Life as it is... living in Japan

So it is that time of year again, when the re-contracting papers show up on my desk and everyone around me slowly sinks into confusion. Should I stay? Should I go? It is funny looking back on the last three times I have had to make this decision, and the various emotions I have been through. You would think that it would get easier as time progresses, but each year has presented me with different reasons and different feelings towards the topic. 来年の 契約 書 が私の机に現れ、周りのみんながだんだん と慌ただしくなる 時期がやっ て き た 。 日本にとどまろうか。帰国しようか。 過去３回、同じ決定をしなければいけなかった事や、その時々に感じた色々な感情を思い起こすと、不思議な気持ちにな る 。 年が経つほどに楽になるように思うだろう が 、毎年違う気持ちと理由が出てきて、いつも難しい。 Should I stay a second year? This was by far the easiest decision. My new best friends that I had made were all staying, my Japanese was improving, and I liked Japan. I always said I would stay two to three years, so I signed almost the minute the paper was on my desk. My family was not surprised. 滞在期間を延長して、 2 年目になるか。 これはもっとも容易な決断だった 。 新しい出来た友達 、 みんなもう一年間日本にと...

I thought I would share some of the expectations about Japanese study that I had before moving to Japan and the crushing realizations that have kept life entertaining. Expectation: It’ll be easy to learn Japanese, I’ll just make Japanese friends. Reality: It is actually really hard to make Japanese friends. Once you reach a certain level of Japanese, it becomes entirely necessary to speak with native speakers on a regular basis to improve any further. If you were an exchange student during university you may have realized that at some point you need to step away from your bubble of foreign friends and make your way on your own to the Japanese side. This often requires a lot of courage, but brings excellent results as Japanese people, although shy, are usually kind and curious about foreign cultures and people, and will welcome you with open arms. Consequently, your Japanese will improve a lot. The reality is that this ease of making friends is generally restricted to the...

In February I wrote an article about some of the difficulties I faced emotionally when I visited a school for severely disabled children for the first time. Today (actually this visit was in July, I just forgot to post this. My bad! haha) I visited the school again, for my second visit this year. I would like to share some of my stories with you. The first thing I noticed today as I was sitting in the parking lot psyching-up, was the morning school drop off. A mother walking her son across the road before being shooed back to the car; the classic “I’m fine mum.” A father carrying his daughters bags as they walked together slowly towards the entrance. The teachers and helpers lined up at the entrance, helping students out of cars, into wheelchairs and greeting them for another day of school. This is a rare sight in Japan where students are usually expected to bike or walk to school. However, in this little corner of Miyazaki it is the norm with four schools for the disabled grouped...

My life is nothing like I imagined it would be. How many times have you heard that before? In contrast, have you ever heard someone declare that their life turned out exactly as they thought it would? I would like to meet that person, and possibly slap them across the face. I just wanted to finish what I started. I wanted to become fluent at Japanese, but someone kept raising the bar. To be fluent you have to study it at university at least. After graduation, you find yourself still lacking, you have to live in Japan for a least a year to be fluent. Three years later, and I have finally come to realize that you would have to have lived in Japan your whole life, possibly a few past lives as well, because this language is absurd. Well… my expectations are at least. The easiest way to get into Japan is to be an English teacher. At some point in my childhood I may have declared that I wanted to be a teacher. However, I never pursued the thought. I still don’t really. Luckily Japan...