a bank account, cancelling my health insurance, and starting the daunting task of packing, I'm hoping I'll be distracted enough so that it's almost a relief to have someone else teach. Almost.

On a lighter note, Friday was a pretty big day for Harry Potter fans around the world, as you might recall, and living in Japan did not keep me from seeing the new and final movie. All five of us headed to Warner Mycal and really enjoyed the last installment of the film.

Ready for HP!

Do you all remember me raving about the Japanese fireworks that I saw last year? Well, last night was the annual event that I was so excited about last year, and they didn't disappoint this year. The new teachers went to Naomi's friend's house like we did last year, but Sarah and I ended up down by the river, literally right across from where they shot them off. It was one of the best and most random nights I've had so far. That's one thing that never ceases to amaze me in Japan: weird stuff happens more often than not, and it's almost always fantastic. It turns out that when Naomi said she had tickets for Sarah and me to watch the fireworks by the river, what she really had were special VIP, invitation-only passes that are literally too valuable to sell. The price of the tickets in the two sections around us? About $150 a pop. Yeah. So we ended up with amazing seats in our own private section, and we spent the time leading up to the fireworks walking around the festival area and then devouring more food than we should have. The show was as great as it was last year, and I'm so glad we got to have this crazy experience.

We were each given a tarp in our reserved seating area.

I love Japanese festivals.

The spread.

She may or may not have eaten this.

Gorgeous sunset while waiting for the fireworks.

To close one of my final blog posts, I'll leave you with some photos of the tanabata festival, which happens every year on 7/7. As two lovers in the Milky Way are reunited on this day each year, all little kids make wishes and throw them into the river. Japan is so funny sometimes.

It was rainy, but that didn't keep the crowds away.

Those are big bamboo branches with wishes attached to them.

The all eventually get tossed in the river.

Take care, dear friends! See you all soon!

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...and then there was heat.

Hydrangeas - the rainy season flower - now line the streets of Tsu.

We've come full circle, people. You may remember a post or two dated almost a year ago in which I bemoaned the unbearable heat of Japan. Well, it's back. It has been for about two weeks now, and that, combined with the unbelievable busy-ness I've found myself immersed in, has left me constantly sleepy and more than a little unmotivated.

How have I overcome this sleepiness and lack of motivation? The stark reality that the new teachers will arrive at the end of this week.

What?! I'll be in America - for good - in less than a month. One of the things I've been so busy with is writing up profiles on each of my students that I can give to the new teachers to prep them for taking over my classes. I've also been prepping a couple of presentations I'll be giving as I help with the new teacher training and orientation. Life here is speeding up as everything begins to wind down, and my schedule is filling with goodbye lunches and dinners and parties. It's an exciting time, especially for the OBC and the new teachers (who I'm so excited to meet), but also a sad one. I will miss all of my students very, very much.

However, I don't want to get too sappy quite yet (stay tuned in the next few weeks if you want the play-by-play on those emotions). Instead, how about: HAPPY 4TH OF JULY! This is the first time I've spent this holiday out of the country, as one of my students pointed out to me earlier, and actually one of the first I can remember where I haven't been with my family and the DeBoers and/or Mulders. And of course, like most of my American holidays this year, it has come and gone without much to note. For lunch, I met up with my sister friends at the monastery. I walked in and one of them who speaks the least English professed very proudly to me, "Happy Independence Day." That was worth it. We had delicious baked chicken (so good), and I even made some homemade pudding to share! (Aren't you proud of me, dad?) Tonight, I taught my high level students about the history of the day, and coupled with the current MN state shutdown, we had a very interesting "freedom" conversation.

One thing I will miss.

I was pretty busy this past weekend, actually. On Saturday, I got up early and walked up to the Catholic school connected to the monastery near my apartment for their annual bazaar. My sister friend invited me and gave me tons of free food tickets. I tried a corn dog, yakisoba (grilled noodles), kakigori (shaved ice), and the famous St. Joseph's donuts. It was a really fun little school festival and felt very much like the kind of festival I'd be celebrating at Independence Park in Marshall.

On Sunday, I had my farwell party with my Tuesday morning students. These ladies are the best. One of them, who I was especially fond of, had to quit a couple months ago because of her busy work schedule, but she was able to join us on Sunday. I found out that she'll actually be returning to OBC in the next few weeks, which is great. I'm so glad I'll be able to see her for me last few weeks here.

We went to the home of one of the students for a Japanese tea ceremony. She is a tea ceremony instructor, and she is very good. One of my other students is actually studies tea ceremony from her, and we tease the instructor often about being a "devil teacher." But she put on her "angel teacher" face for me and was very patient. She even let me stir the tea! The one who studies tea ceremony owns a kimono shop, so she dressed me up in yukata (summer kimono) and actually gave it to me to keep. (Their generosity is so humbling.) It was so much fun to sit around with three Japanese women in yukata and laugh and joke. We even wore the yukatas out to lunch! We ate at a Russian restaurant, but I was very Japanese that day. I'm going to treasure the memories I have with those ladies. They are just a delight.

Stirring the tea!

The angel teacher and the kimono shop owner.

And of course, no blog update would be complete without filling you all in on the wonderful visitors I had two weeks ago. My dear friends Heather and Tom visited Tsu, and then I tagged along with them to Kyoto. Heather and I went to college together, and Tom - her fiance - is actually an English teacher in Aomori (northern Japan). She came to visit him, and they swung down to my neck of the woods for a taste of the heartland. I had a blast showing them around my little corner of the world. We took in a Shakespeare-ish show, had dinner at my student's restaurant, experienced the melting pOt, navigated Kyoto (unscathed!) and did lots of catching up. I can't tell you all how good it felt to have some of "my people" (a phrase I couldn't stop using) around for a while. It made me that much more excited to return to the other heartland. Thanks so much for coming, you two!

Excellent "Welcome to Tsu" party

Reunited at last.

One of the most relaxing afternoons I've had in a long time.

As always, dear friends, take care. I really will be seeing you soon!

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Rainy Season

The rainy season is upon us in Tsu, dear friends, which means that each new morning brings with it the anticipation of what I will find when I open my curtains for the first time. In the past week, we've actually been quite lucky: it has hardly rained at all. But today was a "dogs and cats" day (my students often mix up the word order of that English idiom), and for some reason, that got me in the mood to get caught up on my blog. My blog has unfortunately fallen to the wayside in the madness of the past couple of months, though I suppose it's a good thing that life is busy here. I mean, you'd hate for it to be the opposite. The preparation that comes with the rainy season alone is enough to keep me busy: Do I need an umbrella? Should I put on my rain pants? Should I bring an extra bag for the rain gear? How wet will my bike seat be - do I need a different pair of pants? It's on days like today that I miss having a vehicle.

A couple of weeks ago, I started my Japan Bucket List, and after a few days of Freaking Out over how much I still wanted to see and do, I decided to throw it away and just keep living the way I normally do. Will I make it to Tokyo again before flying out of the airport there on my trip home? No. How about spending a day viewing Mt. Fuji? Maybe not. But I've already been pleasantly surprised by the things I've found to fill my dwindling days here in Tsu. I realized that, while traveling is great, I want to spend as much time as I can soaking up the daily life here in my "hometown" that I"v come to love so much. Plus, I've traveled a LOT, to which this blog can attest.

Here are a few of the things that have been keeping me happy during the month of June in Tsu:

Shopping in the rainy season = plastic cover over shopping bags. Japan is awesome.

I went back to Yakushiji to see my favorite pagodas.

Japan.

The competing mascots of Nara. I think you know which one I favor...

A beautiful Japanese garden was a must on my Amen trip to Nara.

That sign says "Free for Foreign Tourists." Even better.

Nara is my favorite place.

A year later...

Even swarming with school children, I'll never tire of this place.

At a Three Arrows game, we found NINE American flags sewn together. Oh, Japan.

But the Three Arrows WON! Can you believe it?

Shopping at Nagashima outlet mall with my students. So. Much. Fun.

Yep, those are three dogs in that stroller.

