Elle's Adventures

I had a great night last night. Originally I had organised to go out to dinner and drinking with a teacher from Fukushima Elementary. He is also leaving Kiso for Yokohama, I suppose to be closer to his girlfriend. Yesterday I got a phone call from him to say that he had been speaking to the Fukushima Junior High Principal (who is retiring) who invited the two of us for dinner at his house. It ended up being a lovely dinner, prepared by his wife and daughter. I was lucky enough to be given a beautiful hair brooch thingy made out of old kimono; the Principal's mother's kimono actually, so it was very special. Izumi was able to choose one for his girlfriend too. We both left at about 9.30pm for Chikara. Luckily Brooke and the people she was with were still there; I had heard from Yuki that they were going to be there so I was hoping to say goodbye before I leave Kiso. It would've been nice to get there a bit earlier to talk more...and when I was a little bit more sober, oo...

A lot has happened lately. For a start, after my meltdown about having to leave Kiso, I was offered another job in Kani City, Gifu Prefecture. I will be teaching at three Junior High Schools, with occasional visits to Kindergarten and Elementary. A bit of a pity that it won't be a half and half mix like the past six months. However, after accepting the job I was offered an interview by another company in Nagano. They said that it was possible to find Dede a job, which of course is a very important thing for me. I ended up interviewing with them, and was extremely impressed by the system that they use to keep track of children's progress. I was all set to accept, but the downside was that the job they had considered interviewing Dede for had been filled, and that there was nothing at that time available for him. On the drive home this played on my mind a lot, and that night when they offered me the job I was so, so upset to turn them down. Unfortunately the reason did come dow...

A couple of days ago I received the bad news that my contract in Kiso-machi will not be renewed again. Apparently I had too many sick days off so the BOE were worried about me. I wish I had known that my getting sick would have had a negative impact on my chances of another job in the same area. I just can't believe that that was the only reason I can't work here again. When you go overseas you are bound to pick up bugs and illnesses you have never had before. Like I said, if I had known this earlier I would have gone to school feeling terrible. I thought that I was doing the right thing and now spreading the cold around. As I was driving to Kaida today (for the last time), I started crying. Thinking about all the lovely kids and the things they have said to me in the past week. The kindy kids asking me to come back and play soon, the kids at Ueda who have to move to Fukushima Elementary this coming school year. Those kids said they were scared about moving to a whole new s...