Changes

We're having some changes at work at the moment. This week was Pete's last week, and we have a new teacher, from Australia. Let's call him Dan. We had a farewell/welcome bash for them last night. Unfortunately Pete was pretty under the weather, so I don't think he could enjoy it as much as he would have... I'm going to miss having him around. He's one of the most positive people I've ever met. His next plan is to go hitchhiking, which is pretty cool.

It was a good party though. Afterwards, we went to all-night karaoke and I got home at 6am. Being at events like this reminds me of how much I like my school and all the staff/students in it. And it reminds me how much I'd like to do far more things with students; I'd happily go out three or four times a week if I could. But it can be difficult to organise.

So work is going fine but it's a little bit busier than usual; I've been doing more of the little random jobs like doing English tests with students, meeting new students, chitchatting in the lobby, etc. I realised I can do it quite well; even if things happen like materials going missing, or losing out on prep time, I find I have enough experience now to kind of wing things a bit more.

Basically, what it comes down to is I like my job - I like the job itself, I like my work environment, I like my coworkers and I really like the students. There are a couple of things I won't really miss - I still struggle a bit with things like crying children, and I do tend to get a bit stressed and nervous before kids' classes, though I don't think I show it.

But even teaching kids has some good points. I think I mentioned the time I was sick and my 11-year-old girl wrote me a 'get well soon' note, half in English and Japanese. Another, younger girl is often hugging me and saying 'I like you!' (She also asked me if I was in love with anyone, and if I was married, hahaha.) And last week I taught a private lesson to this 8-year-old girl. She was a lot of fun, and cute. After class she was following me around, and hugged me, gave me some snacks, and told the staff that we were friends.

Right now I'm feeling a bit ambivalent about leaving (my last day is September 2, but we are not telling students for a little longer). Now that Pete's gone, and we've done all the farewells, it feels like a familiar time has come to an end. I'm really now feeling conscious of counting down until I go. To make myself feel better about leaving, I have to remind myself:

I have a lot of nice people around me, but the nature of this job is that people come and go a lot. Actually, our core staff has been fairly stable, but various part-time teachers have come and gone; a number of students I've really liked or gotten along well with have left, and more will no doubt do so some day. So in that sense it's not like I have such a strong attachment to anyone, and I am used to saying goodbye to people, although I don't like it.
Similarly, I have made some friends in Japan now, but the truth is that most of them usually seem to be busy or unavailable to do things. The guy at Gaijin Smash had it right when he said that Japanese people often don't seem to want to do things spontaneously (or even with one or two days' warning). I find unless I 'schedule' something a week or more in advance, 90% of the time it's a 'no'. If you have, say, six different friends, and you meet up with each of them once every two or three months, well, it's not much of a social life; it's not what you'd call a really close friendship. I don't so much have a group of friends, either, unless you count my co-workers (who are good eggs).
So if I am honest, although I like the people here very much, and enjoy spending time with them, I know that realistically we are probably not going to be strong, lasting friends forever.

that although I feel comfortable and happy - like I'm in my element and get along with everyone - that I felt that way in my last job too, so there's a good chance I'll also feel happy in a new workplace.

my English *is* deteriorating somewhat. I think my grammar even on this blog has gotten slightly patchy at times. Sometimes when I speak, I skip articles ('a', 'the') or entire clauses, to make the sentence shorter and simpler. (I do try not to do this in class...)

I really do want to travel, and I really do want to try living in another foreign country.

For the record, I still haven't decided what I'll do after my job finishes - whether I'll go back to Australia, or get another job in Japan. If I get another job in Japan I ought to start looking. I guess even if I leave, if I want to, I can come back some day.