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...

Lately I've been feeling very on edge. It is already the 23rd of February. My current contract ends on the 28th of March. I still have not heard from Altia whether or not I will be offered another contract. Also, Dede has heard nothing. The company recruiting website was updated on the 21st saying that they still need to find 10-12 new recruits for this year. One good thing is that there are not any free positions in Nagano, which makes it seem like I will be getting this contract again. The problem is that I would rather a position closer to Dede; living on my own just sucks. But the main problem is that in the event that I don't get this contract again, I will be out of a job and a home here. What to do, what to do? All the jobs in other companies are getting snapped up quickly! It takes a long time, and is expensive to go to other places from here in Kiso. Ah well, things will work out. In other news, I went to Hakuba again last weekend. About to use my new snowbo...

Sorry for my online absence, but I have been very busy, and not busy at all. For a while I thought my laptop was dying, because it wasn't turning on :( I think it's okay now, fingers crossed. It's been a while, and I'm sure I will miss out a lot of things but I will try to remember the important parts...and this time I have photos. Goodie!  A few weeks ago I was in Hakuba again, riding the slopes (haha). I find it hilarious that I love snowboarding so much, considering my whole life I haven't really gotten into the whole 'loving sports' thing. I remember in my last year of High School a couple of friends and I hated sport so much we convinced the sport teacher to just let us walk around the town for exercise, rather than getting involved in sweaty, dirty sports. Now I feel it was a bit of a cop out, probably could've benifited from the exercise. Not to worry! And other than being a sport, it's a winter sport! I hate the cold, but I really enjoy g...

So on the 5th (two days ago on a Thursday) I went to Hakuba again to see Dede. This time I stayed two nights, because last time one just wasn't enough. I felt like I hardly saw him at all. I arrived at 3.15pm and then took a bus to Iwatake Ski Area, then walked straight to the lodge because Dede hadn't quite finished work yet. I waited and waited for him, but he didn't come until after 6pm! The owners had prepared tea and cake, so I ate and drank it all! Eventually he turned up with some friends, so I took a quick shower (to make them wait hehe!) and then we went to Happo. We ended up going to an Indian restaurant which was so, so yummy. Maybe the best Indian I have ever had! I had the eggplant and tomato curry and it was great. For some reason we never seem to get rice with Indian here though...it's a bit strange.  Needless to say we all had a drink or two then headed to a bar/club thing called Refuel. I didn't like it one bit. It was filled with smoke so imm...

The past week or so has been pretty busy for me, not to mention expensive! First, I had Brooke and Saito-Sensei over to my place for Christmas. They turned up around 2.00pm with food and we had a lovely lunch, and watched Elf (the movie). It was about 7.00pm by then, and I think we were all quite tired but decided to go to karaoke anyway! We ended up being there for around three hours. This was the second day of my cold, so my throat was a little sore by the end. The next day I had school and was feeling still a bit sick. The day after that was my last day of school  until the 10th next year. It was only a half day, but I was there until 4.00pm anyway. At 4.00pm I boarded a bus to Kaida with the other teachers for the end of year party - bounenkai. I had to buy a present; only 500 yen, but still, it added up to the price of the dinner - 6,500 yen!!! I ended up drinking far too much, was on the phone to Dede quite a bit as well, but it was a lot of fun. Afterwards some of us conti...