>
Saturday, March 20, 2004
goodbye
on tuesday i had a farewell ceremony at shikitsu, since i mostlikelyprobablyalmostpositive won`t be returning in april. apparently it`ll be really rare if anyone keeps any of their schools since the ALTs now have to accomodate 20 more elementary schools in the new year. it was weird, the whole time i was at the school, i was pretty smiley and up. i got to walk under the the paper flower canopy =)) ramu in 1nen started crying which really surprised me... and i thought tanaka-san was going to start tearing too when i said goodbye. but i didn`t feel that affected...but as soon as i left and started cycling home, i realized just how much i will miss going to Shikitsu. it`s just a really great school. and this week i have to say goodbye to hirano and Joyo. this constant readjustment and transition to schools would really wear me down i think, if i had decided to stay another year. i`m a slow starter... it takes me a while to get used to and get comfortable with new things (AHEM Liz). granted, being faced with constant change, i think my learning curve has gotten dramatically steeper...but still, i think i have the soul of a snail =) [Look at that S car go! wheeee!! ]
but...
despite this...
I`ve been so lucky with all of my schools...I`ve really enjoyed being at work for 99% of the time (those slow-time afternoons at nankominami i could definitely do withOUT). so blessed to be able to work at hirano this term...and how much do i love japanese teachers?! so I`m pretty confident next term will be okay.
I`m leaving japan soon...
!!!
ots called this afternoon, right before i was going to turn on the vacuum cleaner. i had to go outside to try and find better reception, and was looking at the trees in chishima park when he told me that something bad had happened. at first my heart stopped beating and crazily i thought, did you lose your job??!! but then he continued in a calm voice, slowly setting up the fall, in that careful and clean manner he uses only for bad stories. my popo died last week, on my birthday actually. they hesitated telling me because of the date of the event, and this week everyone was rushing around, arranging this and that. thursday was the visitation, and a lot of my mom`s cell group came out. they found a nice funeral home, near sheppard and midland. popo was buried on friday, in graveyard in pickering.
new words, phrases to get used to.
it just feels surreal. like, i know it happened. but i can`t feel anything. I`m worried about ee though... apparently her and kuku were really upset at the funeral. everything just feels so disjointed.
mary`s grandfather died a few weeks ago. it`s almost like i felt more moved by that event than i do this. what`s wrong with me????!!!!!
argh.
i suddenly find myself with all of these loose ends...work, matt, popo, post-JET, faith... and i don`t know what to do with myself. i`m scrambling.
on tuesday i had a farewell ceremony at shikitsu, since i mostlikelyprobablyalmostpositive won`t be returning in april. apparently it`ll be really rare if anyone keeps any of their schools since the ALTs now have to accomodate 20 more elementary schools in the new year. it was weird, the whole time i was at the school, i was pretty smiley and up. i got to walk under the the paper flower canopy =)) ramu in 1nen started crying which really surprised me... and i thought tanaka-san was going to start tearing too when i said goodbye. but i didn`t feel that affected...but as soon as i left and started cycling home, i realized just how much i will miss going to Shikitsu. it`s just a really great school. and this week i have to say goodbye to hirano and Joyo. this constant readjustment and transition to schools would really wear me down i think, if i had decided to stay another year. i`m a slow starter... it takes me a while to get used to and get comfortable with new things (AHEM Liz). granted, being faced with constant change, i think my learning curve has gotten dramatically steeper...but still, i think i have the soul of a snail =) [Look at that S car go! wheeee!! ]
but...
despite this...
I`ve been so lucky with all of my schools...I`ve really enjoyed being at work for 99% of the time (those slow-time afternoons at nankominami i could definitely do withOUT). so blessed to be able to work at hirano this term...and how much do i love japanese teachers?! so I`m pretty confident next term will be okay.
I`m leaving japan soon...
!!!
ots called this afternoon, right before i was going to turn on the vacuum cleaner. i had to go outside to try and find better reception, and was looking at the trees in chishima park when he told me that something bad had happened. at first my heart stopped beating and crazily i thought, did you lose your job??!! but then he continued in a calm voice, slowly setting up the fall, in that careful and clean manner he uses only for bad stories. my popo died last week, on my birthday actually. they hesitated telling me because of the date of the event, and this week everyone was rushing around, arranging this and that. thursday was the visitation, and a lot of my mom`s cell group came out. they found a nice funeral home, near sheppard and midland. popo was buried on friday, in graveyard in pickering.
new words, phrases to get used to.
it just feels surreal. like, i know it happened. but i can`t feel anything. I`m worried about ee though... apparently her and kuku were really upset at the funeral. everything just feels so disjointed.
mary`s grandfather died a few weeks ago. it`s almost like i felt more moved by that event than i do this. what`s wrong with me????!!!!!
argh.
i suddenly find myself with all of these loose ends...work, matt, popo, post-JET, faith... and i don`t know what to do with myself. i`m scrambling.
// posted by naomi @ 4:07 a.m. 
