525,600 Minutes -RENT "Seasons of Love"

Time flies when you're having fun! It has been exactly one year since I arrived in Japan and I can't believe how much has happened and how quickly the time has passed. It doesn't seem like all that long ago that Ally, Christine and I stepped off a plane in Narita Airport to be greeted by the smiling faces of Cindy and Dana. And yet, in the past twelve months, I've moved twice, improved my Japanese, started a new job, taken three amazing trips around Japan, and made some incredible new friends. On top of that, I was fortunate enough to be able to go home for a few weeks and see family and friends there.

I can honestly say that I've never felt more unprepared for a new job than I did when I first started teaching in Kumamoto. I had no classroom experience, no teaching certification, next to no training and, and no idea what to expect. The past six months have been a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, learn as you go whirlwind. I still don't really know what I'm doing, but I've gotten much more comfortable with going with the flow and figuring it out as it comes.

As with any job, there have been several times when I have wondered if this is something I should really be doing. The above mentioned lack of experience is, at times, daunting and a little disheartening. However, I have had two major “A-ha!”moments when I have only been able to sit back, smile, and say “This is why I do it.” The first was in mid-July when 11 of our junior and senior high girls entered an English speech contest. I spent about a month and a half with three first year junior high girls practicing pronunciation and memorization of a Japanese fairy tale translated into English. They worked SO hard and when it came time for the contest, they all preformed better than they ever had in practice. There are no words to describe how proud I was of them. I can only assume that it must be similar to what parents feel watching their kids play sports or perform in recitals.

Several of the girls competing in the IEC speech contest.

The three in front are the girls I coached.

The second “A-ha!” moment came later in July. Every year, the first and second year high school advanced English students have an English camp at the beginning of summer vacation. This year, we took 75 kids to a camp site just outside of Kumamoto in the mountains. We played several games, sang songs, and did a lot of activities (all in English, of course) and the weekend was a blast! The crowning moment, however, was teaching one of the students to play “Take Me Home, Country Roads” on the guitar. (Backstory: The Japanese LOVE John Denver and everyone and their mother knows at least the chorus to “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” Since it is a familiar song for most people, it's frequently sung at bars, for karaoke, at Japanese Oktoberfest, etc.) There was one boy at English camp who really wanted to learn how to play “Country Roads” on the guitar. Since Ally and I both brought our guitars to camp, he played Ally's guitar while we taught him the song with mine. After about an hour and half, he had learned all the chords (many of which he had never played before,) the strum pattern, and could play the whole thing without any coaching. In one evening, he accomplished what would take most beginners hours if not days to learn. It was really amazing to sit back and watch him figure it out and put the whole thing together.

 

Learning to play "Take Me Home, Country Roads"

English Summer Camp 2011 participants and staff

By no means do I want to make it sound like these are the only rewarding experiences I've had in the last year. Walking into class every day is rewarding. It's a fantastic feeling to walk down the hall and hear students shout “Arison!” or whatever grammatically incorrect (and occasionally grammatically correct) English they can think of at the time.

I can't really account for the last year, but I can say that being in Japan has been an amazing experience that I wouldn't trade for anything and I'm so blessed and so thankful for the opportunity I've been given.

HAPPY ONE YEAR JAPAN-IVERSARY TO ME (AND ALLY AND CHRISTINE)!!!!!