Tuesday was a holiday, celebrating the spring equinox. I was happy to take the day off, and because Kuniko was free too it was that much better. We didn’t do much all day but sit around the house reading in the kotatsu, eating up leftovers from the refrigerator, and relaxing.
I have been reading a lot of books in English lately, and it is a real pleasure to read at full speed in English after taking months and months to finish a Japanese novel. I spent most of Tuesday reading “Memoirs of a Geisha”. It’s my first time reading the book, and it is a lot of fun to read.
Monday the principal of my school came to me with a job posting – the prefecture is looking for a couple of people to work as “program coordinators” starting next year. The principal read the job posting to me, as it was all in Japanese. Of course, he read it in Japanese, so it was still a struggle to figure it out. As for the job duties, it sounds like a lot of communication between ALTs and the powers that be, and putting efforts into internationalizing various government branches. No teaching.
I meet all the requirements, except for one: exceptional Japanese language skills. I think I have passable Japanese skills – certainly not exceptional. So, on Tuesday I thought about whether to go for it or to hold out for a teaching position. When I went to bed on Tuesday I was thinking I should just give it a shot, but I’m thinking this morning that it probably would end up being a waste of time – mine and theirs. I can’t even understand Japanese TV and it is a struggle to read most documents and newspapers. And, I have really enjoyed teaching and I’d like to keep doing it.
Later in the day today I found out that the job may be based in Tokyo, so that pretty much wipes it out right there. We’ll find out more information tomorrow apparently.
Tonight Kuniko cooked up yudofu (tofu cooked in hot broth and then dipped into a orange ponzu sauce with grated radish and onions) and we ate that along with some leftovers from the other night on the side. It was a great dinner, and we were both very full afterwards. Now I’m going to do a little reading and hit the sack. Kuniko has tomorrow off, but I’ve got to go into work.
