these last two weeks have felt eerily familiar. it was almost a year ago when i first came to kihoku (紀北), wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. the first couple of weeks were spent living out of a suitcase and not knowing what to expect for the upcoming year. i spent that time tirelessly introducing myself to the 50 or 60 new coworkers i met. i was also fretting over writing a decent introductory speech to give to the teachers and students when summer vacation ended. when the time came, i was escorted to various school gymnasiums and asked to give said speech in front of the entire school in nervous and broken japanese (full disclosure: they didnt ask for nervous and broken japanese, i just sort of added that on my own). next came the hours of stress planning my all-important first lessons of the year (priority #1: trick the kids into thinking i know what im doing and that im totally awesome at it).

there was so much excitement in the air too. the kids were excited to find out how many bad things they can say/do to the new foreigner before hed get mad. the teachers were excited to see how little work theyd have to do now that the new "team teacher" had arrived. and i was stoked to start my third life in a foreign land speaking a language i didnt understand and doing a job i didnt know how to do.

but soon enough, things calmed down. as the days flew by everything just sort of fell into place and became somewhat normal (with heavy emphasis on the "somewhat").

now that my JET year is [finally] coming to an end, im getting daily visions of deja vu from last year. once again, im close to living out of a suitcase while pondering what to expect for the upcoming year. im spending too much time planning all-important final lessons (priority #1: trick the kids into forgetting how many times i screwed up and instead, to remember how awesome i was). once again im fretting over writing speeches - but this time theyre to say goodbye instead of hello. im getting whisked off to the very same gymnasiums from last year to give my goodbye speeches in front of the whole school (though the speeches are using more complex grammar and vocabulary, let me assure you that they are still delivered in nervous and broken japanese). and instead of teachers asking me where im from, they ask me where im going.

and ooohhh, is the excitement back! kids are stoked to be getting out of their non-air-conditioned schools for summer vacation, teachers are looking forward to a much needed break from the kids, and im excited to enjoy as much of this life i can before i move on to bigger and better things.

the year really has gone full circle, making me feel like im almost back where i started. one things for sure though: this constant deja vu will definitely be coming to an end in less than 3 weeks. color me stoked.