Time for a change...

Well, I originally started a blog account back in January when I was getting ready to come to Japan. Quite a bit has changed since that day I left to come here...

I originally thought this job would be a good way to teach and develop as a teacher. Man, was I off on that one. turns out the company is like working at McDonalds as an English teacher. The students are usually pretty cool, but the curriculum design is about 30 years out of date, using many practices that I considered to be archaic when studying them back in school. It doesn't help that the people I work with don't understand why I get upset about a company that is perverting the profession of teaching, which in my opinion is one of the most sacred roles in society. They try to make it as impersonal and uniform as possible, which is the opposite of what needs to be done when teaching, especially language.

A few weeks ago, Christian found out that she would be unable to get a visa she needed to come here until around September, if then. So I made a decision to jump ship. I don't care if it looks like I'm giving up, because I can't take this situation anymore. I've decided to move to Mexico and experience the culture that my future wife grew up in. As of right now, I don't have a job, but I'm not too worried, as we will be looking for jobs in Cancun, and there are an abundance available for fluent English speakers.

It will also be nice to finally be within a decent proximity to the rest of my friends and family in the states again. I will finally be able to return to a semi-normal life after being relegated to the corner of the world with no real friends for the past few months. I think one of the main reasons I enjoyed Japan so much last time was that I was in a much different living arrangement, with plenty of people who shared a lot of the same interests as me. Most of the people I work with now drink as their only form of entertainment, so I have little in common with any of them. I look forward to the day I can get back in an academic environment where people enjoy talking about philosophy and world issues, instead of merely which bar they're going to go to.

So, I head to Mexico in what feels like a leap of faith, but I know that there's someone to catch me, so I have never been so excited about something that would normally have scared me in the years past. I still worry about little things like transportation, hurricanes, etc, but nothing that will keep me up at night. I'm finally doing something that I feel is what I should be doing, and I can't wait!