A Timeline of Comedy, Cuteness, and Drama
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Hello to all my readers and supporters out there, new and old! I'm glad to have you with me as we take a quick glance back over the last few months and highlight the more monumentous events over the course of my adventure. The road to becoming a great teacher is incredibly bumpy, but what's a story without a little drama?
First off, did you know that I'm living in Fukushima Prefecture now? After an intense battle with my company, I had to accept the loss of my contract and search for a new job. It was a painful series of good-byes with those who I had befriended and had sworn to protect, but I felt as though I was being guided by a greater force; perhaps this was all part of the Goddess of Moé's plan to spread the GTX magic throughout the land. I mean, afterall, when you look at the details of my new assignment area, it's a pretty amazing coincidence.
If you've been following along pretty closely over the last two years, you've witnessed quite an interesting development of events. Despite the few bad things that have popped up here and there, the overwhelming percent of stories are happy and cheerful; time well spent as the relationship between myself and the students has blossomed. And though the ending wasn't as I had planned, I did tie up most of the loose-ends I had, allowing me to leave with a smile.
For some, reading each and every entry hasn't been possible (sorry, I know they're kinda long, so I understand if people only tune in occassionally). For this reason, let's take a look back at the first two years of my time teaching here in Japan. The chart below is broken into three sections. Blue is the first year; Green is the second year, and the Yellow is the start of the third year.
GTX Timeline: Year One and Year Two
| August 2008 |
* arrive in Tokyo, 1 week of training, explore Japan |
| Sept 2008 |
* start school, meet new teachers, A-sensei
* meet students, induct Xeno Rangers, Cuteness-chan, Semi-chan, Blue-chan, 20+ others
* undoukai (sports festival) season, Akagumi fight!! |
| October/Nov 2008 |
* more involved in club activities and the jidoukan after-school program
* new ally emerges: RGC-sensei
* new enemy emerges: Anti-GTX-sensei
|
| December 2008 |
* Speech Contest with Alice-chan, StinkyBug-chan, DollDream-chan, and Tennis-chan |
| January 2009 |
* Blue-chan's encounter with the "scary man" (01/14) |
| March 2009 |
* graduation, first departure of students |
| April 2009 |
* new schools, new schedule
* new teacher drama, new textbook drama
* new Rangers: MopBattle-chan, Ready!Go!-chan, Pigtails-chan, EvilGlare-chan
|
| June/July 2009 |
* P.E. drama, Volleyball Club girls angry (an exaggerated story anyway, but Interac took it too seriously)
* meeting about the blog and my "relationship" with Blue-chan
* fight to reclaim greatness begins!!! |
| September 2009 |
* undoukai season, use to rebuild relationships, plan to win over Volleyball girls 1x1 completely successful |
| December 2009 |
* Speech Contest with StinkyBug-chan, Alice-chan, DollDream-chan, and Tennis-chan
* Idol-san declined, Blue-chan stepped up with my support despite A-sensei's disagreement |
| February 2010 |
* summoned to Hiroshima Office by Interac, asked to hand in resignation for end of March
* battle to save GTX begins
* teachers, parents, Interac-insiders offer support |
| March 2010 |
* pleas ignored, acceptance of moving on
* farewell good-byes: speeches to schools, individual conversations with Rangers
* graduations: JHS and ES-3 (closer to this 6th-grade class than ES-1's)
|
| April 2010 |
* job-hunt begins, successful shortly after
* moving to Fukushima Prefecture for the real challenge |
Next page contains a more detailed chart of the last month: the transition from Okayama to Fukushima