So, I know I still have an entire year left on the JET program (contract is up July 2019) but since that time will likely go fast, I`m already thinking about what comes next. So far, I`m still in the list stage, and nothing is 100% decided. By about summer, I think I want to have it narrowed down. The only thing I do know for sure so far is that I`m going to see if there`s any way they`ll extend my contract to March 2020, so that I can finish out the school year, rather than leave in the middle. (School in Japan starts in April and ends in March).
As of today, this is my list:
It`s so hard to decide! Part of the problem, I think, is that if Japan wasn`t a full 24 hours travel back to the states, I would immediately say “I`m staying here, and I`ll find another job here.” But because it is so far, I hesitate. Not seeing people I love is hard, though I don`t always think about it on a day to day basis. I am, for better or worse, good at distancing memories, though I don`t do it on purpose. So even things that happened yesterday feel like it was much longer ago, even though I know it was only yesterday. Yesterday, last week, last month…they all feel about the same distance in the past to me. Once we talk several months to years, then it does feel longer ago.
Anyway, so other than thinking about what`s next, mostly everything has been normal. One thing I have realized is that not once in the past year and a half working as an ALT have I dreaded going to work. I might be annoyed at getting up early all the time, but I`ve never actually dreaded work. And that coming on top of ten years of retail feels like a huge difference!
Oh, and remember Nomatan, my town`s mascot? I finally found a cell phone charm of him! ^_^ (And I got a new cell phone case, and found a Hatsune Miku keychain)
And looking at the little cell phone charm version of Nomatan, I`m wondering if I can make a crocheted plushy…? It would give me something to do other than write and play games all the time.
For games, there`s a website called itch.io that has indie games. That is, games made by not exactly professional people. But some of them are really good, and the ones that I`ve played all the way to the end, I`ve been writing reviews on here. Well, not in the blog, on a different page of the website. That`s fun too, and sometimes gives me more writing ideas.
Let`s see…ah, the other thing recently is I`ve been working on a magic essay. Right before I came to Japan, I`d finished all the online classes necessary to earn my first degree in Corellian Wicca, but with the move to Japan, it kind of got put on hold. The only thing I`d left to do was a couple of essays. Now that I`ve finally remembered about them, I`m determined to finish. Once I do, I`ll post them here as separate blog posts, so feel free to read them or not if you`re interested. ^_^