Them <3

2016 Recap

Here we are now, two months into 2017, and it feels like we haven’t quite left the clutches of the maelstrom that was 2016. I know it’s generally accepted that 2016 was a terrible year (untimely celebrity deaths, political and global madness galore), but all of that aside, looking back on the things I accomplished this past year, I was actually able to experience some remarkable things and spend some really wonderful time with my favorite people. I had planned to write a post like this earlier (like right after the new year) but work became busy and things happened and frequent bouts of laziness-- you get the idea.

This was my 2016, month-by-month:

January-February: Okay honestly, I don’t really remember what happened here, except I think this is when we worked on creating English teaching materials for special needs students to be uploaded to our Center’s website.

March-April: Kind of a slump since this is the end of the school year/beginning of the new one. During my short spring break I visited Yamate, saw and appreciated proper cherry blossoms, explored Kamakura some more, and saw The Danish Girl, so that was pretty cool. Lesson learned for 2017 though: one should be at work on April 1st to meet and greet all the new employees who come with the new school year and avoid the awkwardness that comes with coming into work on like April 5th and sitting next to a stranger.

May: Even more of a slump, work-wise. H came to visit, I think? It was really nice to see someone from back home. S came to visit around Golden Week and we went to touristy Enoshima which was a Bad Idea with the GW crowds. K came to visit the week after and man, it felt like college again. So fun. Travel-wise, I visited Tochigi for the first time to see the beautiful wisteria!

June-July: My sister came to visit and we had crazy adventures around Japan and Korea. Korea was wild, but this was my main take-away message: don’t leave yogurt drinks unrefrigerated in the middle of summer. Honestly thinking about it now, Korea deserves its own separate post. Together we went to see a Monkey Majik concert (audiences here are SO SILENT it’s ridiculous-- aren’t you excited to see your favorite band??), and the limited-time Studio Ghibli exhibition in Roppongi Hills, which was incredible. C came to visit for a day too before she left Japan and we had a beautiful day, train mishaps and all.

August: Busy with seminars at the Center, but we’ve developed a knack for them now. For summer vacation, I accomplished something I’ve wanted to do since middle school--visiting M and her family in Sendai! What a surreal experience, dude. My middle school self would literally have died if she knew that this day/visit actually happened. Together we explored her hometown and traveled to Yamagata to climb 1,000 steps to reach some mountain temples (my mini-training for Mt. Fuji lol) and ate some classy food and met Blaise of Monkey Majik?? What even is my life. Also finally visited Kawagoe, although it was cloudy and a bit rainy.

September: Climbed Mount Fucking Fuji (another thing deserving its own post), visited my favorite high school’s 文化祭, and talked to some awesome people/saw some great art and photography at the Tokyo Art Book Fair. Also became certified to use an AED in Japan (major flashbacks to high school health class lol).

October: Sent in my absentee ballot, went grape-picking in beautiful Yamanashi. M came to visit me this time and it was cool to show her my little corner of Japan. Overall a quiet, busy month with more school visits than usual, and seminars at the Center.

November: Lots of seminars. On Election Day, I couldn’t focus at work at all because I was so anxiously glued to my computer screen, refreshing every 10 seconds to see the voting counts -- alas, we all know how that turned out. The Nightmare became Reality. My co-worker and I had to drink after work as we skyped our fellow American JET friend and cried over the state of our nation together. Besides that though, I had the unique experience of being an extra named Patricia Smith in a 9/11 re-enactment for a Japanese TV program (what), was invited to the exclusive JET Program 30th Anniversary party at Keio Plaza Hotel and saw the Crown Prince and Princess of Japan in the flesh and talked to some of the very first JETs who joined the program (crazy stuff), climbed Mt. Takao, saw Fantastic Beasts, and visited some art exhibitions for オレンジ and 夏目.

December: Sucked it up and finally took the JLPT (got my results a few weeks ago--hello, N3 certification!!), and went to SPAIN. Literally the trip of a lifetime, and I’m still not quite sure it really happened. So, so good to see C and A again, and to be able to travel with my Japanese co-worker friend and her brother and friends. I spoke a bizarre mix of English, what I could remember of my high school Spanish, Japanese, and even Chinese.

January (again): Okay I know this doesn’t really count because this was supposed to be a 2016 recap, but I finally finished my online 120 Hour TEFL certification course (which I had started in 2016)!! It was grossly overpriced for what it was, but I did get a few good tips out of it, and plus JET is reimbursing me for part of it, so I can deal. ALSO checked off another high school bucket list item, which was seeing Kyuhyun in concert in Yokohama (I actually always wanted to see Suju or KRY in concert, but I’m happy with Kyuhyun). Paid a slight fortune and my left kidney for it, but it was worth it to see Kyuhyun’s awkwardness and listen to his dumb jokes live.