It's Thursday afternoon. It's 30C in the staff room - aircon is only used in August, so everyone is left to sweat and fall asleep. This is my last day at Toyohara ES. I've only been here for one year, so not long enough to develop a true attachment to the students or staff. The kids at the schools I left last year felt like my own children - I'd seen them grow up, if only for a couple of years. I felt like I had helped some of them come out of their shell and shown others how to treat people with respect and be polite. I doubt I will have another job where the people I'm working with hang out of the window to say good morning as I walk to school. I say goodbye to Yamabe ES tomorrow.However, leaving the schools is emotional. Part is that I will miss the students, and even some of the teachers, but partly is that I know my time in Japan is coming to an end. It's been an amazing three years. Life anywhere becomes routine after a while, but I am still fascinated by this country. I learn something new every day and the language is a constant battle. It's hard to know how well I can speak Japanese, but I can go out of an evening with my Japanese friends and speak pretty freely. How did that happen? I didn't know my konnichiwa from my karaoke when I came here, but I feel like I've given the language a fair crack.
I have very mixed feelings about leaving. I will miss many things, others not so much. I am looking forward to being back in my home country again and close to my family, but there are aspects of life in the UK that I'm not so keen to get back to.
Some people say that the world is a book, and if you don't travel, you only read one page. I'm very glad to have read the Japanese page. I may even come back and re-read it sometime.
