Early on today at school Yamamoto sensei came to me and asked me about arrangements for returning to my country.
The JET program provides an airline ticket to Japan, and another ticket back at the end of your contract. It is a really nice deal, because it takes a lot of the burden off the participant, and allows them to get a decent start in Japan when they arrive without having to worry about being in debt for the cost of their flight.
I remember when I first arrived I was worried about the logistics of getting home – the flight would be back to Los Angeles, and I’d need to have somebody either pick me up there or fly up to San Francisco. I worried about what I would do after JET and where I would live, where I would find good Japanese food again, how I would keep up with my Japanese language.
If you’ve been reading this journal for a while you know that all these issues are pretty much resolved now. I haven’t thought about those feelings for a long time, but when they asked me about my return ticket this morning it really took me back.
If you are staying in Japan, you aren’t entitled to the ticket, and I’m not really interested in a one way ticket to Los Angeles anyway. I explained the situation, and everyone was happy and relieved that I wasn’t going to make a big deal out of not getting the ticket. I’ve heard stories of other JETs who get the cash for the ticket and then keep the money and stick around, so I’m sure they are always wary of some weird situation.
Late in the morning some of my students showed up in my classroom and waited patiently for almost 20 minutes for me to show up. Unfortunately for them, they were in the wrong place. Because the hallways are silent during the class they couldn’t move them back to where they were supposed to be, so their teacher had to track them down and teach them in my classroom. I went up there and said hello, and we chatted for about five minutes, and then I came back. For some reason this year has been full of little mistakes by either the teachers or the students, and we’re always having problems getting the right people in the right place. The last two years was pretty much trouble free – I don’t know what the difference is this year.
I’m home now and I’ve got a salad waiting for when Kuniko gets home. We’re trying to eat less, especially after the monster ham and avocado sandwiches last night. The salad is quite modest, really. Really!
