Taking Stock

“If you scream in your sleep
Or collapse in a heap
Or spontaneously weep
Then you know you’re in deep…”
— Barenaked Ladies, Go Home

So it’s time to wind down this whole experience.  In the interests of closure, I’ve started making a list of all the things I’ll miss (and all the things I won’t) about being here and doing what I’ve done for the past three years.  While I’m sure this list will grow with time, here’s where I’m at now:

I’ll miss beach sunsets, mountain sunrises.
I won’t miss sun-up at 4AM in the summer, sun-down at 4PM in the winter.

I’ll miss really great ramen shops everywhere you look.
I won’t miss only having ramen shops everywhere you look.

I’ll miss paying for a $1 Coke with the equivalent of a $100 bill.
I won’t miss everyone traying to pay their share of a $50 bar tab with $100 bills.

I’ll miss the rice fields, forests, waterfalls and fresh air everywhere.
I won’t miss the small clouds of bugs and industrious web-weaving spiders.

I’ll miss everyone knowing who I am.
I won’t miss everyone knowing who I am.

I’ll miss fun ALT friends happy and eager to sing karaoke.
I won’t miss Japanese folks all too eaager to sing Celine Dion, the Carpenters, or Amazing Grace.

I’ll miss the onsens and skiing and winter.
I won’t miss getting out of the shower in a freezing house in winter.

I’ll miss the Japanese friends open to talk about anything and make it interesting.
I won’t miss the Japanese folks capable of talking only about chopstick use, natto consumption, and whether or not it snows in my country.

I’ll miss that student who starts out hating English and then does a 180-degree flip and their confidence soars.
I won’t miss the smart kids who should know better but refuse to talk.  I now understand what Mrs. Biehl meant when she referred to intellectual selfishness.

I’ll miss having my own theme song.
I won’t miss everybody knowing my theme song.

I’ll miss the open-minded professional teachers who are in it for the kids.
I won’t miss the close-minded teachers who are in it because they can’t get fired.

I’ll miss all the oyaji-gags and strange body motions that define Japanese humor.
I won’t miss all the Ohio-gozaimasu jokes.

I’ll miss kids with names like Simon, Messiah, L, Shoot, Hit, and Taxi.
I won’t miss Mark, Demi, Judy, Ann Green, or even Bin.
I certainly won’t miss Freddy the Leaf or that tree in Hiroshima.

I’ll miss the summer festivals, the omikoshi, fireworks over the Yoneshiro River, the Namahage, the kiritampo, the Kimimachi marathon, the town Sports Day, the autumn leaves and the spring sakura.
There’s not a thing about that which I won’t miss.

I’ll miss Monday night taiko, Tuesday night table tennis, Wednesday night swimming, Thursday night table tennis, Friday night parties, and weekend adventures.
I won’t miss Mr. Bean’s karaoke skills, introverted table tennis folk, negating all that swimming with a Dixie burger, losing darts and money at Ad-Lib, or getting utterly lost on Iwate’s back roads.  I will miss the bear jokes, though.

… and the list goes on.