I am back from my whirlwind Canadian adventure, without much to say about it. It was great seeing friends and family, Montreal is as amazing as it always seems, Toronto is still the last place I would ever want to live, and Ottawa offers the same comfort that it always does, with me moping about my departure for days despite (or because) not doing anything productive for the majority of the time there. It was interesting seeing people and talking a bit about my past eight months here. Living in Japan, being surrounded by either people who have lived here their whole lives or are experiencing the same expat existence as me, it is easy to forget that most people can't read katakana or have no idea what a Japanese school is like. I will try to be better and actually explain what the Japanese experience is, from the scenery that surrounds me to the random events that occur from week to week, but I wouldn't be surprised if I completely forget this promise during the next month that it takes me to update again. Your best bet is to email me, or comment here about what you want me to say. I think I changed the comments settings so you don't need to have an account to post.

Hopefully my next post will be about the beginnings of the new school (and fiscal) year. I would write about it now, but we had the town welcome party for the new teachers at all the schools, and as a result my car has been stranded in the community centre parking lot. Tomorrow morning I must wake up early and claim it.