Home

We all know that saying, "Home is where the heart is," but why does your heart decide to stay in any given place? I've learned many things about the world and myself since I started living in Japan. But the most important thing I've learned is that the people make a place "home." When I started living in Japan, I was scared, nervous, homesick, and at times I questioned why I ever decided to go across the Pacific. It didn't help that it was insanely cold (for a spoiled California resident), and that I wasn't working right away, but thinking about that time really makes me appreciate how I eventually came to feel about Iwaki and Japan.

First and foremost, I had April. If I didn't have April, I don't know what I would have done! I might have just given up, or maybe I wouldn't have even gone to Japan at all. She helped me get through the first few months. When I started my job, I came to like my kids and eventually my co-workers, granted I wasn't able to speak to any of them just yet. Within a few months of starting my job, I became a regular at our rock climbing gym, Drop-In. I felt like I was accepted into a special climbing family because the gym just felt so homey. Shortly after that, April got a new Japanese teacher who eventually started inviting me, and then Aki to join in every Tuesday night. We all really came to enjoy these nights hanging out with our tutor and her family. A little bit after that, Aki helped me get set up with a program called ANKI which I used to memorize kanji, vocabulary, and just get better at Japanese. After a few months of hanging out with our Japanese teacher's family and studying ANKI everyday, I became more and more comfortable speaking to my co-workers, rock climbing gym friends, and just happier that I could understand more of that world around me. And just as I was gaining more confidence and becoming the happiest I'd been since I came to Japan, I left. And that part of my life was over just like that.

I actually had to make the decision to either stay for another year or leave the job back in October 2013. I struggled to make that decision because of how big of an impact I knew it would have. I ultimately decided to leave my teaching position and come back to America to pursue my engineering career. I made this decision because I knew that the longer I stayed away from engineering, the lower my chances of landing an engineering job. By the time I came back to America, it had already been 1.5 years since I graduated from grad school and ended my internship at NASA. If I decided to stay another year... well, it's safe to say that this was definitely the deciding factor. Honestly, if it wasn't for an engineering career, I would have been perfectly content teaching English in Japan for the foreseeable future.

Iwaki eventually felt like home to me because of all the people I met and grew close with. These are the types of friends you have for life. It was really hard to leave them probably because I know that it will be harder for me to see them. I know I will go back to visit, but it won't be as often as say going down to San Diego to see my family and friends down there (which is only once or twice a year anyway). Realistically, it will only be once every couple of years. On top of that, leaving my kids was the hardest part of it all because they will all be completely different the next time I see them around. With adults, they more-or-less stay the same, but kids grow and mature so fast. I just hope they remember me when I come back.

Here are a few pictures of the people who have made a huge impact on my life in Japan. The vast majority of them were taken during my last two weeks in Japan.

Thanks for the present Airi!

Some of my A Class kids from this year

All of my A Class kids from this year

Noriki and Meguhiro, the twins who knew no Japanese or English when this school year started. They greeted me every morning as I switched from my outdoor shoes to my indoor shoes.

B Class, Hitone! I taught her last year

B Class, Yuna (I taught her last year)

B Class, Himeka (I taught her last year). Her dad's izakaya is awesome.

My co-teacher this year, Rika 先生

Ken and Go are back!

So is Taiga

Azuza (A Class) and her brother Issa (B class)

A Class, Saki

We're carrying Behina?

B Class, Ryoma! He's actually leaving Iwaki as well. His dad got relocated for his job. I talked to his dad about running a few times...

Himeka's dad and grandma at their izakaya

John and Michiko 先生 playing thumb war because yes.

Thanks 海陸! Awesome English conversation students

Glad we were able to party together before I left

My rockclimbing twin, Misaki-san

Just Ayumi downing some Bacardi

Ayumi's dad and John comparing beer bellies.

???

Pre Class, Saki

B Class, Yuzuki and A Class, Yudai

My last day at the kindergarten

The Takahashi family saw me off at the airport!

New and old friends having a BBQ at Ayumi's place

My Drop-In Family, ドロップイン家族

My Japanese studying family, 日本語勉強家族

Thank you Hiroe-san, Kanan, Kiyo, and Riora for my going-away present!

Neighbors for life, eating at our favorite burger spot in Iwaki.

Don and Colin, thanks for being crazy and climbing Fuji with me.

Iwaki was my home for only 1.5 years, but meeting all those people and creating amazing relationships with them made it feel a lot longer than that. I'm leaving Iwaki, but the people there will always make it feel like home to me. See you soon!

