Happy Anniversary, Japan!

Today I have lived in Japan exactly 1 year. Aside from my very short trip home in January I have not left the country. I can't believe how quickly time has gone by. It seems like just yesterday I was fresh off the plane in Tokyo, jet-lagged and wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into. (I direct you to my first post from Japan)
July 29, 2007

July 29, 2008

And tomorrow I am going with my supervisor to Gifu city to pick up 4 of the new ALTs.

I can't believe how much my life has changed in the past year. When I first got to Japan everything was amazing and colorful. It was like the entire place was sprinkled in fairy dust. Though the winds of time have gradually blown that dust away, and now it feels more like life than a fairy tale, I can still honestly say that I love this place. Sure, the vending machines aren't quite the novelty they once were and eating a whole fish or squid jerkey isn't quite the adventure it once was, but I cannot emphasize enough how lucky I am to be in Takayama. More than that, being able to live and work in Miya and Kuguno, with my awesome staff and my crazy students.











I have made so many friends, met so many great people, and had so many amazing experiences, it's impossible to sum it all up in one post. But I can certainly try ^o^














I guess like anyone on this program I've had my ups and downs. A lot of difficult decisions had to be made, and there are always those sticky cultural misunderstandings and language barrier issues that arise when living in a foreign land. As my friend Daniel so eloquently put it, living here helps you discover what you are by showing you what you are not. Japan, like any other country, has it's sucky parts as much as it's fabulous ones. I think I've just been lucky enough to experience more of the good than the bad. So here's looking forward to another fabulous year v^_^v