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I’m Inspired!
Yes! To make a blog post! Haha! I stumbled upon some awesome blogs from fellow ALTs here in Japan, and I must say, they have inspired me to blog about my life once again!
But wow, it’s been months since my last post. Let’s see, I stopped at April…
That was around the time I had just started at my new schools (an elementary and a junior high school) and barely getting used to the idea that I have to travel 4 hours by train everyday just to go to work. Talk about daily business trips, hah!
Why did I stop making blog entries? Hmm, I guess it’s because when my parents went back home after staying over for more than a month, we rarely went out on trips anymore. I returned my friend’s DSLR, and the train rides are just killing all of my optimistic creative juices.
What has happened since then? A LOT. I can’t even remember some of the major ones. Okay I’ll try and think of at least one major event that happened per month. Let’s start with…
APRIL: My girl celebrated her birthday! I’m ashamed to say, I can’t remember how we celebrated it. I think we ate something. Or we went somewhere. I’m guessing it was good, because I remember her being happy, heh.
MAY: Uhh, what happened in May…? It went by in a blink I guess. Nope, can’t recall anything worth mentioning.
JUNE: Ahh, I remember this being a hectic month. My girl and I have finally decided to move. The train rides are like black holes in my life. All those precious hours doing nothing but sitting and listening to music. Well, I read and finished 2 or 3 series of novels, but that’s just about it. This month was spent finding a new place and packing up. Busy busy busy.
JULY: A NEW HOUSE! A NEW CITY! SAME JOB! SAME TRAIN RIDES! But at least the commute time was cut in half haha. Lots of processing documents here, getting new cards, going from one Government agency to another, and updating all my accounts to the new address. I’ll just make a separate entry about the house hehe.
AUGUST: The summer vacation… NOT! As I am now directly hired, I don’t have vacations anymore. I work and go to school even if there’s nothing to do. Very good use of government money eh? Not that I’m complaining. I love walking in the blistering heat!!
SEPTEMBER: Now this I remember! What with it being just a few days ago haha. Okay, this month was spent mostly with overtime, training speech contestants. We didn’t win, but at least my kids got 2nd place! And when I said kids, I meant my 1st year junior high kids that formed a group and did a drama about a convoluted story of Hansel and Gretel. That’s another entry waiting to happen haha.
OCTOBER: How should I know? It just started. I hope it turns out good. The frequent rains aren’t helping though…
And that’s about it! Supremely summarized for your reading pleasure. If anyone ever reads these things anyway.
I’m back though, and that’s a start. I hope to write a follow up entry soon… This place is just so empty it’s creeping out the salty summer sweat out of me.
To Finally Have Time For Myself :)
At last. The weekend. After a couple of weeks of probably one of the busiest moments of my life (besides changing apartments, those days are incomparable to anything really), I finally have a slow and relaxing weekend at home.
Things started getting hectic when I found that I won’t be able to continue my current work and that I have to find a new one… fast. Fortunately I did, and with a great offer and ultra-competitive salary. Unfortunately it would mean that four hours of my life each day would be spent inside the train. Oh well, with what they’re paying me, I’d gladly sit for another hour or more haha
Anyway, enough of work-talk. I plan to spend today and tomorrow as NORMAL as possible. Normal. Meaning that I want to do the same routines I’ve been doing before my comfortable life turned upside down. And what better way to get back up to a cozy pace by starting the Saturday with a heavy plate of such a hearty breakfast that I just zoned everything out and immersed myself to the food.
There were plump sunny eggs, thick slices of ham, a bowl of simmered sweet vegetables, and a healthy serving of brown rice. All thanks to my super girl for preparing and cooking everything 😉
After the meal, we patted our stomachs and realized that we’re not finished yet. So we fished those stale donuts from the fridge, wrapped it in foil, and blasted it in the oven until they steamed and puffed themselves up so moist and hot, you can actually feel like they were freshly made!
*burp*
Okay, now what to do with the rest of the weekend…
Beginnings and Ends
Today was as regular as any day could ever be, but for some strange reason I find myself thinking, “Today’s the day.” It may be because today’s the day that I could finally say winter’s finally over and that spring has finally come. I can actually ride my bike to work without a coat nor do I need my gloves. I could slide open my balcony door and feel the breeze without shivering. I could walk barefoot and not get cold feet… literally.
