Winter is coming!

Hello everyone!  As usual I have not been updating.  Sorry about that!  But here is what I’ve been up to lately!

Fall is finally over!  Though I love the season, and it was especially long this year, it is always the busiest time of the year for me.  I work a lot of overtime to help my students with their speech contest practice, as well as one on one lessons for English proficiency testing.  I get a kick out of it though!  It is nice to work closely with a few individuals for a change.  I get to know their personalities better, and build a decent repertoire with them.

On top of that I have a bunch of other work that I have taken on; so much so that my free evenings have decreased dramatically.  But they are good opportunities for me and challenge me to expand my teaching experience.

These past three months have been long, but they went by fast!  Brett has been staying with me for the majority of autumn.  Unfortunately he will go back to Chicago soon, but we’ve been enjoying each other’s company, and even went on a few adventures.  Back in September him and Jeff both arrived in Japan.  Jeff was only able to stay for two weeks.  I took them to parts of Kyushu that they have never seen… some of my favorite places.  I feel that this time they got to experience a different aspect of Japan.  It wasn’t the cities or historical places that we went to, but the mountains, volcanoes, highlands and rivers that we saw.  I hope I can show everyone these places someday.

I haven’t taken any serious pictures lately, but I really do need to catch up on all my previous captures!  I’ll do my best to work on them after the holidays are over. 

Speaking of the holidays, I will be going up to Fukushima again this Christmas to visit Reiko’s family.  On the way we plan to stop at Universal Studios in Osaka, and spend a few nights in Tokyo for some Christmas festivities.  Once we get to Reiko’s hometown, we will stay at her parent’s vacation home not too far away.  It is near a mountain called Bandai that has a few decent ski resorts.  So I will definitely get my fill of snowboarding in this season!

I will bring my nice camera with me!  So keep a look out for pictures in the near future.  Winter in Fukushima is very beautiful with plenty of snowy mountains and forests.  The only thing I wish I had was a go-pro!  That’s what I want for Christmas!  Who wants to get one for me?  It’s only like… 400 dollars. :P

I wish I could spend the holidays with you all, but life is long, and I will surely have many years to share your company.  Until then, I love and miss you all! 

Merry Christmas,

Jonathan