J-O-B

I finally got a job! It's with a small children's school (ages 0 through 12) called Mebaekids. I will start training in February, and then as long as my visa is processed in a timely manner, I'll officially begin the position on April 1st with the new school year. The other staff members seem very friendly, the students are basically well behaved, and I think I will be happy there. Out of all the places I applied or interviewed with, I think this school is the best fit for me, so I guess it's good it took me so long to find. Andrew has some time off in March and if we can swing it, we plan to go to Thailand for about a week. I'll continue to work my temporary job at Modern English for the rest of this month. I'm actually going to really miss my students there. The kids are so much fun, and the adults have opened my eyes up to many things about Japanese culture.

What I don't think I'll be missing are the long train rides to and from work (2+ hours each way). My trips back home at night are always interesting because the trains are super crowded. It truly is amazing how many people they can squeeze in there. All sense of personal space is lost as you are smashed up against a door or window (or drunk Japanese man), surrounded by a sea of bodies, and all the while more just keep piling in. Train etiquette, or rather, the lack of it, takes some getting used to here. People rarely say excuse me and just tend to push their way around. Once the doors are closed, however, it is not uncommon for everyone to be completely silent. At times, it's even peaceful. With so many passengers in the car, there are not enough seats or overhead rings for people to hold onto. It's quite comical to experience the swaying of the crowd as the train bolts away from each station, rocks back and forth along the track, and then slams to a stop again. Everyone just has to lean into each other to keep from falling down, and on top of it, many are trying to sleep while standing up.