Saying Goodbye

I remember my leaving ceremony at my base junior high school like it was yesterday, despite it being almost exactly one year ago. (Has it really been a whole year already?! I’m in denial.)

My leaving ceremony was to be part of the end-of-term ceremony on Friday, July 24th – the students’ last day of school before summer vacation. I was asked to write a short farewell speech, which turned out to be pretty stressful – how do you sum up two years of wonderful experiences in only a few minutes using easy English?! I spent two weeks writing my speech, browsing multiple forums and JET blogs to get ideas along the way.

Knowing the level of English at my school, I made the decision to combine English and Japanese in my speech, using grammar points and vocabulary familiar to the students (and the equivalent Japanese grammar points that I had learned from team-teaching in English classes!). I wanted all of my students, including my Grade 7s who had only been studying English for three months at this point, to understand my speech. After weeks of re-writes and edits, the final version looked something like this:

(Brackets and grey text mark the rough English translations of the Japanese sentences. They were not included in the actual speech. If you need help with kanji readings,  I recommend Jisho.org.)

Good morning, everyone! Two years ago, I came to [city]. I was so happy. Especially, I had a great time at [school]!
[city]で過ごした2年間、私はとても幸せでした。特に、[school]で優しい人たちにたくさん会いました。(I was very happy for the two years I spent in [city]. Especially, I met many kind people at [school].)

To Kocho-sensei, Kyoto-sensei, teachers, and staff, thank you so much!
一緒に仕事ができて良かったです。私にしてくれたことに心から感謝します。校長先生、教頭先生、いろいろお世話になりました。(I’m glad that we could work together. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the many things you did for me. Principal, Vice Principal, thank you for taking care of me.)

To the students, I enjoyed English class with you! We made many wonderful memories.
たくさんのすてきな思い出を作りました。毎日あなたたちの笑顔が私を幸せにしてくれました。(We made many wonderful memories. Your smiles made me happy every day.)
I am proud of you. Please do your best!

Now, I’m going to go back to Canada. But I will never forget [school].
これから私はカナダに帰ります。カナダにいても[school]のことを絶対に忘れません。この学校に来ることができて本当に幸せでした。またいつかどこかで会いましょう！(Now, I’m going back to Canada. Even though I will be in Canada, I will never forget [school]. I am really happy that I could come to this school. Someday, somewhere, let’s meet again!)

Finally, I hope you follow your dreams!
最後になりましたが、皆さんがそれぞれの将来の夢に向かって、頑張ることを期待しています。(Finally, I hope everyone follows their future dreams and does their best.)
You can do it!　Thank you!

In the end, I was so proud of my speech and how I delivered it. I had wanted my speech to be true to my personality, and it was! I also surprised most of the students with my ability to speak Japanese; I had spoken to them only in English for two years, so to whip out my Japanese at my leaving ceremony was super satisfying. ;)

I even surprised my teachers – one of them approached me at my leaving party that night and commented on my Akita-ben (Akitan accent)! I think that was the biggest compliment I ever could have gotten. Arigatou gozaima’zu~ (*^_^*)

After I gave my speech, one of my Grade 9 students came up to my podium on the stage to deliver a speech to me – in English! – and gave me a lovely bouquet of flowers. That was the moment the tears started. I then exited the gym in true taijou fashion, between rows of my students facing me and clapping, while I waved and smiled and even gave two Grade 8 boys high-fives through teary eyes.

Saying goodbye to my amazing students was not easy, but I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect leaving ceremony. ♥

Checking In

My blog has gotten a fair bit of “press” recently (thanks to the Consulate General of Japan in Montreal’s Facebook post and the Yurihonjo City newsletter), so I thought it was a good time for a post-JET life update!

Remember in my last post, I mentioned I was already daydreaming about my next trip to Japan? That’s because I had just booked it! Fate (and Aeroplan miles!) were kind enough to allow me a week-long trip back to Japan in March. It was super short, but it was amazing – not only did I get to spend two days exploring Sendai and Matsushima (another Bucket List item!), but I got to spend a wonderful weekend in Akita with my favourite people, and even see my Grade 9 students graduate!

Matsushima, one of the “Three Views of Japan,” is famous for its 200+ islands all covered in pine trees. Even in March, the boat tour was fantastic (albeit chilly!) and had some stunning views!

