Sayonara...

Minasan ohayo gozaimasu. Sanyu desu.
Kyo wa koko ni iru saigo no hi desu. Getsuyobi ni [insert other school name here] chugakko e ikimasu. Minasan to aenaku naruto omouto sabishiku narimasu.
Watashi wa anatatachi to ishoni sugosete totemo tanoshikata desu.
Anatatachi wa mainichi watashi o warawasete kuremashta.
Tanoshiku genki ni soshte friendoly ni seshite kurete honto ni domo arigato.
Watashi wa korekaramo anatatachi ga itsumo shiwasede aru koto o imote imas.
Anatatachi ni watashi wa keishite wasuremasen. Minasan gambatte!
Sore kara senseigata itsumo shinsetsuni shite kudasatte hontoni arigato gozaimasu.
Watashi wa nihongo ga hanasenainode minasan to communication o torunowa totemo muzukashikatta desu ga itsumo hanashikakete kudasari arigato gozaimashta.

This is the speech I will give over the loudspeaker tomorrow at my favourite school as it's my last day there.
It basically thanks my students for making me laugh everyday, and thanks the teachers who took time out to try and talk to me.

I am so all kinds of crazy about these kids that I'm ashamed to admit I cried a little today at the thought of saying goodbye to them. In class. How embarrassing.
I am a big softy who isn't even considering wearing eye-liner as I know I'll be boo-hooing tomorrow as well. I can't explain how much I love these kids with their crazy funny ways, and I know that in some way they love me too which makes me love them more. Does that make sense?!

I'm the lively, loud foreigner who speaks broken Japanese badly but tries anyway, pulls overly expressive faces to rival Jim Carey (admittedly it's distracting in class time, but they keep begging me to do it), sings on request, loves to laugh, is strange in an oddly entertaining way and occasionally even teaches English sometimes. All this has gained me a considerable fan base at this school. And I love it.

How could it not make me feel good about myself to see faces light up with a smile simply on me entering a classroom? Or when I've been able to help a usually disruptive student feel as though they've accomplished something? Or when I hear my name being yelled out in greeting by several students simultaneously? Or when I hear them conferring with each other in Japanese on how to ask me in English to come back in April in the new school year?

There's also my non demanding and independent life in Japan to consider too. Yes, I feel as though I live in the back of beyond, but I don't really. And yes, I have been known to state that God hates Japan and that its extreme weather conditions which are a bitch to deal with are proof of this- but overall Japan has been good to me. I'm comfortable here.

And yet, I heard a Madonna lyric from her song 'Jump' that spoke to me:
"There's only so much you can learn in one place
The more that you wait
The more time that you waste..."

So it's onwards and upwards I guess- wherever that is..

Now, please ooh and arr over my pictures from last weekend's snow festival and our Australia Day party.


A snow sculpture of the Japanese lucky cat.


Eddie and I brave the cold. And it was cold. Stupidly so. Saw my first ever real snowflakes complete with intricate patterns.


Fireworks from the snow festival.


A merry Jane at the Australia day party- check out her t-shirt...

And that's all folks!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

...somewhere else!

Yes, snow's all fine and dandy when you're wrapped up nice and warm indoors, it even has its place if you're inclined towards winter sports, and apparently we all dream of a white Christmas, but I'm done with it already. In my next life I'm coming back as a bear so I can sleep right through winter.

I've been crap with this blog of late- partly because I've been obsessed with completing my first knitting project- a scarf (finished it late last night!)- spending hours doing nothing but peacefully knitting away; but partly because I've put my brain on autopilot for the time being.

I'm still unsure about whether to stay or go somewhere else so I've momentarily just stopped thinking about it. If you ask me about it, you are greeted with a grating screech from me because I have no concrete answers.

There isn't much to tell- I'm being kind of antisocial at the moment, as being social usually involves me leaving the warmth of my kotatsu (a low table with a heater placed underneath it, and blankets over it which you sit under) which I have grown steadily attached to.

Now- wasn't that an entry worth waiting for?!






Before...



After...



Brr...chilly.



I like this picture because it looks almost unreal somehow...

And that's all folks!

Making My Mind Up

So- the first entry of 2008 finds me back in Japan after 2 weeks back home, drunk at 3am ish, and about to sleep in an internet cafe again.

Great opener, huh?
I am all kinds of confused right now, and it's not just the copious amount of booze in my system talking. I have to decide whether or not I stay in Japan for another year and I have to do it soon.

If you had asked me a few weeks ago whether I was going to recontract and stay another year, I would have said no. I was so sure. But now...
I'm wavering. I'm seriously considering staying. And I'm not even sure why. It's like my brain has been hijacked and is doing its own independent thinking. On crack or something.

I'm racking my brain trying to find out what the tug is, why I don't seem in such a rush to quit Japan anymore and I still don't know. I'm making lists over and over of pros and cons- and yet I seem unable to say firmly yes or no. It's possibly fear of the unknown, of what comes next if I leave Japan. Or...I don't know. But our final contracts are due to be sent out in February. Yes or no. Heads or tails. In or out.

Admittedly not the most cogent of entries- (I'm finishing this entry in the morning still somewhat drunk), but hey, no typos! :)
I will do a proper entry later today.

To close, here's a band my third year girls dig, EXILE.



And here's a random German dance band I discovered last night via a very cool Irish bartender called Bryan in Okayama- Modeselektor.
Check out other tracks such as The Dark Side Of The Sun and Godspeed and turn up the bass!



By the way, Happy New Year to you all...