A Day in the Life

It's been a long time since I decided to share anything, and my girlfriend has been encouraging me to do this, so here it goes.

My life has been quite different ever since I came to Japan. I dealt with culture shock, working visa bureaucracy, the language barrier, and actually having 4 seasons just to name a few. It was definitely hard at first, dealing with the culture shock and language barrier, but it definitely got better especially after I decided to really dedicate some time to learning Japanese. But the biggest change in my life actually occurred when I started working my current job. And that is, a kindergarten English teacher.

Everyday is different. Yes, I only teach them 45 minutes out of the day, and then I actually go to a different site in the afternoon to teach English to older kids and sometimes adults. But I'm not just sitting around waiting to teach for those 45 minutes and then just leave. I'm around these kids all the rest of the time as well: during their morning exercise, playtime, snack time, craft time, and lunch time. I've seen these kids grow up really fast. They went from zero English to understanding me when I ask them to wash their hands, change their clothes, go to the bathroom, eat their food, drink their water, say "Thank you" and "You're Welcome," "How are you?" and "I'm fine thank you." And when they hurt each other's feelings, they apologize in English. Their sponge-like brains have continued to amaze me with each passing day. And this is something I never expected with this job. I never expected to feel the love I have for them, and the passion I have for wanting them to grow into responsible adults. I guess this is the closest I will ever get to parenthood without actually being a parent myself!

Aside from the usual morning exercises, lunch time, and English time, there are days with special events like 運動会 (undokai), 夏祭 (natsumatsuri),  Halloween, 餅つき (mochitsuki), and 豆まき (mamemaki).

Undokai or "sports day," takes place on a certain Saturday every summer and involves the kids participating in various events for "points" that lead to a certain team winning in the end. The points really do not matter and the tradition is meant for the kids to be active and I suppose, impress their parents?

One of the events my kids did was this ball  relay race. Their parents helped them push a huge ball around a cone.

Natsumatsuri is literally translated as, "summer festival," and it entailed an evening with various street vendors selling shaved ice, 焼そば (yakisoba), sausages, and other "festival-esque" type things. The kids also did this special dance, and we dressed up in special attire.

Halloween was obviously fun because we all got to dress up, and the kids were just ridiculously adorable.

Alice and the White Rabbit 

Witch and Rabbit 

Dinosaur 

Mario and Toadstool (and a sad Peter Pan, and Donald Duck)

Mochitsuki actually refers to the creation of mochi, but is especially important around New Year's Day. Every year at the kindergarten I teach (and at many other schools around Japan), we go to our auditorium and pound mochi to make a mochi soup. The kids also get to pound themselves. Well, sort of.

I'm pounding the mochi!

My kids are pounding the mochi!

Mamemaki is done during Setsubun, the day before the first day of Spring in Japan (February 3). It involves throwing beans (mame) at a monster or demon (oni). At my school, the bus drivers put on oni masks and chased the kids around in the auditorium while the kids threw peanuts at them. Then, the kids put on oni masks, and we got to throw peanuts at them.

Bus Driver Demons!

Demons being themselves!

And other than these special days and events, there's just the ordinary randomness that comes with being a kindergarten teacher.

Meet Seimu. I think he's a genius. 

He's 3 and he was able to write this pretty early in the year, before I taught colors. Keep in mind, he's Japanese!

Oh yeah, and he can do math too. I taught him how to say "addition," "plus," and "equals."

In the summer, kids were able to swim in the pool. It was really crazy trying to get them to change into and out of their swimsuits. They were basically running around naked in the classroom!

Sick kids or kids with worried parents had to stick to the "kiddie pool,"

Whenever we had fire drills, the kids had to learn to take the pad off their chair and put it over their head. They also had to cover their face with their pocket hankies!

Have you ever had a day were you just wanted to rip everything up and toss it in the air in frustration to let it all out? Well, my kids did...

And of course, there are various arts and crafts that make me proud to be their teacher.

One of my kids drew this portrait of me. Spot on, don't you think? 

One of my after-school 7-year olds gave me these cookies and said she wrote the English all by herself! 

雪だるま (snowmen) they made for the winter season!

Oh Seimu. 

Snails and Handprint 花火 (fireworks)

I just really like the smile on this face :)

These are just a few of the things I wanted to share. There are so many things I have experienced since starting this job and so many more things I hope I will never take for granted. I'm sure I will never have another job like this in my life where I get to observe and oversee the growth of tiny human beings. It can be crazy at times, but when a kid comes up to me and asks for something in English, it's all I need to keep going. Because that shows that my job means something, and that I'm making an impact in these kids' lives.