My Last Weekend in Japan!

Well, my farewell party was amazing! It was great to have so many students come out to say goodbye, and we had a lot of fun eating, drinking and playing games. Later in the night I was surprised when I learned that two of my students had written speeches for me. The first one was by Arato, an outgoing and engergetic student, who wrote a funny and entertaining speech that had the whole room laughing. The next was by (Miss) Megumi, the one who baked me the chocolate cake, and who I think of as my little siter. Her speech was really touching because she brought up a memory of the two of us discussing colleges together. She was in a class where sometimes she was my only student, so we would often have long chats at the beginning. One time she was trying to decide what college to go to so we talked about that for a while and I shared my own experience with her. I was really moved that she remembered that night, and that it meant as much to her as it did to me. Sometimes teaching can be really tough and stressful, but there are moments when it is so incredibly rewarding that they overshadow the difficult times completely. When Megumi reminded me of this, I was suddenly moved to tears. The whole night I was being really good, and actually never felt the urge to cry, but when I remembered those quiet moments with students when you really know you are connecting with them I couldn't bite my lip hard enough to fight back the tears. Unfortunately, I was expected to give a speech after this, and although I had worked on and memorized a speech beforehand, I was completely at a loss of words. I tried desperately to maintain composure as I thanked my students and explained how much this experience has meant to me. I'm not sure how articulate I was, but I think everyone knew I was being sincere and will truly miss them.

The next day I woke up late after staying out for the second party, and met Michelle for lunch at Mana's for the last time. I got to say my goodbyes, and then Michelle and I went off for a lazy day of shopping and a fabulous massage before meeting with more friends for Alex's birthday dinner.

Today I got to go for one last run around Shinobuyama, and then met up with Kaori to close various accounts and mail off a last box. Then we went up to St. Anna's Garden for some shopping and coffee. It was so beautiful up there and we sat for a long time enjoying the view from the outside cafe. Later we saw an awesome movie about ninjas, and then went to dinner at the Pineapple House. I finally got to eat Okinawan food and it was fantastic! We finished off the night with drinks on top of Corase (a tall building with an nice view of the city). It was the perfect final day in Fukushima, and I'm so glad I got to spend it with Kaori!

Tomorrow I'll meet Mayu bright and early at the station to buy our train tickets to the airport and then have a quick breakfast. A few of my co-workers and friends are going to see me off at the station, which is super sweet of them! I've been really lucky to have such amazing co-workers and friends during my brief stay here in Japan. I'll never forget any of them or my time here!

Also, I'll post pictures when I get back to the States. Something is wrong with my computer right now and it's not letting me get into the program I need to post my pictures. I guess it'll just give you all something to look forward to when I get back!