Ariel Hudnall

is for batsu, or the Japanese word for wrong, typically written as ‘X’. As a teacher, I use “batsu” a lot. But I’m not going to use this post to talk about what was “wrong” with anything; rather, I’m going to talk about my misconception about teaching in general. When I first arrived in Japan, I was adamant that I would never get a teaching job. I didn’t think I’d enjoy it, or be good at it, and I wanted to be special, and do something truly “fascinating” with my time in this country.

Well, then Tohoku happened. As I’ve mentioned in a few blog posts, I came to Japan as a foreign exchange student. However, half a year before my program was over, the great tsunami hit. I had to find an income quickly or I would have been forced to return home early. Teaching was the only job available.

I have been working at the same school now for five years with NJ (another bonus), and I am going to miss it so much. The children, the parents, my boss. I almost cried when I gave my notice last month. It’s unreal that I’ll really be leaving. The school has become my family, and some of these children I have watched grow up from 18 months to seven years of age. I have seen the school move to a new location, and with the help of NJ, designed it from scratch with our boss to make it the best school it could be. Leaving Japan really will mean leaving a huge piece of myself behind. Necessary, but terribly hard.

Images hosted on Flickr.