Tag: hiatus

Hiatus Wow & Reflection

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Hi Everyone!

I’ll be first to say that it has been ages. I am super excited to rejoin the blog community and I hope to be more steadfast in my work here as I am almost done with my Master’s in Education (one class left!). This said, I’ve been teaching in the classroom post-Covid, and it has been crazy… so I’m sure there will be plenty to talk about! This gives me a reason to stay focused and use my time well to keep this up! :)

As everyone can relate, the past couple years were wild, not just because of graduate studies, but because of the global pandemic of Covid-19 that we have all been dealing with and continue to deal with these days. Teaching students online and being taught online myself, I have to say it was a rough one. I have to say in my reemergence from “the isolation days,” I have been reminded of what is truly important and worth my attention. I think my time spent on the blog was one of those things, and this is one of the items on my list as a result that I want to spend further time on. I also spent a great deal of time focusing on how to garden properly, which has been eye-opening and allowed me to really learn from and listen to nature. That in and of itself has been quite restorative.

A random picture of one of the snows we saw in winter.

With all this said, I am in a perpetual state of wow. Who says you can’t continue to get to know yourself as you age? Even if one doesn’t think it’s true, life seems to force it out of you.

That’s all for now. Next up, I’ll share about a recent trip my partner and I took!

Presenting Oppai Iwa

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Apologies for the hiatus everyone! I got really busy for a while there, what with a trip back home for a wedding, then a work conference and a test (which kicked my bum) the week after I returned. But for your patience you shall receive a reward… I’ve been meaning to put this up for some time, so now is a great opportunity…

What’s that, you say? It’s the Oppai Iwa (おっぱい岩), aka the Breast Rock (as you may have very well guessed), that has been in existence for some time off the road that links Hondo and Reihoku, running parallel to the rocky coast. Some people go here to experience some kind of fertility blessing by touching it… So though I’ve looked at it I must say I myself haven’t touched it, but I have seen others at it! Isn’t it odd how these formations just crop up out of nature quite, well, naturally? What an interesting life it is.

Settle Down and Say Hello

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Hello everyone!

Apologies for my long hiatus. It’s been an interesting summer indeed. A lot has happened and now I’m back, here to write and post more blogs than ever before!

So for the latter half of July I visited the States, heading back home for a bit of cultural reprieve. While I was gone, Amakusa welcomed 5 new JET’s to the area, and once I was back in-country we welcomed 6 more! So we encountered a huge turnover this year, which is both exciting and nerve-wracking. Two of us helped Group A get settled, while myself and another ALT (a good friend) helped Group B get themselves settled in the area. That in itself was a whirlwind two days. Then I planned a mass dinner with our previous PA (prefectural advisor), current PA, tantousha, and the newbs so we could just bond and have a good time.

After said harried week, I rushed to prep things for Connect in addition to my materials for the next week’s orientation for new ALT’s. The day before which was the best concert of my life (which I’ll comment on in detail later, in a separate post)!!!!

I think this year I’ve been infinitely more busy than when I first arrived. One of my favorite things I did when I got here was work on my introduction English board, which I have pictured below. Whatcha think? I think it’s fun! It really got me through the initial downtime at school.

welcome board

Still have some things to do for Connect and the area, like plan the official welcome party, but other than that it seems it’s calming down a bit on my end. That is, before class begins! ‘Til next time, everyone.