Home sweet home in Yurihonjo! I’m sure you guys have missed pictures of this mountain just as much as I’ve missed taking them! ;)

Continuing with the theme from my last post, moving home has definitely not been the easiest transition – in fact, I’d say moving home has been harder than moving to Japan in the first place. After all, moving to Japan was fulfilling a 10-year dream and was full of excitement and much-anticipated adventure; moving back home was a regression to my life of two years’ prior, except this time without a dream to look forward to. Even now, nine months to the day since leaving Akita, I often wish I were back there instead.  Plus, it’s really hard to go from having a full-time job with a well-paying salary back to being a student!

That being said, lots of good, positive things have happened to me since moving home. I can spend time with my family in person again. I feel like I’ve become closer than ever with some of my friends. I met my boyfriend, who has been my rock and a bright spot in the dark. I’m almost finished my GIS diploma. I made excellent connections with professors at my university, which has led to me becoming a co-author on a (currently being written!) scientific paper. I’ve stayed in contact with my JET Programme Coordinator, with whom I worked at the JET Programme booth at my university’s Career Fair last September, and who has invited me to be involved in this year’s pre-departure orientation activities. Most importantly, I’m dancing again.

It’s those things that I try to think about when the post-Japan blues hit me. :)

It also helps that my hometown is beautiful!

If you are getting ready to leave the JET Programme, I do have some advice for you, especially if you’re moving back home:

• You will have changed, but it’s very likely that your hometown, your friends, and your family have not. Be prepared. Try to find a new light in which to see your hometown/country. Accept that it’s okay to grow apart from old friends. Understand your family’s position – that they’ve missed you, but also that you haven’t played a role in the family dynamics for however long you’ve been away, and it’ll take time for everyone to adjust again.
• Make an effort to keep your interests and the parts of your personality that developed and thrived in Japan alive. My biggest failure upon moving home was stepping back into literally the exact same life I had lived pre-Japan. There are no words for how unhappy that made me, especially after two years of growth and self-discovery.
• Set goals and have dreams that are going to make you happy. I had goals, but they were goals of what I thought should happen next, not what I wanted to happen next. As for a dream… I’m still looking!
• Talk about it. It’s difficult, but you’re not alone. Your fellow alumni can guide you into adjusting to your post-JET life. Or, if you’re not comfortable talking about it, then journal it! Blog it! Tweet it! Vlog it! Just get it out in the open – that always makes me feel better. :)

With only three months left before a new JET year starts, best of luck to everyone getting ready to leave the Programme. There’s a lot to do, but I hope you enjoy the heck out of your remaining time in Japan!!

Oh, and stay tuned to find out my experience with getting that lovely pension refund! ;)

Keeping my Japan-developed interests alive with coffee, sweets, and journaling – even on the other side of the world. :)

Home Again

I had an incredible 24 months in Japan on the JET Programme, but I think my last two months will go down as some of my all-time favourites.

…which, I think, is part of the reason why I’m finding it so hard to be home “for good.”

Beautiful Akita

I don’t really have a reason why those last two months were so amazing. It’s not like I had extravagant travel plans (a day-trip to Lake Tazawa, while so much fun!, is not extravagant ;)) and those two months certainly weren’t stress-free (moving suuuucks). But, in those last two months, I checked even more items off my bucket list. I ate all my favourite foods. I got closer to my JET friends and co-workers than ever before. I had incredible last classes with all of my students, whom I miss every single day. I made wonderful memories and left Japan feeling so happy and in love with the country and everyone in it–

–only to come home to the same old, same old.

I thought that I had everything in place for my return home – I’ve been accepted into school, I have a part-time job lined up, I’m back living with my parents – but isn’t that exactly what my life was like two years ago? Did those two years where I had my own apartment, my own car, and a full-time job in a foreign country, even happen??

Don’t get me wrong, my first Tim Horton’s tea tasted like heaven, and no other place in the world does fish & chips with dressing and gravy like Newfoundland, and there are new buildings and businesses open all over the place here to explore, and being with family and friends is nice – but it all feels, blah.

I definitely think that I am experiencing reverse culture shock. Now I just have to figure out how to deal with it.

…in the meantime, I’ve already started daydreaming about my next trip back to Japan. (^^)