28 July 2013

A Year in Japan

One year ago today we were up early in the morning to take Tuffy to the airport, where she met up with other Seattle JETs, and boarded a flight to Tokyo.

Doesn't seem like it's been that long.

Seems like it's been forever.

She loves Japan. She loves her job (teaching English to Japanese high school students). She took part in some Japanese festivals, attended a couple of k-pop concerts, and did a little traveling around Japan. She had an ATM machine eat her bank book, and managed to do what was required to get it back. She had her bicycle stolen, found, turned in to the police, and eventually returned. Instead of MMA, which absorbed pretty much all her free time when she was here, she's doing judo. She found a dojo where she feels accepted and welcome, even though she's gaijin, and a girl.


Her sensei speaks no English, so she says they communicate using a patchwork of rudimentary Japanese, their common understanding of wrestling, and, when necessary, 'point and grunt'.


She extended her contract for a second year.

I had hoped her blog posts would motivate me to post here more often. That didn't happen. Apparently I can enjoy reading about her life in Japan, without feeling obliged to find something interesting enough about my very ordinary routine to reciprocate. If something exciting happens, I'll blog about it. Or if I feel like it. Whatever.

I'm looking forward to reading about another year in Japan.