Goodbye Japan, Hello Canada

Since 1999, I was an EFL teacher in Japan. After some major issues with my family in Canada, with my parents health being affected and the passing of my mother, I lost the desire to be a teacher. When you begin to not care about teaching, its time to call it a day.
Thus, I will be changing my career. As of Monday, I will be looking for work, a home, and a car.

My Birthday party a few days late 2015

I turned 42 on May 27th. I waited until today to have my party

Chiba zoo

I don't like zoos but when you work in a kindergarten, you do field trips

some deer

some more deer

a Bison

Lesser Pandas who basically were doing what I'd be doing on a hot sunny day, sleeping it off.

These guys have it right.

I don't want to look at you says the gorilla, but this is my good side.

A pack of Kangaroos with a Joey

Giraffe

An Asian elephant

My lunch, tortilla chips with mexican chili.

All work then play

My kindergarten had a graduation ceremony then we had a staff party

First up, s shot of one of the side streets with the Cherry Blossoms coming out.

 Myself with my co-worker, Mike Heffer, ex RAF PTI Corporal, but now our roles are reversed as I'm helping to train him up as an EFL teacher. I wore my Royal Stewart kilt, and now he wants to buy an Irish Revenge one from Sport Kilt. 

The staff party was held at a small bar which also cooked Italian food. This steak was rather good, plus they also had made a good salad, a frois gras plate, smoked salmon, and Lasagna. 

Totems in Kiba

So I have another new walking route, part of which I used to use when I was teaching in Chuo-ku, Tokyo seven years ago. This one is in Kiba, Koto-ku

This totem is in the central plaza of Shin-Kiba station on the JR Keiyo Line, 

 The sign indicates the Totems in the area are a gift from the Amerindians of British Columbia, Canada. 

 This totem is just inside a part which I forget the name at the moment.

And I couldn't help myself but snap this in a convience store at the station. It's a small corner where people can sit and eat if they have time.

Return of proofreading

What the hell is a "lanp"? 

Also, why is the grammar so bad?

Found in the Family, Special Needs toilet at Kamagaya Shopping Plaza

Beginnings and Endings

I'm at a bit of a crossroads. This year has been full of personal hardships which have impacted me more than I care to admit. I have had two major personal setbacks, one the passing of my mum and the second, a change in direction in my career.
I need to seriously think about if I want to remain in Japan or return to Canada. As many visitors have noticed, I have slacked off on black powder gamming. I believe this might be a sign that all is not well. However, my son and I have jumped in headfirst into World War Two gamming.

I still have plans for some 18th century games once my holidays come up, but real life may impact this. I will need to devote more time in the search of employment to start in April 2015.

I guess I've hit a bit of a mid life crisis. However for me, its not a simple as buying a ticket and flying home. I have a wife and children to consider.
Worst case scenario is that I return home solo to set up life, then bring them over. That would be more difficult. Also, setting myself up back home would be tough as I'd need to get myself transport plus insurance. Then a half-decent job.
Oh well, it can be a bit of an adventure, just a bit of a stressful one.

Say what? Hot and Mild?!

 Take if from the Japanese to really do a doozy on using English incorrectly. How the hell can something be hot and mild!? I mean Jalapeno and cheese

Arakawa camp Kiyosato Yamanashi 2014

Kiyosato Station, Yamanashi, Japan. If you ever want to travel from Tokyo to this place, it will cost you at least 6000 yen round trip. WOW!
This town used to be really hopping. Unfortunately, several combinations have caused many of the shops around the station area to close. A drop in the population, its actually cheaper to travel outside Japan then inside! Its sad, as I counted about 12 shops which were closed, all of which were within walking distance of this station.

This type of train was what used to chug up the hills to get there. The weather was also a lot cooler up there, about a ten degree difference. Hence I'm wearing jeans and a flannel shirt in August in Japan!

Take my shot buddy, I need to get back to my students! You will find trains like these all over Japan as displays for kids to climb over and then break something.
Once again, my company was asked by Arakawa Board of Education to teach their World School Program. This year we had teachers from USA, Canada, UK, The Philippines, Australia and New Zealand

Mark from Kenya and I. We had a lot of laughs.

Mark from Kenya, Jai from Hawaii. Both these guys were great players on our training team. I didn't notice the sweat stain on my shirt.

Brian from Queens, New York. We work together in Edogawa, Tokyo this year.

We went up to Kiyosato, Yamanashi from August 21-25. I got home, went to bed for about 5 hours then cycled to school in Edogawa. Unfortunately, I lost my voice from all the excitement we had to do with the students on the trip. I'm still resting it. Hopefully, I will be able to teach my students with some more speaking, but then again, having them do most of the talking means I cut most of my work! I guess its a win win, unless they don't do any talking.