RSSTwo years since I JET’ed to Japan… |
Yes, today is the two year anniversary of my arrival in Japan — 730 days. I’ve seen and done a lot of things, had many good and a few bad experiences. I’ve blogged about some of them here, but really just a tiny fraction (especially in the last year). I hope that I’ll write up a more reflective impression of my time here so far (but don’t hold your breath), but in case I don’t here’s a list of about 130 experiences I’ve had here over the last couple years. If I remember more, I’ll add them. Some are significant, some are pretty trivial, but its that combination that makes up life. I wonder how many more I’ll add during my remaining 365 or so days…
- taught English at two elementarys, two junior highs and two kindergartens
- worked with many teachers
- made lesson plans
- winged classes
- taught JHS classes all by myself
- taught demo lessons
- watched school plays
- watched school sports days
- helped with language festivals
- learned a little Japanese
- failed the JLPT 4th kyu
- drank a lot of green tea
- visited many onsens
- watched cherry blossoms
- been in a cave
- been to beach festivals
- been to JPOP concerts
- been to a local manga convention
- been to a local cosplay event
- went shopping in Akihabara & DenDen Town
- been to Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Kobe, Kumamoto, Okayama, Kurashiki, Beppu, Yufuin, Mt. Aso, Mt. Fuji, Kurakawa Onsen, Miyoshi, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Fukuyama, Iwakuni, Yamaguchi, Nagoya, Matsumoto and more.
- navigated around the country by myself
- taken ferries
- ridden many, many regular trains
- ridden the bullet train several times
- ridden roller-coasters
- ridden ferris wheels
- ridden streetcars
- ridden aerial cable-cars
- haven’t driven a car once
- flown in a helicopter over an active volcano
- tried to climb Mt. Fuji
- seen and smelled the “hells” of Beppu
- tried skiing
- visited the US once
- been to the US consulate
- haven’t left Japan for 1.5 years
- meet someone at the statue of Hachiko
- been to lots of work parties (enkais)
- drank lots of beer
- drank lots of sake
- drank some shochu
- grown to like sake
- eaten boar meat
- eaten snails
- eaten octopus
- eaten various weird bits of strange fish
- eaten lots of Japanese sweets
- eaten lots of curry rice and kimchi
- eaten Mexican food whenever I can find it
- eaten at conveyor belt sushi restaurants
- eaten at street-side noodle stands
- eaten at two Hard Rock Cafes
- eaten at McDonalds
- dated a lot
- had an intercultural relationship
- had an intercultural breakup
- stayed in business hotels
- stayed in capsule hotels
- stayed in love hotels
- stayed in internet cafes
- slept on a real futon
- slept on the floor of other JETs’ houses
- sang karaoke
- went bowling
- visited lots of art museums
- visited several Japanese gardens
- went swimming in the ocean
- gone clubbing
- gone ice skating
- gone to the zoo
- gone to the aquarium
- petted a penguin
- feed koi (carp)
- seen a tanuki
- ordered and eaten several crates of Cheerios
- watched movies
- watched sumo
- visited shrines and temples
- visited castles
- visited a hostess bar
- visited two Apple Stores
- folded paper cranes
- played UFO catcher games
- played arcade games
- played pachinko
- seen fall leaves
- went to festivals
- experienced an earthquake
- experienced typhoons
- endured snow and cold weather
- endured heat and high humidity
- seen lots of fog
- lost uncountable umbrellas
- played drums at rice planting festival
- worn a yukata
- dressed as Charlie Brown for Halloween
- dressed as a Twister Board for Halloween
- watched fireworks
- watched traditional kagura dance
- played taiko drums
- made soba noodles
- made mochi
- learned to cook okonomiyaki
- written meaningful emails entirely with icons on my cell phone
- played mud volleyball
- worn a suit more times than all the rest of my life
- been to many semi-useful conferences
- felt proud of my students
- been PO’ed at my BOE
- cried at graduation
- disturbed wa
- sorted my garbage
- read very little manga
- surfed the internet way too much
- posted occasionally on BigDaikon
- watched very little anime
- watched lots of CNN & BBC news
- taken thousands of photos
- lost weight
- gained weight
- shaved my head and beard
- celebrated two birthdays
- started feeling a little more middle aged ^_^;;
- been very sick with the flu
- seen a Japanese only speaking doctor
- used squat toilets
- blogged occasionally
- started an ESL video podcast
- worked on websites
- walked all over central Hiroshima city
- meet lots of new people
- talked with people from a wide variety of English speaking countries
- made a few good friends
- said goodbye to lots of people…
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