The Izu Life: My Last Day at School

Today is my last day of school. My apartment has been inspected, accounts closed, and tearful goodbyes bid. It's time for this proverbial (and perhaps literal as it is my middle name) "Alice" to come back up out of the rabbithole and return to the place where everything makes sense (even if they walk up-side-down there). 

Emails have been exchanged with my successor. She is at the beginning of her journey now, and I am at the closing of mine. So-and-so@blueyonder.co.uk will soon be the one living in a place that makes little sense, and (supposing that our positions are to be reversed metaphorically), that means I am the one headed back to the "blue yonder."

It's weird how things have come full circle like that. I found some leftover omiyage from Australia which I had brought as a gift for my colleagues on my very first day of school. Now, on my last day, I will give them away to the people who have helped me most in these past few hectic weeks. Weird. 

On Monday, I gave my farewell speech at the closing ceremony in full yukata. Whilst choking back tears, I implored my students to consider living in a foreign country. I know from first hand experience that doing so is one of the most challenging and rewarding things you can do with your life. 

Me in a yukata which the school actually bought for me as a leaving present!

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be travelling around Japan with my mum. Then, its home to Australia. And then what? A job? More travel? I'm still not sure. I guess I just gotta get back out there. Out into the great blue yonder...

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Thank you to everyone who read, commented and hopefully found some useful information on this blog! I'll still be posted bits here and there over the next few weeks and months...

Some Site News

As you may have noticed, posts are starting to dwindle on this blog and this is largely due to my busy work schedule what with my students heading into exam week. I only have one month left in Japan and a lot of my time is being taking up with exam marking, and when I am not doing that, preparing to return home. Due to my busy schedule, I have had to halt regular posting on this blog. I will probably be posting in drips and drabs when I have time  over the next month but after that and when I return to Australia, this blog will officially cease to be. Let this day mark the beginning of the end for AussieOnTheIzu.blogspot. 

Picking green tea back in June.

Japan has been an amazing experience for me and I hope you have enjoyed and found use in my posts as much as I have enjoyed writing them. I'm sure I will continue to blog or write in some capacity elsewhere after I have settled in Australia so stay tuned. Thank you so for all of your support over the past couple of years! 

Tops Tuesdays: Ten Things I Wish I Knew Before I Came to Japan

My first few months in Japan were a whirlwind. Most new JETs get a few days to recoup from their jet lag, participate in orientation and training, and make some new friends before they begin teaching. I hit the ground running. Straight from the airport, I was shuttled to my new workplace and, bleary-eyed, introduced to my new colleagues. I was expected to start work the next day bright and early. No orientation for me. I could see my jet lag was going to become very drawn out and turn into JET lag so to speak. 

It took a long time to adjust emotionally after that. I took even longer to make friends because I just didn't know where any other ALTs were. Looking back, there are many things I would try to do different. It was a difficult set of circumstances, but there were options to make that period in time more bearable. 2011 turned out to be one of the worst years of my life. But luckily, in 2012 I figured a lot of things out, and 2012 turned into one of the best years of my life. If only I had known in 2011 what I know now, things could have gone much more smoothly...

The Izu Life: My Very Last Culture Festival

Last weekend was my final chance to experience a Japanese high school culture festival. The kids put in a lot of effort and produced a lovely cultural festival for the public to enjoy. Many seemed to sense that this was one of their last chances to interact with me freely outside of a classroom and were very courteous and kind. So I would like to say thank you to my students for making my final cultural festival a memorable experience. Check out some of my favourite pics of the cultural festival after the jump...

The Izu Life: Start of Term and New Beginnings

This week, I began my final semester teaching English in a Japanese High School. It has filled me with a sense of nostalgia. In a little over 3 months I will return to Australia. It's mind boggling to think how quickly the end of my contract is approaching. At this point, I have been living in Japan for a little over 2 years. It honestly feels more like 6 months have passed since I have arrived. Everything feels like it is happening so fast, just as I was told it would. 