Or it may be because of the goodbye letters I got from my students a while ago. I know that I still have a handful of days left at school, but I just finished doing my final class with the higher levels, and with it being a holiday tomorrow, today’s the last chance I’ll be able to talk and be with them ‘normally’. Because the next time I see them on Monday, it’ll be on their graduation day. Today’s the last day I’ll be their teacher.
And with my parents gone, back to our home country just a couple of days ago after staying with us for more than a month and a half, I feel like a whole chapter of my life has just ended… and a new one just beginning to open. I wonder where I’ll be by next month? Who’ll be my new kids? Am I even going to be a teacher again this year?
Today’s the day it all ends. I hope tomorrow brings news of a fresh start.
Despedida Food Trip!
As a send-off for my parents leaving tomorrow, me and my girl decided to pig out. So we went online and had some pizza, chicken, potatoes, and cakes delivered.
Much as I wanted to cook up something uber-special for the occasion, we just don’t have the time… What with the ‘finding-a-new-job’ business taking most of my time recently. Plus, it’s a Friday night! I just want to click, wait, and eat wooh!
See ya mom, dad. Don’t worry, we’ll be home for Christmas 🙂
Time to Pop Off Those Caps and Unwind
*puts feet up* Whew, much better.
Just got back from an interview and boy, even though the whole thing was over in less than just 10 minutes, it ate up my whole day hehe. Spent most of it in the train ride to and from the place, whew! Didn’t know the sandstorm’s still pretty heavy down in Tokyo; what was supposed to be 4-hour trip stretched out to 8 hours! I was jumping from one station to another just to find a train ride home.
Anyway, I’ll know by next week if I got the job. Keeping my fingers crossed!
But in the meantime… *munch gulp* Ahhh…
Strawberries and SPAM Sandwiches
These ultra nice Japanese kids never cease to surprise me. I was at my desk checking papers when three Grade 6 girls went up to me and handed over a plate full of sandwiches!
Perfect timing too, it was right before lunchtime haha
I was told they made it during cooking class and that they wanted to show their thanks for the fun English classes we’ve had.
Awww, I love SPAM. It was my first time to eat a strawberry and custard sandwich though… It was delicious.
Busy Busy Busy
As I count the days until school ends, things get busier and busier. For one thing, I have to get a new school for next year… AND I have to wrap up things in my schools now. I have an interview scheduled for tomorrow but their offering a job that’s more than two hours away from my house! Serious free time on the train everyday haha
Anyway, not much to be done about that. Just have to hope for the best, cross my fingers, and wait for the “Congratulations! You’re hired!” call to come.
It Will Be a Magical Day Tomorrow :)
Just reserved and bought myself, my girl, and both my parents tickets to Tokyo’s Disney Sea for tomorrow! Woo! We’re certainly not kids anymore, but Disney still holds a powerful magic on our imaginations. Just thinking about it is enough to make me float haha
I’ve now emptied all my memory cards and the camera’s battery is currently on the wall to be charged overnight. We’re packing some breakfast on the go (we wanna be there early to catch all the shows), and we’re even thinking of packing our own lunches… Disney food is mighty expensive.
Gotta turn in early tonight, we need all the rest we could get!
Gifts of Thanks
Today the kids went all out with their ‘Thank You!’ party. There were flowered gates, songs and dance routines, speeches, lots of handmade cards, and FOOD.
Ah yes, the food. It wasn’t really much of a meal (we just had lunch a few hours ago), but they bought for us all kinds of desserts: Cakes, eclairs, puddings, crepes, pumpkin pies, and even the drinks were sweet! It was like how I imagined the Harry Potter dessert table at Hogwarts would’ve looked like haha
In the end, I walked out with lots of heartfelt letters of gratitude, bouquets of flowers, some parting gifts like leather pouches and a hand-sewn handkerchief, and lots of tear-jerking memories that I’ll always carry in my heart.
Thank you kids, I learned so much from you guys too.
All That Glitters Is Not Gold… Or Is It?
As thanks for my gift yesterday, my girl took home an extremely exquisite surprise. A sinfully velvet piece of chocolate cake with creamy layers, topped with various nuts, chocolate macarons, and sprinkled with what I think is gold… Wait, is it really?
I’m not sure if this is real gold, but it took us so much time debating whether we should just dig in, or have some kind of ceremony before we destroy such a beautiful piece of cake.
It only took us a minute to devour the whole thing… *smacks lips*
Yum.
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