New Year, New Me?

Sorry wrote this yesterday so the dating is a little off, but enjoy!

The trimester opening ceremony is this morning and while it is the second trimester, the longest of the three, and therefore insignificant to most of the staff and students, to me and my fellow JETs, this marks the beginning of a new year and the end of an old year of our time in Japan.

I can't help remembering this time last year when I looked around confused while for the first time since I had been in Japan the other teachers showed up in suits and hustled the students around the school. I think this might have been the first time I saw all of the students. It was a little scary and very unnerving then, but now I am relaxed with a schedule in front of me that I can actually read while I wait patiently for the opening ceremony to begin. Now I know I have to walk up the stairs to enter the gym from the second floor since there wont be enough outdoor sandals for me to change into to make the walk outside to the gym. And, I know I have to bring a pair of little socks to wear over my feet so I am not barefooted in the gym.

The ceremony has just finished and all I was thinking about was how different it felt for me this time around. Not solely because it was my second time experiencing it, but because of other experiences I have now had in my time here. A few weeks ago, for instance, I participated in my very own Japanese opening ceremony. Complete with lining up one behind the other, bowing, and aligning ourselves with our arms outstretched in front of us, all in unison. It was a volleyball/baseball/table tennis tournament between teachers in three different regions and I was on the volleyball team. We ended up getting second place overall and when we received the certificate, all the teachers thought I should have it. My first Japanese participation certificate. These things are such a waste of money on the city's part, but makes for a cool omiyage for me. Either way, the team also made me and another teacher participate in the opening ceremony as representatives of all the participants pledging to the city and head of the tournament. Watching the kids do just that this morning brought about slight nostalgia this time, instead of confusion and awe.

I feel like that about summarizes how this year will progress for me. I will see everything again for a second time but instead of thinking 'how wonderful and new' I will think 'Oh it's like last year and this is the last time I will see it.' Coming into Japan knowing I would be here two years left me with a bit of lee-way concerning attending events and keeping my eyes peeled for new things because I knew if I missed something I would be there for it again the next year. As summer flew by and festival after festival encroached on my test date, I had to make sacrifices on either studying or fun to try an fit everything in, knowing this was the beginning of the end of my time here. Sept. 1st has arrived and thus my 13th month in this magical and confusing country and it is my job this year more than ever to experience everything I can before I take the next step in my life, one that will likely having me working in windowless rooms for the next 10 years while I try to be innovative and save lives. Whether I get into med school this time around or not, Japan will very quickly become the past and I need a collection of memories to keep locked away for those bound to happen bad days in the next quarter century of my life.

Japan has taught me a lot about... everything. But there is still so much more to learn and experience. Come on guys, let's live it up, because we only have 11 more months to do so! Love.