Cliche enough title for ya?
Well now that I have a little over one month left, of course I found the perfect gym for my needs. It is at a discounted price because I am young, and I get such amenities as a pool, exercise classes (power yoga and body pump), a gym, a sauna, and an onsen! I went to my first yoga class this week and it went pretty well. The next day I asked my coworkers about a few words I could remember and I now know how to say inhale and could probably recognize the word for exhale. It was a good class, I was pretty impressed. I spent the class peeping my head around like a prairie dog to see if I was doing the correct thing. The only thing that was a little woopsie was at the end of the class. We were lying on our mats, inhaling and exhaling, relaxing. I guess I figured the instructor was just talking about how to relax, but the instructor was talking and I didn't open my eyes. Probably I should have been looking around pretty regularly to make sure I was doing what the class was. After a while, the instructor came over and kind of woke me up. I wasn't really asleep, but I think the whole class was stretching and I was just lying there.
I met an 80-year old woman at the gym. She is so very sweet and speaks English well. She invited me to hang with her and her husband soon and I am looking forward to it very much. Something very interesting and sad she told me was the story of where she grew up. She was born in Okayama (not too far from Matsue), but when she was young, her family moved to Beijing for a few years. When they returned after the war, their house was a casualty of the war, so they had to move to Matsue with relatives. It is still strange thinking and hearing stories about WWII from this side of the war.
The weather here has been a disaster. Winds that may be some of the strongest I've ever felt, thunder so loud it shakes my apartment (not an earthquake), and it just got done snowing! Strange place this is.
Looking forward to experiencing some new Christmas and New Years traditions!
Hey Vanessa, I have really enjoyed reading your blog so far. I was thinking about applying to Coco Juku and I wonder if you could answer my question. Do you know if they are good about taking location requests? I am really interested in working for a specific branch school.
ReplyDeleteHi there! Sorry for the late reply, things are crazy with moving out.
DeleteAs for taking location requests, I am not sure. When I applied, I did not have a request. The things I do know... some people got moved around a bit in Tokyo due to where teachers were needed. Honestly though, it's in the contract to be flexible about these things and I think they are complainers. I also know that if a school has the amount of teachers it needs, they might not be so ready to hire another. I have not heard from anyone who has requested to be in a certain place or to be moved, so I am not sure how good they are at doing that. It is, of course, something you could discuss in your interview, should you be given one.
Sorry I couldn't give a better answer. Good luck!