Well, my decision has been made to finish up on JET at the end of my 3rd year contract. They’ve recently changed the rules so that JETs can stay a 4th & 5th year, but I’m not going to take advantage of it. I’ve greatly enjoyed my time living and teaching here, but after 2.5 years I’m starting to get more than a bit burned out on things. Its time to move on and return to programming I think. So, since there’s only a little more than 6 months until I return to the US, I’m getting ready to do the job hunt thing again. In keeping with the times, one of the first things I’ve done is to make my linkedin profile. If anyone of knows me is on there as well, send me a message and I’ll add you as a contact.

I’m not counting Korea since all I’ve seen so far is the airport in Seoul. Still haven’t had the chance to hit the other countries in the region, but I have done more traveling in Japan than most Japanese I know. I figure I’m much more likely to visit the other countries at some other point than some odd spot here in Japan — might as well visit it while I’m here else I’m unlikely to ever get around to it.

After a week of “training” my brain with Brain Age for the Nintendo DS, I’ve finally gotten the score to match my real age (I started out at something like 71 ^_^;; ). That’s despite how amazingly slow I am at simple math, though that’s not helped by it having problems recognizing my writing on occasion. Also there’s something about how I say the word “blue” that gives it trouble during the Stroop Test (where you say the color of the word, not the word itself — which is the name of a color). My reading test results have been completely flat, at around 3.4 syllables/second. The passages they use are mostly older texts that have a different flow to them that makes them harder for me to read aloud. Aside from the tests, I’m starting to get into the sudoku that are included — so I can fit right in with the older guys doing their math puzzles on the train here…