Time really does fly. I was just sitting at my desk in Korea, wasn’t I? Yet, just like that, I was sitting at my new desk in a new school preparing to teach English in Japan for a year. Kind of scary.

I didn’t actually teach any classes today, but I needed to go in to sign lots of paperwork and do some administrative tasks…like burning CD ROMs. After lunch I headed over to the university for an orientation with new teachers throughout the organization. With the exception of myself and two new foreign teachers, they were all Japanese. I’d say maybe 30-40 in total. Because of this, everything was spoken in Japanese. Believe it or not I was able to pick up a number of words from the speaker. I guess studying on your own can actually work.

Interesting thing was the foreigners were a couple, and the husband is from my original stomping grounds in New Hampshire. We both went to the University of New Hampshire and probably grew up driving similar roads. It was funny because we both mentioned that we graduated a “long time ago”. When he told me he graduated WAAAY back in 2008 I just laughed.

This new school I will be working at is very professional but very personable at the same time. I’ve been working a long time and have been in the full range of environments. This one seems natural and one that may be conducive to a decent year ahead.

Tomorrow (I work some Saturdays) I will go for a tour of the different schools in the organization. By next week I will be in the thick of lesson planning, newsletters, and teaching classes. Here’s to a great 12 months…or more.

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