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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