It seems keeping a blog is a bit like having a pet: it needs to be cared for and fed regularly or it will die. Hopefully my lapse in feeding hasn't completely killed my blog (and my dear readers)! I vow to get back on the horse and blog faithfully these last few weeks we are in Japan.
Here is what has kept me from blogging:
1. English teaching and babysitting hit highs Feb-March and I found myself busy nearly all day every day! I was babysitting nearly 15 hours a week, and had about 10 weekly English students. I also started teaching on Friday afternoons for Japanese 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders at an English school. Recently one of my babysitting charges started Japanese preschool, so I now have a bit more time.
2. We initiated a spurt of weekend excursions! Since we found cheap rail tickets which were only good through the school vacation period ending on April 10, we tried to maximize our traveling during this time. The weather has also been a little more amenable to traveling and we realized that our time in Japan is fleeting, so we got moving!
Here is where we've gone:
March/April:
Weekend 1: three day trip to Hiroshima
Weekend 2: overnight trip to Koya-san, birthplace and mecca of the Shingon Buddhist sect, to spend the night in a temple
Weekend 3: hanami (cherry blossom viewing) picnics with friends in Kyoto since the blossoms were at their peak
Weekend 4: day trip to Kanazawa, a city with one of the top 3 gardens in Japan followed by a day trip to Ohara, in the hilly outskirts of Kyoto, to see another temple with Jim's coworker
Weekend 5: day trip to Osaka (nearby city) with Jim's coworkers followed by a day trip to surrounding countryside and a small castle/town on Lake Biwa with two of my students
Weekend 6: day visit to a sake brewery and tasting in south Kyoto with Jim’s coworkers, lunches and dinner with Japanese friends, visit to Roan-ji, a famous zen garden in Kyoto
Whew. Jim and I joke that we need Mondays to recover from our busy weekends these days!
3. Finally, the remainder of my mental energy has been devoted to trying to make a decision about graduate school. After lots of consideration, I have finally decided to accept an offer from Rutgers University Graduate School of Education. Starting in September, I will be a PhD student and Teaching Assistant in the learning sciences with a focus on environmental education. It is a relief to finally have made a decision about where we will be living for the next few years (probably five) though it is not without a little sadness for it means we must move from the San Francisco bay area where I have lived for 4.5 years and Jim for most of his life. Thankfully, Jim has been incredibly supportive and we are both looking forward to yet another new adventure. This new adventure will begin with shipping stuff from Japan, packing up stuff in California, and then moving it and two cats across the country…At least our life isn’t boring! Stay tuned…
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