Saturday, February 7, 2009

A time of decisions

Hello all,
Spring is in the air here in Fukui, and with it are blowing the winds of change. Today is the official day of the decision to keep our jobs here for another year, or to move on. Bryan and I have been tossing around various ideas for the last few weeks, and ultimately have decided it's time to move on. Though the ratio of actual work to the amount of compensation we receive is incredible, many other factors our pulling us towards new horizons. (Or away from them, depending on how you look at it, as it's the name of the text book series we use.) For me a lack of job satisfaction is one of the main factors, along with almost no progression of my Japanese language skills, effectively making me a tourist/English speaking hermit in my everyday life.
Now we get to the exciting part, what's next? Bryan and I are applying to a program to teach English in Spain. We want to travel some more while we have the opportunity, and teaching English seems like a good vehicle for working abroad. We are willing to take a pay cut if it means a better teaching environment, and a language that is easy to learn (or that we already know), and lots of travel opportunities nearby. The program we want to do starts in October which means we'll be coming back to the states for a few months which we're also very excited about! We'll find out in April if we are accepted, and we leave Japan in July. After our stint in Spain we'll be coming back to the states for graduate school. I'm planning to get a masters in counseling psychology, which is a recent decision, and one that came to me in a flash and just seemed to fit. And Bryan is going to continue his dream career as a poet/college professor (to pay the bills). So that sums up our plans for the next five years or so. I hope I can see you all while I'm in the U.S., I'm sure we'll be traveling around a bit through Oregon, Washington and Idaho, so get in touch if you want to get together and we'll make it happen!
Love to you all, and happy spring!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I commented over at Bryan's blog about this and I am so excited for you guys! All those changes sound so exciting and perfect for you both. I would be feeling the same as you about Japan, given the circumstances. And Spain! How great for you to use all that Spanish you know! And then graduate school! I think we all may be matriculating at the same time. We're on our way to becoming scholars! Haha. I'm also super stocked to see you guys this summer. I've missed you!

Rachel said...

I miss you too! Thanks for reading my blog!

RACKETACKALACKA said...

YAY!!!!!!!!! Yay for coming home, yay for spain, yay for I LOVE YOU!!!!

shirley said...

Please please please, let's hang out when you come back.

I would also like you to make me some flower arrangements, while you're at it.