Hello, August!
To begin my new blog, I was thinking what I should write about, and it came to me that I have had adventures all over the place for the last three years. So I’ve decided to summarize my wild traveling life.
Last year 2008, my husband and I were in Okayama, Japan, teaching English from kindergarten students to adults students at ACE English. Summer in Japan is very humid, and I remember hearing a swarm of cicadas that started chirping so loud early in the morning. At that time it was so annoying and really bugging us, but know I reminiscent about those humid mornings, and I start to miss the early morning wake up calls of the cicadas.
In August 2007, I was in my hometown, Yamagata, Japan, with my husband. We originally went there for his internship in a small town. However, I was excited to get back and enjoy spending time with my family and friends. Long story short, I planned to just veg out, but I ended up teaching English at a public high school, Aterazawa High School, as a substitute teacher but full-time. I taught 120 freshmen (40 students x 3 classes) in no-air condition classrooms. I became a lot busier than my husband. It was good learning experience, and I enjoyed interacting with Japanese students, but I wish I had had little more time to spend with my family and friends instead of work.
Three years ago, summer 2006, I was living in Hawaii and working at Brigham Young University- Hawaii. During that summer, I was helping out with the summer ESL program. Students who participated in the program came from Korea, Japan, China, and Taiwan. I have clear memories with Korean nursing students because I taught some ESL classes to them and they were relatively closer to my age. This was a great experience to me because I gained the confidence I desperately needed in my own English teaching ability.
This year, I am living in Cache Valley, Utah. My husband and I moved into this valley last winter. I hated the icy cold weather, and I thought Cache Valley was so isolated. I was literally surviving on the thoughts that my husband only had to be here for two
years, and then we can blow this popsicle stand and head back to good old Salt Lake—a real city. After six months, I am now thriving here!! I have met a lot of cool people and made friends—friends help you not feel so isolated. Also, the nature scene here is very beautiful, and it amazes me quite often. We will be living here for a while, so I am still looking forward to what other great experiences and opportunities are awaiting us. Logan may be small, and the first impressions of the butt cold country winter did damper my spirit really bad, but spring and summer have opened up a whole new outlook on the beauty of Cache Valley; It’s a small little northern heaven.
