Behind on my journal again... but I've gotten no comments or encouragement from anyone so I'm going to assume you're all too busy to keep up anyhow!!

Tomorrow is the last day of school. Of course, here in Japan, that phrase doesn't mean much: school never really ends. Today was officially our "last" day of classes, tomorrow we'll all come to school to clean, enjoy a boring and stifling hot closing ceremony (suits required for the teachers), and cheer the sports teams for the northern prefectures tournaments. Then we get to enjoy three weeks of summer vacation. Three weeks!! Even that needs further clarification, because all of the teachers will work the entire time except for the few days of Obon (holiday period where families gather and visit the graves of ancestors who are believed to come back during this time). Most students will be at school more days than not, practicing with their assorted clubs and sports. When they aren't practicing, they will be studying , especially the 3rd graders who have to prepare for their high school entrance exams in March! Those 3rd graders who are members of teams and clubs that aren't continuing on to the Northern Prefectures tournaments are now finished with clubs/teams until high school. They had most of one semester to play... now they have to study. Doesn't sound like much to get excited about does it? I've been shocked at the lack of summer vacation build up... nowhere near the levels of home where we are really OUT for the summer! If there's one person who is clearly looking forward to summer, with reason.... it would be me!!! Some of us AETs (Assistant Language Teachers) get off pretty easily for summer. I am helping to run and lead an English day for the area English teachers on Monday, and am also on a panel of AETs for a discussion of international education on Aug. 6th.. but otherwise I am free to actually be on vacation. Whoopee!!! Just don't tell anyone... shhh!!

I'm looking forward to the break. This week, heck this month, this summer, this YEAR have just flown! Jaclyn left on Tuesday morning to join an intensive Japanese course in Osaka for two weeks so I'm on my own. We do pretty much everything together, so it has been a strange week without her. I also got the pleasure of picking up her last two adult English classes in addition to my own... so I was totally stressed followed by totally exhausted on Tuesday. I have one last night of classes next Tuesday and then we're finished with that... for a while.

It seems very strange that we're almost two-thirds of the way through the summer. The weather has been consistently very cool and rainy, so it hasn't actually felt too much like summer. I'm not going to complain: when I got here last summer it was just brutally humid and hot so I'm sure I've got that to look forward to come next month. I'm just thankful that thus far it has been quite tolerable. Of course, the fact that we're still in school makes it seem unreal that its almost the end of July.

Speaking of the end of July- as of this weekend, it will be a year since I left home for this crazy job!! It is so hard to believe that there are new JETs on the way and that I've been living here for 12 months. Every year seems to fly, but this year has been in warp speed. I can recall clearly the jitters of meeting the staff here for the first time and the confusion of my first few weeks of trying to figure this place out. I swear I just bought my car last week... and yet I've already had to change the oil and will have to stop driving it next week until I can figure out how to pass the Japanese Driving Test (more on that later, I am sure). I'm really excited for this next year, but of course I still have no idea what I'm doing when its over... so I'm hoping everything slows down just a bit!!