John Stupart.com

26 hours of travel later, I have arrived back in SA. Seeing the grey smog of Jo’burg brought a very sincere smile to my face. Despite how awesome Japan was, it’s always good to be back home. I still  bob my head up and down and grunt “n… n…” when speaking with people, and simply going to the local supermarket make me panic. All these people! And none of them know me! And they all speak English! Small things, but when you live in the inaka for a year, it’s the small things that you never realised you missed.

That being said, I do miss being the only gaijin in the village. I will miss being recognised and recognising all the kids of the village, as well as fellow teachers and village office staff. Most profoundly perhaps, I will miss the singular beauty that is Hokkaido. I honestly hope I never stop having fond memories of Japan’s beautiful countryside.

So in summary: I miss Japan, but I will always miss Japan I think. I am happy to be back, and I hope I am able to go back someday on my terms, ie in a career-related trip or on a simple holiday. ESL education is not for me, but Japan certainly appeals!

But for now I’m taking it easy, slowly learning how to negotiate god-awful Jo’burg traffic and having full on pertinent English conversations that were – up until two weeks ago – a rare commodity!

This week has been all about the farewells, and it’s seriously starting to rub off on me! It struck me all at once at the Junior High farewell ceremony, when I noticed that some of the students, those who I’d become good friends with, were actually sad to see me leave. For the first time in my life, I’ve actually been able to make some sort of impact in someone’s life. I caught glimpse at that glorious and visceral place where you can begin to understand just why people become teachers. It’s in that moment you are able to realise that, no matter how trivial the ESL education might be, the simple presence of a non-Japanese foreigner is enough. It’s powerful stuff, and needless to say I am now super, super sad. Perhaps in the future, after Masters study, I might reapply for the JET programme and specifically Sarufutsu, so that I might be able to dive back into this wonderful dream world. It would be utterly selfish of me, as it would serve no other professional purpose in my life other than to feel special again, but at this point in time, if someone gave me those recontracting papers again, I’d sign on for another year in a heartbeat!

I can’t of course, and it’s for the better, as I have some very specific goals to pursue in my life that don’t include Japan their designs. I will miss this place for the rest of my life. Hell even if I did return, I think I would miss it all the more when next I left.

To add to this horrendously emotional post, I shall add what I feel is a symbolic last picture before I go back to SA. It’s the last beautiful sunset I saw in Hokkaido.

PS

Johnstupart.com shall not stop! Next up: John goes to South Africa! Posts might take longer to appear, but they won’t stop!

Ok, it was more of a gunboat than a warship, but it was still pretty awesome. All the brochures and stuff that I got were in Japanese so I can’t comment too much on the specifications. Rather, here are some pictures:

Today was the last elementary school lesson to boot, so it’s been a sad week. The kids shower me with origami and crap tons of letters and photos which was very nice. Likewise one of the teachers said that he thought I was the best ALT he’s worked with, which made me feel really great! Kinda nice to know that, even if he’s being polite, I wasn’t a totally dismal teacher of English!

Since day 1 the kindness of the people of Sarufutsu has been simply incomparable to anything I’ve ever experienced before in my life, and it hasn’t diminished at all in the year I’ve stayed here. If anything, I will miss the open generosity of the people here, as well as the immense pride they have in their work and village. A reminder to my hardened heart that there are kinder places in this world than I had previously imagined.

If only they needed someone to teach them Strategic Studies…