Now I'm back in Japan, teaching once again. I still love my students. I like going to work. If I could take my job and drop it into the middle of a country where strangers are nice to me, it would be fantastic. But I can't, which means my life is currently less than fantastic. It's not terrible by any means, and I can find ways to be content here. I can't, however, find ways to ignore how emotionally repressed the Japanese seem to be. I feel like a very important part of what it means to be human is missing in the sea of people that surrounds me. (And I'm learning a little of what it means to be treated like a 2nd class citizen.)
Which brings me to my next point: On Wednesday, my boss at the Moka city Board of Education informed me (and the other 5 AETs, as well), that our principals and the supervisors at the Board of Education would "strongly" like us to return to teach next fall. So there's that.
And I still have a Japanese lover.
I think that's my life in a nutshell.
As for what I would like my life to be -
I long for a church. I met a Spanish-speaking high school student who told me about two Spanish-speaking churches in Moka. I will try to locate one tomorrow so I can attend a service on Sunday.
I long for community. I have three wonderful friends, but I still feel lonely. I typically see two or three of these friends on Saturday nights, and that is all. That is the extent of my social life outside of the AET bubble.
I hope that finding a niche in a Spanish-speaking church will lead to a warm-hearted, Spanish-speaking community that will welcome me with eye-contact, smiles and warm hearts - all of the things I don't get from Japanese society.
Keep me in your prayers.
Prayers are life-changing, and Jesus is good to me. :-)
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