Blogs from Ehime, Japan, Asia

Konnichiwa, von Kyushu aus sind wir nach Hiroshima gefahren und haben von Natur auf Geschichte umgeschaltet. Mit Hiroshima verbindet jeder unmittelbar den Abwurf der ersten Atombombe 1945, und in der Tat steht Hiroshima ganz im Zeichen dieses furchtbaren Ereignisses. Das heisst aber nicht, dass die Stadt ein furchtbarer Ort waere und nur Truebsal geblasen wird.　Tatsaechlich ist neben dem Gedenken Frieden das alles bestimmende Thema; das Beduerfnis nach Frieden ist in Hiroshima besonders gross, und es gibt viele Aktionen dazu. Von Hiroshima aus haben wir einen Ausflug auf die sehr huebsche huegelige kleine Insel Miya-jima gemacht. Auf dem Gelaende des bekanntesten Schreins hat gerade eine traditionelle Hochzeit einschliesslich traditioneller Tanzdarbietung stattgefunden. Nach dieser faszinierenden Darbietung haben wir die hoechste Erhebung erklommen und eine phantastische Aussicht... read more

This is my last blog entry. I decided to make it a kind of "best of" list. I've posted all of my favorite photos I took during my two years teaching in Japan. In addition, I have a few lists I made during my last couple of months in Japan: my opinion of the best things about Japan and the worst things about Japan. I realized that a lot of my favorite things and least favorite things about Japan involve food, so I made a separate list: My favorite food in Japan that I can't get easily in the U.S. and Food I miss from the U.S. The items on the lists are in no particular order. Enjoy! Best Things about Japan: -tatami floors -practical bicycles -traditions (music, tea ceremony, ikebana, art) -festivals -public transportation -enka ... read more

Well, what can I say? This is it. The end of my two years in Japan. The end of my life as Jennie-Sensei, as the only white person in the community, as the first woman to come here to teach English, as that weirdo who got countless stares but even more cheerful greetings, as an independent woman taking on the world. Obviously, the past two years hasn’t been all adventure and enlightenment. There was a lot of loneliness, feelings of not fitting in, frustration with language, culture, coworkers. But as a whole, these last two years were exactly what my predecessors said they would be: a life-changing experience. Not only have I opened my eyes, mind, and heart to ways of the world I never knew existed, but I have also had the time (a LOT ... read more

Note: These last few blog entries are extremely overdue. I am posting them about three months after these events took place. With only one more week of school left before summer vacation, and the temperature and humidity going up, up, up, school life on the island of Yuge is going out with a bang. Not that the students aren’t studying as hard as ever and us teachers aren’t delivering our regular lessons, but in addition to the daily academics of school, we are taking advantage of the summer and our beautiful island in the Inland Sea. And with only two weeks before I fly out of my life here and back to the homeland, there couldn’t be a better way to end my two years of teaching here. At my junior high school, we’ve been training ... read more