Back to School

After more than two years of no formal Japanese language study, I had my first local Nihon-go class this morning at some kind of community center just down the road from our regular bar in central Ise.

Normally the sessions for me will be on Thursday evenings, but since I'm off this week I decided to sample the Tuesday morning session as well. It's not a class in the traditional sense -- as in, it's not one teacher lecturing to a group of students. They break people off into roughly the same skill levels and one teacher handles their tailored lessons.

Myself and Elizabeth, another new local ALT, ended up with the same teacher for our introductory lesson, some of which was review and some of which was new to me. It seems that most of the new area JETs, along with a couple of the folks who have been here for a while, will be taking the Thursday class, which is regularly followed by a stop at Nanaimo for dinner and or drinks.

In addition to the Thursday class, which costs less than $1 per lesson, I'll be taking a free correspondence course offered by one of the governing bodies which administers the JET Program. Material for that course arrives later on this year.

Today was also the first time I attempted some real exercise. Every day include some cycling or walking, but today I actually went for a jog. There is a path along the river that's just few steps from my place -- a river that I didn't know was there for the first week living here or so. As the weather begins to cool a bit in the coming weeks, I hope to get out and exercise with a greater frequency. It's hard enough in the brutal heat to bike to school without dripping sweat.

So day one of our vacation period has gone well so far. Not sure what I will do this evening, but I may shower and check out a cafe that is just around the corner and see if it's the kind of place that doesn't mind me ordering a tea and opening up a book for a while. I'm currently seeking some leisure activities that do not cost as much as going our for a beer. The party season, fueled by leaving JETs' going away parties and new JETs' welcome parties, is winding down, with almost everyone settled in or back in their home countries.

That is all for now.

Various family members have requested more photos showing me and friends and what I have been doing. The problem of course is that I am never in any photos that I take, so I need my friends to send me photos before I can share them on the blog. So stay tuned and hopefully I'll have some photos soon.