End of the Semester Letter

The last month has gone very well for me. The whole past five months have gone well with me, with a few ups and downs, which is to be expected for moving to a new country and living alone for the first time.

The middle of autumn was difficult. I was building my social network, and settling into a flow that wasn't just surviving, but actually nurturing and thriving. I lost about 15 pounds the first three months of my stay in Japan from a combination of stress, stomach issues that came with the diet change, and not always being good at remembering to go to the grocery or cook a meal.

Since then, things have settled down. I have daily feeling awe that I'm living in Japan, thankfulness for new friends I have made and old friends who help support me, and joy in the little things in life, like a good chocolate or a hot bath. I have had several excellent trips out into Japan (I'll hopefully get those Kyoto pictures up soon O.o). I have been called a hard worker by my co-workers, and developed and excellent joking friendship with two and a warm camaraderie with the others.

I don't plan to take much paid leave this Christmas Break. We get December 23rd off as a national holiday, the 24th and 25th are on the weekend, and then there is the New Years Holdays December 28th until January 3rd. My goal is to have a complete semester of lesson plans scheduled for next semester. (A syllabus? What's that?! (So far I've been planning my lessons week-to-week, without an idea of what I'd be doing the next week or the week after, and that is very nerve-wracking for me.)) There would be 6 half days from Dec 23rd until January 9th, and I think that's a good amount of time to clean out my desk, reflect on the past semester, and build up a syllabus for next year. It's nice to have a semester under my belt and to have done well at it. I hope the next semester is enjoyable and good and perhaps more relaxed than this one, though I know the new year will bring new challenges as well.