We got Cold Stone! Oh, and in Japan, the workers don't sing when they're tipped. They sing ALL THE TIME.

My student came over to our place to cook us his famous fried rice.

It was absolutely delicious. Followed by an afternoon of Wii? Yes, please.

Also, I've got to give a shout out to Sarah's parents, Jerry and Joanne Haugen, who visited last week. I had so much fun getting to know them, hanging out with them, and joining in on valuable family time with the two of them and Sarah. It was great to have, as I said to Sarah, "our kind of people," around for a while. They were a wonderful little reminder of home. Thanks for everything!

I hope the end of June finds all of you well, and that you're living it up this summer. I'll be home in just over a month!

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May Days

Hello!

WOW, it has been a long time since I've updated this blog! I'm sure you're all feeling the same way I am: May was BUSYBUSY, and I can't believe it's already over. My youngest sister is now a high school graduate, my cousins' baseball team made it to the College World Series, and I've officially purchased my plane ticket home in August. It's all happening so fast!

One of the highlights of May, of course, was Andy's return to Japan. He finished his finals on Friday and was on a plane on Saturday morning to arrive in Japan on Sunday evening. It was so much fun to have him around for another week and a half. This time, I had no days off, other than the weekend, so our travel time was limited. Instead, we spent a lot of time playing games, cooking our own meals, and hanging out with my students. It was a pretty relaxed vacation, but we both had a great time! And my students loved having him in class!

Trip to the art museum!

Authentic sushi counter

Japanese tea ceremony at my student's house

We did manage to make it to Kyoto on the Saturday that he was here, and if any of you remember my trip to Kyoto with my mom, it is not my favorite place. It's a beautiful and historic city, but the public transportation is confusing and difficult, and the layout of the city, at least to me, makes very little sense. (I know it's because it's so old, but that doesn't ease my frustrations any.) But we braced ourselves for the worst and trekked on anyway. We were, I must say, pleasantly surprised. We found the bus terminal with route maps (how is there only one place to find these in all of Kyoto Station?) and managed to make it to Sanjusangendo and Kiomizudera with no trouble. I've also got to thank my boss for giving us excellent travel tips in Kyoto beforehand.

At Sanjusangendo, home of the 1,001 Buddhas

Beautiful garden

Orange!

Kiomizudera pagoda

Now I know why this is one of the most famous temples in Japan. GORGEOUS!

Our next stop was Kinkakuji, the famous Golden Pavillion, and while we got a little lost on our way, we managed to get there in time to have our picture taken and get interviewed by some Japanese high school students. It was so funny to watch them read through their list of questions for us, in English, completely terrified, hoping they'd understand what we were saying.

Our final destination was Kawaramachi Catholic cathedral, and this time, we got hopelessly lost. We wandered around the same 3 blocks for a solid half hour or 45 minutes looking for a cathedral. In Europe, you just don't have these kinds of problems.We finally found it, but it was tucked away on a little sidestreet (naturally), almost connected to the huge hotel next to it. It's like they had a third of a city block leftover after the hotel and thought, 'Hey, let's fill this with a cathedral.' Of course, none of my students had heard of it before, but it was fun to see real stained glass and a western-style church.

This is going to sound ridiculous, but perhaps the highlight of Kyoto for me was the dinner we had a T.G.I.Friday's. Those of you who know me know how much I love this restaurant, but it was especially exciting this time because in the past couple of months, I've just grown tired of Japanese food. Don't get me wrong: I still love it. But sometimes, you just need those American flavors. And did T.G.I.Friday's have them or what! It tasted exactly the same as an American restaurant, and I ate more than I'd ever eat on a trip there in the States. But it was so fantastic. And it provided me with a great lesson for the next week of classes!

Andy made his way back to Montana with no problems, and life has not slowed down one bit since he left. I've somehow managed to fill almost every hour of my days in the past couple of weeks, and since I've only got about two more months here, I don't imagine that that will change any time soon. Before you know it, my time in Japan will be over!

I hope June brings with it for you sunshine and summer relaxation. Take care!

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