Spring Is In The Air

Again, I have neglected my blog for almost a month! It has been really busy lately as April seems to be the beginning of the life cycle for all Japanese people. We had so many new students join my school this year (probably because I'm an awesome teacher! *LOL*) but along with this came many class changes, new students who don't understand my tough love approach and even a whole new teaching environment. The daycare that is below my apartment (owned by my boss), where I have been working in the morning since 2005 has closed. A few new cheaper daycares were opened in Moriya by the city hall and as of April 2009 we had 0 students enrolled so my boss shut it down. I moved my whole English class and everything in it from the apartment beside mine (where I used to teach) down to the daycare. The room is a lot more spacious which I'm really happy about (so are the kids!)

I have just recontracted for what I hope to be my last year and a bit in Japan. I'm hoping to return to Canada by July 2010 at the latest to begin my life back home and start working on new dreams/goals. I'm both excited and anxious about this but I'm sure I'll land on my feet!

April has so far been full of ups and downs. Most of the downs have to do with the stressful time at my job but things seem to be calming down now which is great. I went to the Kawasaki Penis Festival on April 5th with Daryle, Jarek & Liyan and had a really great time. It was my first time to go there and Daryle's fourth. We actually were interviewed by an online news website and might be on the internet as I type this. After the festival, we went to Yoyogi-koen for hanami (cherry blossom viewing). It was quite nice! Brita invited me to a huge hanami picnic party she was having in Yoyogi-koen on April 12th and I went to that as well. I got really drunk on whiskey but had a great time and met a whole bunch of new people. I was also very happy to see my friend Lauren again!
The biggest thing I am looking forward to currently is my upcoming Golden Week vacation which spans from April 29-May 6. I don't really have any solid plans yet but might be going to the Mount Fuji/Yamanashi area with Daryle & Liyan to see Fuji and go to Fuji-kyu Highland Amusement Park! Should be fun! More than anything, I'm just looking forward to a break from the students and some time to relax. I need to refresh and re-energize! Hope everyone is having a great beginning of spring! :)