My first car and transitions.

I really haven't been keeping up with my blog posts. I actually have a few in my "drafts" but never finished them. There are a few posts where I couldn't fix the formatting properly though. Even one of my new year resolutions was to write at-least 6 non-lyric blog posts this year. It's the middle of July and I believe this is my first non-lyric one.  I probably should stop trying to make sure everything is 100% complete and just go for it!

So, I bought my first car today. EVER. Somehow, feeling slightly more like an adult. That's probably a good thing - recently I've been thinking a lot about my past and my memories (both good and not-so-good), wanting to return to past times - either to enjoy those moments in childhood, or wishing I could change something. Of course, it's impossible to go back to the past, but sometimes it feels like you can't help but wish you could; it's hard to change your thoughts and mood once you're set on that path. Amidst all this thinking about the past - many acquaintances and friends are getting engaged, married, having kids, buying their own cars and homes. It's normal, seeing as how I am now in my mid-twenties (although I'm not sure if I always feel this way, haha).  I am happy for them.  Sometimes I think, settling down and finding that someone now would be wonderful - that if it's the right person, that my life doesn't have to "end" as some people put it, but rather we would support each other to achieve our dreams. But other times, I think that moving forward in that direction is scary - not only can relationships be scary in a way, but also, I feel it means I can't call myself a "kid" anymore.  We only get older though - which isn't necessarily a bad thing.  Which means I should embrace actions or events that lead me to feeling or acting more like an adult. Such as buying a car ^^

Perhaps I'll do a post about buying a car in Japan. However, there are many posts about that already and there are other things I would really like to write about that hasn't been written about much yet.  There's many things I want to talk about, but I'm particularly interested in talking about Muslims in Japan, and Korea. Speaking of which, it seems like I never actually wrote an exchange report for when I went to Korea university. I was supposed to do that for my home university, but obviously that wasn't a requirement for me to graduate, so I guess I never handed it in. I remember writing it in my agenda very often - but it was often one of the last things on my priority list - homework and applications were more pressing.  I can't believe that it's been almost 5 years sine I left for Korea, and about 3.5 years since I left Korea.  So much happened in that year and half, both good and challenging; it's a place and period of time valuable to me. I've now lived in Japan for nearly 2 years.  It's very different than the life I had in Korea. I'll have to save that for another post, but I will say that life in Yatsushiro, Japan as an ALT is slower than life in metropolitan Seoul as a university student. 

I will also say that the lifestyle as an ALT, in my situation, is perhaps a challenging one if you hold on very tightly to the connections and networks you make.  In other words, it seems almost like a set-up for something steady, or semi-steady, but in reality, it feels like constant change if you decide to stay longer.  Every summer, you'll have fellow ALTs leave. In my case, half of the ALTs from Yatsushiro are leaving - and not only them, but some of these ALTs have wives and families, so it's a huge portion of our community here that is leaving. It's not only that though.  In Japan, at the end of every March, public school teachers MAY have to move to another school. Usually, they can only stay 2-7 years at any given school, if they have both their general teaching and specific elementary or junior high or high school certificate. If they only have their general certificate, they could move every year.  The thing is hired teachers usually find out around March 20th, and contract teachers find out even later - sometimes just a few days before they have to be at their new school at the beginning of April.  So you finally get close to other teachers at your school, even become friends with them, and then they have to leave.  Sometimes you continue being friends, but other times, dynamics change and for whatever reason, you lose touch with them. 

The environment at your schools also change as well.  This isn't a bad thing, but I think for someone like me who really likes people sometimes, it's hard to adjust to the new atmosphere, once the initial excitement of meeting new people dies down.  If you're the kind of ALT that either does the minimum and doesn't make much of an effort to be a part of the school community or be social OR you are really good at changing your feelings fast and not think about the past ( or really "saba saba" in Japanese), then it could be fine.  Also, some ALTs only have one school, which I think it's easier for them whenever March comes around.   You've had time to adjust to the new atmosphere, at the same pace more-or-less and together with the other Japanese . If you have multiple schools, I feel that the time it takes for you to adjust or get to know the teachers, will take longer, simply because you aren't there every day.  In general too, I feel that even if you are decent at Japanese, the amount of kanji (characters) in the staff room or around the school, explaining schedules, events, or just how things work, can be overwhelming. Then when you do understand, sometimes you aren't told of things going on in your school. I would say in most cases, it's not that the other teachers are purposely trying to leave you out, but it's often that they are so busy that they forget themselves, and especially if you aren't there every day, it makes the chances of them forgetting or missing getting information to you high.

Back to driving. I almost feel like...why didn't I get a car earlier!? It already seems so convenient for a price that isn't bad. I think cars in Japan are a lot cheaper than Vancouver.  Driving the distances where I would usually bike seem so long, as a driver looking at as someone riding a bike.  Somehow,  as a person riding a bike (or one that constantly uses a bike, even for longer distances),  it doesn't seem so hard or long. But as someone looking in, the bike ride does seem difficult and long.  I already feel ...FREEE. And that things will be a lot easier now that I have a car.  It will give me the freedom to go to further places without having to rely on train times, the kindness of friends, or ultimately just giving up going because it's too complicated to go without a car.

Until next time! ^-^