With two and a half weeks remaining, my general impression has been that things are drawing to a very complete sort of end.
With our summer worker arriving next week, we’ll have one week or so of overlap. This way I can help with the transition (explaining classes, how to manage the facilities, and so on). So while the after-summer schedule is still undecided, personnel-wise it looks like everything is set for the next three months.
I’m not much for travel, so there weren’t many places in Japan I wanted to visit in the first place. Going to Tsukumi was probably the best trip, and that’s why I’m going back this weekend. Kyoto’s been recommended by several people, so I’m planning on leaving Okayama on Sunday and using Monday and Tuesday to do some sightseeing in the Osaka/Kyoto area. But I’m not really itching to see Kyoto—it’s more of, “Wow, if I spend more than a year here and never get to see one of the most historically significant cities in Japan, that’s kind of a waste, isn’t it?” I’ve also heard Tokyo is a good place to go—everyone seems to think I’d enjoy the anime- and electronics-infested Akihabara district—but I have no real desire to even visit Tokyo for a day. Too big and city-ish for my tastes.
It’s really hard to think of anything to do for any of the English classes anymore. In several classes I have to scramble for topics, and more often than not it’s really hard to get a conversation going. So it’s a Very Good Thing that I’m leaving the picture now, and someone new (ideally with new ideas) is stepping in.
I have to admit that it’s a little surreal to be less than three weeks from departure. I probably haven’t put much thought yet into the fact that I’m not going to be here from the end of the month. My mental focus still tends to stay with whatever’s next on the calendar, so when I wake up on May 29th and the next thing is my flight home, it’ll probably hit me. But I still think I’ll feel pretty good about leaving now. I’m actually glad I was only here for 13 months and not 24 as was the picture held by some people (here and in the States). Feels like good timing to me.
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David Schaab wrote on May 11: