Since I will be leaving for the airport tomorrow morning, today is my last day in Asago. It’s strange to think that very soon I will no longer be struggling to be understood in my little town. I think it would be normal if I were to say that I don’t know where the year went, or it feels like I only just got here, but that wouldn’t really be true. While sometimes it did feel like time was passing very quickly (the last month for example), other times it felt like each day was dragging on and on (such as during the winter). Also, the fact that I have seen and done so much in this last year makes it impossible for me to think of it as being short, because I have so many memories.

I wouldn’t say today has been the most exciting last day in Japan, but so far it has been good. In the morning I met Nohmi sensei at school and then we went to the bank to cancel my account. Since it seemed to be a pretty complicated process with a lot of sitting and waiting, we were able to talk a bit and I guess because I don’t work with her anymore she was noticeably more casual. She talked to me a bit about her thoughts on this year’s exchange program, and made it pretty clear that she wants me to meet up with the group when they come to Toronto. She had mentioned that before, but it was nice to know that it wasn’t just something she felt like she had to say.

Anyway, tomorrow I have arranged it so Matt will drive me to Himeji (my supervisor didn’t seem very confident this was a good idea, but I promised to give Matt very detailed instructions on how to get home by himself). From Himeji I will take the bus to Kansai Airport, and then a plane to Toronto via Vancouver. I expect to be pretty tired, but also for my family to be pretty surprised.

Yesterday was Kenji’s last day in Asago-shi, and today he flew back to the states. Mark, Matt, Kenji’s replacement Andrew and I met him at Ja-lan for lunch before he left. Also, on Thursday Andrew and I helped Mark and Kenji film a music video for their song “the Wad”, so I think Kenji probably enjoyed his last few days here.

Yesterday was my last actual day at Asago JHS, because I have enough summer holidays to last until I leave. It was a pretty uneventful day though, because I only had one hour of class, and that class was only 12 students. It wasn’t as sad to leave as when I left Okuganaya though, probably because everything wasn’t all at once.

This afternoon I went back though, because they wanted me to be there when my replacement arrived. Basically I think his arrival went pretty much the same as mine. He dressed up more than was necessary, and seemed a little bewildered by the Japanese greeting. After that we helped him get moved in, and then I took him to the grocery store and then to dinner with Mark and Kenji. I think in some ways it is a bit unfortunate for him that I’m still here, because I don’t think the Japanese teachers are really trying as hard. I know I am obviously better suited to get him ready for living here, but pretty soon I will be gone and won’t have had the same opportunities I had to get to know the teachers he will be working with. Anyway, even though I am pretty jealous of him for taking over my position, I will do my best to get him up to speed, and see if I can keep him away from just sitting at his desk with nothing to do (I am thinking some trips to Osaka, and maybe the beach are necessary to get him used to Japan).

Meghan left Japan this afternoon, and although she will be coming back for a job in Toyooka, I won’t see her again before I leave. Some personal stuff came up and she had to get a last minute flight home, so her departure was pretty stressful. Fortunately she was able to get everything taken care of and pack up and leave on time.

Our supervisor actually told me that since she was really tired from everything, that I would have to drive for her until she left. So I drove her a bit, but she went to the onsen by herself and got in a small car accident. I guess Nakashima was right. She was ok though, just broke a headlight.

Anyway, she was a great neighbour (translated, cooked sometimes, and even saved my life once), so I will miss her a lot.

This weekend was the Taj Ultimate Frisbee tournament, which some of the other JETs from my city, some Japanese girls, and I played in. Despite my assumptions that a tournament hosted by a bunch of JETs from Tajima (there is another team from around here that includes basically everyone but the people on my team) would be a pretty low key thing, there were 300 players, some coming from as far away as Tokyo.

Our team, “The Wad”, consisted of Mark, Kenji, Meaghan, Mario (Kenji’s friend from the states), Mario’s girlfriend Wendy and her two friends Yui and Haruka, two guys we picked up from Shikoku, and myself. Before this weekend, the two guys from Shikoku were the only ones to have ever actually played ultimate frisbee, and the Japanese girls had never actually thrown or caught a frisbee before.

The Wad

Our first game was against Tajima Gyu (the other local JET team), and they beat us. Then we played a Japanese university team, and they really beat us. Then we started winning games, because we learned how to play. In the end we played Tajima Gyu again, and beat them quite decisively. We ended up placing 9th in the entire tournament, which is way better than last place like I expected.

Last night a bunch of other ALTs and I went to McDonalds, because Mark and Kenji thought it was necessary for everyone to try the Mega Mac (basically two big macs in one). To make sure the evening was memorable, Kenji downloaded “I’m in love with a McDonald’s girl” by Weird Al Yankovic, which he played on Veronica’s portable iPod speakers as he and Mark danced into the restaurant. Mark brought his camera, and while we were all ordering our “Mega Mac setto”, he filmed Kenji explaining to some Japanese girls that it was Mega Mac day, which meant they also had to buy Mega Mac sets. The burger itself wasn’t actually as gross as I expected. It was, however, much messier and more difficult to eat than a regular big mac.

Mega Mac

When I move back to Canada, I will be going to U of T for Teacher’s College, and living with Marla downtown. Since I’m pretty far from Toronto at the moment, Marla had to find us an apartment herself. Although it was very stressful for her, she was able to find us a really convenient place on Gloucester Street, which is really close to the university for me. She sent me some pictures, but they don’t really show much because the place is unfurnished and pretty standard looking right now. But here is a map:

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Since I will be leaving Japan in exactly 34 days, I have started preparing for my departure and it’s not proving to be very simple.

I have booked my ticket, and submitted the receipt to get reimbursed. Yesterday, however, the travel agent sent me an e-mail saying I had to pay more now because the cost of fuel has risen. That sounded pretty ridiculous to me, but I told my boss anyway, who then said they couldn’t pay me any more because they have already done the paperwork (they’re really accomodating that way). So then I e-mail the travel agent a few times, and in the end (maybe due to calling them extremely dishonest)they said I didn’t have to worry about any extra costs.

I was given a checklist of things to have done before I leave, albeit written entirely in Japanese (again, the BOE bends over backwards for us). I have to cancel all my utilities (maybe, or just change the name or something), close out my account, and stop my cable/internet/cell services. So, I asked for help from my teachers, and they seem pretty confident that I can just go and talk to these service providers myself. I’m not so confident, so I will bring Meghan with me.

Anyway, this is proving to be a bit more annoying than I would like for my last month here. 

The other day in class I noticed that the next story the san nen seis would be reading was about Sadako and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. This unit was also the first that I did with my students when I got to Japan, so it really made me realize how soon I will be leaving.

Next Friday will be my last day at Okuganaya Elementary, and the following Friday will be the last day of classes for Asago Junior High students before summer break. Since this week is basically all tests, and the week before a break has always meant no classes for me, that means I only really have one more week of classes with my students. I will still be seeing students from Asago JHS when they come to school for club activities, and Nohmi sensei told me today that I would teach a special class with exchange students, but it is still weird to know that my last classes are coming so soon.

I went to the washroom last night and saw this stuck to the outside of my window: