Exit from Maldives

English Club Dinner, June 25, 2010

Lunch at Mayumi's home in Ina. So good!

Breakfast at Mayumi's home. I was in heaven!

Dinner at Futaba's home - makizushi - fresh & wonderful!

I'm telling you, I am grateful to my friends!

FINALLY WRITING
I wish I had written this about three weeks ago when it happened, but as I said, life has been a whirlwind since exiting.

AIRPORT

The cost to leave was far greater than expected. The airline only allowed 20 kg! I have never experienced that in all my travels before! So, they wanted to charge me about $1,200 just for my luggage! So, after 4 people had a conference to get my weight moved to "business class" ($860 charge) and I dumped lots of gifts, personal belongings, and even sheets they told me I needed in Maldives (but didn't need), I got down to $506. Very, very frustrating to lose so many of my things.

FLIGHT

Entering Kuala Lumpur was amazing. In just 10 weeks I had forgotten what so much land looked like - and mountains! I know it sounds like I am exaggerating, but I'm not! I was so impressed to see so much land and trees. It looked amazing!

I wish I could sightsee at all the locations I fly through!

I made it to Japan around 8 p.m. and again was blown away by the size of everything - highway buses, roads, all the lights, and the buildings. I know it sounds crazy to say "Japan seems so big", but compared to Maldives - it is!

IN JAPAN

I did trips to Nagano-ken to see friends. And to Sapporo for sightseeing and to see my friend Yuko's family. I have taught 2 elementary school classes to help a friend trying to encourage English education in the school systems in the lower grades, participated in 2 classes with another friend who has an English school at her home, and taught a lesson similar to the ones I did in Malidives to my old adult English Club for comparison / research. And, I met with Yosuke concerning more editing work which is coming due within 2 weeks as well as the publisher in hopes of new jobs.

The last 2.5 weeks have been busy and wonderful. I have so many GREAT friends who have taken time to meet me, and they have just been kind to me in various ways.

FUTURE

Due to the joy of seeing everyone again and in the grim prospects of finding a decent paying job in the U.S. soon, I decided my luck was better here at the moment. Since I still have my working visa for Japan, I thought I would try for a job at a translation company (to do editing, not translating!) and/or a university. I luckily found a friend's place to rent at a low price for 2 months and will yet again change beds! One other good friend offered me a place and it was VERY tempting too to be with a family, but, maybe I would be in the way, so I chose the rental.

I am longing for one place to settle and nest for six months. I just don't want to invest again on setting up an apartment unless I am sure I will stay. It is so troublesome in Japan to dispose of things, so I don't want to go through that again. Let's see what the next few weeks bring and then maybe I will know by September where I am going to be for awhile.

Anyways, I could have written so much about places visited here in Japan, but I have other things to work on right now. TOEIC is calling...and then packing and movers and and and....

Happy to be in Japan again. But, what do I miss about Maldives? My students there. I really liked them and wish I could have tutored each one individually. They were so nice and willing to learn and most were really talkative too. And, the beauty of the resorts and ocean and seeing so far in the distance in all directions - that was amazing. The sunsets were fantastic too.

Ja ne.