I wonder what today has in store, because this week has been one of the best in known history.

Saturday (okay, technically not this week but it is in the last 7 day period) – I fit into my sexy dancing pants again…

Monday – I get my wonderful uni results

Tuesday – I get my job back at Woodford

Wednesday – I accept a one year contract to teach English to kiddies in Japan, starting next April…

Yep… I GOT THE JOB!

I came away from the second interview thinking there was a good chance that I could get this job, and gave it some serious thought as to whether I really wanted to take it. What were my reservations? The fact that I have to pay for airfare and accommodation – well, in China those things are often included, but rarely in other places, and in real terms I’m paying less for the airfare than for the course that I no longer have to do for the job, so for me it works out okay. And the accommodation is furnished, neat and cheap… so no great worry. The long working hours – well, that was an easy one to resolve. I actually do have only 20 teaching hours per week according to their schedule – I have about 3-4 hours of my morning schedule devoted to lesson planning (which always has to be done in your own time in other jobs, without assistance) and an hour lunch break before 4 hours teaching in the afternoon/evening – the schedule is really quite standard for what any English teachers could expect anywhere (unless they put nothing into their lesson planning). Finally, there was the fact that I am taking the first job that has been offered to me… but I am not going into it entirely uneducated. I’ve done my research about what I can expect in such a job, about whether the pay is good for Japan, about the area and such… and basically I think it would probably be dumb to turn down an opportunity that appears to be really good because I’m holding out for something better. There’s not much I can do about the fact that it’s the first offer I’ve received, and I think that’s always going to make me a little cautious, but I have done my research.

I guess the decider was really the second interview, which lasted for three hours and I had the opportunity to ask all of the questions that I needed, and get a lot more information… and I found myself getting very excited about the organization and about the person I’d be working for (an important factor – I’m not going to know many English speakers over there) and I found that I really appreciated the school’s and the principal’s philosophies on children and teaching in general, I was anticipating some of the school activities planned for the next year, and I found myself thinking that yes, this is an organization that I would like to work for – and that, really, was the clincher.

So… my position begins at the end of March. It’s a bit further away than I would have hoped, but it gives me a bit longer to tie up the loose ends here and to spend some time with my family before I leave and such, as well as learning some language and more research! Also it may give me a good chance to save up and buy a laptop before I go, which is something I’d really like to have with me. For now though, I have to get a few things organized for my visa application and then just spend the next couple of months preparing…

No words can express how excited I am. This is such a fantastic week!

Before After

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