Welcome to Toyohashi

Sorry for not updating this blog for a couple of weeks. Things have been incredibly busy here in Japan.

Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone for their birthday wishes. They really brightened my day. My birthday coincided with my first full day of teaching at my new school and I have to thank the staff and the students for making the day so enjoyable and for welcoming me so warmly into their community.

Today was my day off and I spent it exploring my new home.

It's only a short walk north from my apartment to Toyohashi Park and Yoshida Castle.

Mukaiyama Park and Oh Pond are a little ways to the south...

The Yagyu-gawa River...

And finally, a couple of photos of the area around Toyohashi station.

I'm still getting my bearings, but I think I'm going to like it here.

Nagoya

Well, I've arrived.

I wish I could tell you lots about Nagoya, which is where I'm currently staying, but the truth is that I haven't seen very much of it. I feel a bit guilty not using my free day for sightseeing, but I arrived late on Saturday night, training started early this morning and looks set to be intense so it seemed that the best thing to do on Sunday was not a lot at all.

I'm sharing an apartment with three of the other trainees in my group, one of whom didn't arrive until late last night because his plane was delayed due to bad weather, so I spent Sunday relaxing in the company of the other two, both of whom are great. We did a little bit of exploring in the afternoon, around Nagoya castle (see photos) and the Sakae district, but mostly we alternated our time between sitting in cafes and sitting in the apartment. Not exactly the exciting news I promised you, but it's all I have for the moment.

The Final Countdown

As I type this, there are just under four hours to go before the first of three flights that will take me from Birmingham to Nagoya. Still time to change my mind. (I'm kidding. Probably.)

Before I go, I just want to thank everyone for helping me get this far. I keep getting people telling me how impressed they are with what I'm doing, but the truth is that I couldn't have done it without an awful lot of help. There were the tutors on my TEFL course who helped me get my qualification. The recruiters who a) offered me this new job and b) led me by the hand on the journey from accepting the offer to now. The staff at my new school (and I'm already thinking of it as my school) who have already been so welcoming. Everyone at my old job who put up with me while I was stressing about everything and in particular my manager who was extremely flexible when it came to taking time off to get things done.

And, as I mentioned in my previous post, friends and family have been supportive above and beyond the call of duty. Even if you don't think you've done much, I can promise you that you've helped a lot. Every word of encouragement is a little push that's got me that much further along the road and, when I cross the finish line, it's going to be because you've carried me there.

Don't know when I'm next going to have access to the internet so there may not be any blog updates for a while, but once I'm settled in to my new life, I'll update you all as to how I'm getting on.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

There's a lot to do in preparation for moving to another country. Visas to be applied for. Flights to be booked. A new language to learn. Old possessions to be disposed of or put into storage and new things to be purchased. One thousand and one little (and not so little) tasks that need to be completed prior to departure and only so much time in which to complete them. By far the hardest task, however, is saying goodbye.

For the past few weeks, I've been doing exactly that and every time I see a friend, colleague or family member knowing that it will be the last time I do so before I fly, it hurts. Some of these people I have known for years and years and years, others for only a matter of months, but everyone, without exception, has been incredibly supportive of me and of my ambition. It's really humbling.

Everyone sees this as a great big adventure for me (which it is) and I don't want to let anybody down or disappoint so I'm doing my best to be outwardly positive and enthusiastic, burying the nerves and the fears and that (small) part of me that doesn't want to go. Plus, I'm both male and British so a certain stiff-upper-lippedness is expected. But then there's a softly-spoken 'I'm going to miss you', that almost tips me over the edge...

And I know that in the age of the internet, with e-mail and skype and assorted social media, there's no reason why I won't be able to keep in touch with everyone, but it's not the same as seeing them in person. Not even close. That's just something I'm going to have to learn to live with.

So I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for helping me get this far, to tell everyone that I am really going to miss them and to ask you all to please, please, please keep in touch. I am incredibly lucky to have the friends I have and life wouldn't be the same without you.

Anyway, I've got to go. I've got something in my eye...