Hello, Sir!

Just wanted to take a minute to say hi and give you and yours an update. We are doing well, for the most part, although we are still a little financially strapped. But, there have been a few unforeseen additional expenses, so what can ya do, right? =) Regardless, we’re enjoying our new lives. Our apartment, though smaller than our house, is not small by any means. It is a three bedroom apartment with a large dining room and kitchen combo. It’s expensive, but we fit comfortably in it. We use one of the bedrooms as a living room of sorts, although we spend most of our time in the kitchen or outdoors. But, the area is very nice – everything we need is within walking distance. My school is only a 3 minute walk from our place, so that is great. We also have several parks in the area and have met a few couples and families, both Foreign and Japanese.

Kyla is doing well. She was a little upset about daycare at first, but she loves it now. She is starting to use Japanese here and there, although she is very shy when talking to other nationals. But, she is starting to understand it better and better every day. It’s really quite amazing. Jen and I are keeping busy enough at our schools. Her school is the number 1 in the prefecture, and mine is in the top 5, so our workload is a little challenging and our students are great. Still, we both feel like we have more free time because we’re not constantly trying to invent new ways to make ends meet and our schedules are stable. We have started trying to iron out a workout schedule and I’ve been enjoying running and biking around the area to learn where we are.

My Japanese, conversely, is coming back – but slowly. Ha! However, I feel that people are not pulling any punches, so to speak; they refuse to slow down and are not afraid to talk to me in Japanese. So, that is kind of a compliment, even though I only vaguely understand them half the time. Yet, I successfully got an emergency root canal last weekend, so that amazed me. I didn’t understand most of what the dentist said, but I got the general jist of it. =)

Regardless, all in all, we’re happy, and we’re glad we decided to do this. I feel like I’m making a difference, in some small way. I felt that way in the states when I was working in schools too, but I feel more appreciated here. And, in a way, I feel like my skills are being better used here; they’re more geared to this setting. I recently started teaching basic Japanese to some exchange students, and successfully got a “virtual exchange program” unit approved by my Principal and accepted by a fellow teacher in the states. I’m really excited about that, in particular! The idea is to connect groups of students from across the globe, and allow them to develop questions and response presentations for their counterparts, culminating in a video-conference in which they will share their presentations and engage in discussion and cultural exchange, while promoting international cooperation via technology for future use in the working world. If successful this semester, they said they may introduce it to several groups or classes next semester. So, I am working on eventually parlaying it into a program that several schools may be able to adopt. I thought it would be super-awesome to attract funding from various government education departments and international employers interested in developing an internationally experienced employee market. In other wrods, we’re still planning on being here for a little while. =) And thank you: in a way, I don’t think I could have gotten this far without you all. I hope this reflects well on your guidance, teachings, and the school.

How is everyone there?? I hope things are going well. Please tell everyone we said hello, and I will send pictures as soon as I can upload the bulk of them. Our internet connection is still lacking, since we do not have a router yet. But, we will get one within a couple weeks and we will have decent band-width. I wish you guys the best, and hope we can talk again soon! Perhaps we can try to arrange a skype session sometime?

KSN Chris