it's not life that matters but the journey...

I love Christmas time! I got my first three holiday cards this week - two today in fact! Thanks to dawnie1970, serialbathera and burningchaos for the beautiful cards - they're under my tree now!

Also thanks to Dawnie for the virtual milk and cookies on my profile page - yummy! I wish I had some real milk and cookies right now!

And thanks to selvatica for the pretty virtual present - sorry I am so late in thanking you for this! I love presents, even virtual ones:)

I've got a lot to write about, but not necessarily today. I had a great day Sunday at the JALT meeting (Japanese Association of Language Teachers). I met some great people who are hopefully going to help me in my search for a good job in the future (if I stay here in Japan). Also, they gave me some great ideas to get started writing and publishing some academic (or at least educational) articles. We had a presentation (by a guy who teaches at a university in Chiba) for 2 hours and then a dinner buffet at a department store restaurant near the station - all you can eat dinner and drinks for just 3000 yen (less than $30.00). the food and the wine (I had three glasses) was fantastic! It was really fun! And I did my Christmas shopping while I was in Shizuoka - I love that city! So much to do there!

Masahiko's been working really hard on the logo and website for our English school - he's bought a website building program and put up our sign again, and will start to make a pamphlet soon too. I'm getting excited for it and hope it works out!! I've got lots more to write about this when I have more time. I've been so busy lately with my job and thinking and planning... plus trying to catch up on shows. Most of my shows are either done for awhile, or on hiatus for the holidays. I hated to watch the last Dexter - that show owns my soul, and it's not back for almost another year! Speaking of shows... does anyone know where I can find information about when shows are returning from winter? Glee, for example? And when is White Collar back? is it just two more episodes?

anyway - I should get going and do some exercise and some reading before I sleep. Busy busy busy!

thanks for putting up with my mood swings lately. things seem to be looking up at the moment.
I hope that since I have enough postcards now, and most people's addresses (though a few of you didn't reply to my address request post), I can start writing and sending them this weekend. It's Christmas in just over a week, after all!

have a great week all!

Happy Sunday – well it’s Sunday here in temporarily sunny Japan. I’ll start out by saying a big thanks to toadflax234, dawnie1970, serialbathera and winterdahlia for the virtual milk and cookies! I’m stuffed and they were delicious! Since I’ve been having some stomach issues lately, I should probably refrain from eating real cookies – therefore, the virtual treats are welcomed!!

Amidst all the lesson planning I have to do this weekend, I thought it would be a nice idea if I wrote a little bit about life in Japan, starting with a bit of an overview of my job. I feel like I haven't done much writing about my new teaching job except to complain about how tiring it has been! Or to complain about the teachers. But I guess I needed to get more classroom time before I could start to become more comfortable and adjusted. So many factors were causing me stress during the first few weeks of the job, and teaching just ended up being more exhausting than fun. Not only had I been unemployed for over six months, but also I haven't taught in about 5 years! And the last teaching I did was either really small classes, or college classes. So I've had to adjust to being in front of large groups of kids (which actually can be lots of fun), and also get readjusted to teaching in the Japanese classroom (which is a world in and of itself!).

One thing that I'm learning is that each day and each class I teach brings a whole different experience - sometimes that experience can be challenging, sometimes easy - sometimes frustrating, sometimes rewarding. But overall, I am enjoying it, and I know it will just get better with time.

I guess I should explain what my job actually entails and give you some of the highlights and low points so far.

( the fascinating world of the English Teacher in Japan )

Anyway, if you’ve read this entire entry, then you should really have a good idea of what I’m experiencing so far – and it’s only been one month! I still have 11 more to go (well, 10 if you consider that I won’t teach at all for the month of August).

Later today I’ll do a picture post – random shots of koinobori, flowers, food I’ve eaten, and other stuff I’ve found amusing. I’m still trying to determine if it’s okay for me to take pictures inside the schools – of school lunches and students and other stuff. Hopefully that will be something to look forward to – getting more of an inside view of the Japanese schools.

For now, I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Thanks for reading!