Shuppaaaatsu!!!! シュッパーツ！

A little more than a year ago I returned to the U.S. after almost 6 months abroad in Japan. Studying in Japan was a goal I had set for myself about one and a half years prior to actually achieving it. But, the goal was not just to study in Japan, that would be easy. What I set out to achieve was closer to complete immersion in a culture, place, and language completely different from my own. What better place to achieve this than in Japan? The culture is obviously extremely different. The place, is the other side of the planet (and not europe). And, as for the language, it's not just that it is different or difficult, it is that Japan is a place where the only way you're really going to be able to communicate, make friends and live you day to day life is to learn and use the language. So few people speak English fluently that if you want to go anywhere other than the tourist destinations you have to speak. Perhaps studying abroad wasn't enough, it was still too sterile and there were still too many people there to hold my hand just in case. I wanted to live in a foreign country like a native, to live and work like they do, and to experience what things might have been like to be born 'on the other side'. So, I made a plan to return to Japan the following year.



A little more than a year after my return from Japan I have graduated from college with a degree in Computer Science. But now, I'm leaving for the airport in 4 hours. I'll be returning to Japan where I will teach English to elementary school kids (an obvious departure from my main area of interest and study until now, for which, I received regular criticism from my parents). I will be living in the city of Nisshin (日進市). Nisshin is about a 30 minute train ride from Nagoya (名古屋市) which is where I studied on my previous trip and is exactly where I had said I wanted to be. Yappari, I got what I wanted and did exactly what I said I would do. Tonight I am officially re-starting my blogging habit, as a more personal way for people to keep in touch with what's going on with me while I'm living overseas.

I received requests for more video blogs, which I will attempt to deliver, starting with a tour of my apartment as soon as I get moved in. Hopefully, I'll be able to take some videos around Japan and share with you what I both love and hate about the place.

Take Care Everybody! I'll probably be seeing some of you around X-Mas time!