Image Source.

The Izu Life: After JET Conference

This past Tuesday you may have noticed there was no "Top Tuesdays" post. That's because I was attending the After JET Conference in Yokohama Monday ~ Wednesday. The conference was fantastic for preparing JETs for their return to their home country and I learnt a LOT! Stay tuned because over the next few weeks I'm going to share some of the wisdom I acquired for those of you who are interested and/or were unable to attend yourselves.

Travel Log: Bohemian Shimokitazawa and School Marathons

So last week was the school marathon. All the kids gathered at the front of the school and set off running on a 8 km course. This is an annual event at many high schools around Japan. Competition is high so many students will push themselves to their absolute limits, often collapsing at the finish line. That is how seriously this event is taken...

Check out some pictures after the jump!

Tops Tuesdays: Final Exams

Image Source: http://savingjapan.net/category/features/

The school year is winding down for a lot of 3rd years who at my school are only required to attend a half day of school from now on. Last weekend, many students took their final entrance exam for university. Despite the fact that a few have already confirmed their attendance at certain colleges around the country, a large portion of the student body is still relying on the outcome of this exam to shape their future. All the stress of end-of-year exams (which can for some teens drive them to the edge of reason) has finally abated and students are beginning to relax before their first university classes begin in April. 

It also means I have to say goodbye to a great bunch of girls that I have gotten to know over the past couple of years. Every day for the past year, I have eaten my lunch with a small group of 3rd year students who wanted to improve their English speaking ability. These girls will be moving on to bigger and better things after the school year ends. I was able to get to know each of them a little better and I appreciate the small about of insight into the Japanese teenage experience I managed to glean from them. 

Now that this small "lunch club" is breaking up (because the 3rd year students usually leave school before lunch time now), I want to wish all of my students good luck on their final exam result, and to my girls: I hope we will have a chance to meet again one day.

Travel Log: Roaming in Southeast Asia (Part 1)

I arrived at Bangkok's international airport at 9pm, already braced for the intense humidity and dangers of Thailand's capital city's streets. After being waived through customs without being stopped at all, I located the taxi rank on the lower level of the airport having successfully navigated the barrage of taxi touts at the arrival lobby. Stepping outside, the humidity hit me like a wall of heat. A sign blinked at me: 'Welcome to Thailand.' I greeted the lady sitting at the registration desk for the taxi but had to wait a minute or two before she acknowledged my presence: I wasn't in Japan any more. The taxi driver guided me to his vehicle and, once seated inside, asked me a question in Thai (I knew it was a question because he was looking at me expectantly). "Uh, no Thai," I told him. He nodded. The lady at the desk had given him my hotel's address so off we went.

The Izu Life: Culture Festival!

Last weekend was the Bunkasai (Culture Festival) of the school where I work. The kids had an amazing time! You could tell they were much more genki than usual and I found they where much more open to me and the gibberish I speak than any other day. Many ran up to me to have full conversations in English which is like pulling hen's teeth to get them to do during class! For many students, the Culture Festival is the event of the year. And so, the students worked all week after school, sometimes late into the night, to prepare their classrooms to serve as haunted houses, cafes and project displays. Enjoy some pictures below!

The Izu Life: Enkai Etiquette

I’m really lucky that I work at such a relaxed, laid-back school. They don’t really care what I wear to work, if I’ve still got nail polish on from the weekend, or if they catch me a couple of times sneaking a peek on Facebook. Because everyone is so easy-going, it makes for some enjoyable enkai (“staff party”) experiences with these fellows (mostly because alcohol has been thrown into the mix). When I first arrived in Japan, I was fearful of my first enkai, sure that I would commit cultural faux pas in extreme! Well, enkai season is upon us so I decided to write a post to help guide any noobs through the choppy waters of social niceties and Japanese drinking customs…