Fun Times!

I've really been enjoying my last couple of weeks here. Last Friday, a few co-workers from my base school came over to my apartment for a little get together. I told my friend Maiko, the art teacher, that I wanted to have some people over and she rounded them up! These are some of my favorite co-workers! All of them came to Ube Nishi (my base school) in April... so I've only had a few months getting to know them and they're really great! Actually, the calligraphy teacher isn't new, but I didn't really know her before the new school year started up again in April... I knew who she was, I'd just never spoken to her before. Anyway, we made a lot of food, drank a lot of drinks, and had a really nice night!

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For the 4th of July, I went to a rooftop party in Shimonoseki. It was really fun! There was a bbq, lots of food, fireworks, and this Japanese guy juggled fire! The night ended Japanese style with Karaoke and a ride home on the back of a bicycle.

As of tomorrow, I'll only have 1 week of work left. I cannot believe it. It's really sad to say goodbye. It's been a fantastic year overall and it's hard to believe that it's coming to an end so soon. Today, I taught my last class with a group of students who I've taught quite a bit throughout this entire year. Most of the students in the class were in the very first class that I ever taught. They are 2nd years now, but they were 1st years when I met them. My lesson plan was about the 4th of July and then we played a category game the rest of the time. At the end of class, they all surprised me and stood up to read a letter they had written to me thanking me for teaching them. After they read the letter out loud together, they sat down and 5 students held up cards that had the hiragana letters ありがとう written out (one hiragana on each card). That's "thank you" in Japanese. Wow. I'm really going to miss Japan... especially my students.