1 year in Japan

July 28th.

This will be exactly 1 year since I arrived in Japan to begin this latest chapter in my life and the second go-round for me in Japan.

I thought it would be good to reflect on the past year.

My wife and I arrived in the heat of the Japanese summer without a home, just my mother-in-law's house. I had no job, but some prospects. I had an interview scheduled for 3 days after I arrived with my current company, and I had some other appointments to make. I got a job almost immediately from the first company (but as I first posted in June, this was a mistake that I am still paying for). We had to find an apartment in another prefecture as well as get all the furniture and appliances too. All in 33-35 degree weather.

I worked in 2 different public high schools and now am in a public junior high school (for now as my company has kind of told me that I will be changing schools in September). I have gotten a part-time job to suppliment my income some more, but it is not too frequent, so I am in the hunt for another, or some private students. My ife is not working but concentrating on other things at the moment.

We have attempted to adopt a child here, but that is currently on hold.

We have taken a couple of trips in Japan earlier this year, first to Nagoya and Ise, and the second to Okinawa. Nagoya and Ise were kind of disappointing, because Nagoya Castle is not what I had hoped for (I am a fan of Japanese Castles from the Edo Period) and Ise Shrine is completely surrounded by a tall fence to prevent people from actually seeing any part of the shrine buildings apart from the roofs (essentially you have to pray to a portion of the fence). Okinawa was more interesting as I could visit yet another castle, Shuri-jo. This is a reconstruction, but still a World Heritage Site and completely different than any other Japanese Castle (due to strong Chinese ties). We also saw several memorials to the war too.

Now we are back to the time we arrived last year. Insanely hot and humid. Summer.

Got to do it all over again.