I was originally going to post this on my birthday, but unfortunately working from home prevented me from doing so. Besides, I also wanted to get in a good shoulder workout before treating myself to dinner.
It’s been a crazy three years since I moved here to Japan. Obviously, the one thing that has been on everyone’s minds would have to be the current pandemic, but even then, there have been silver linings here and there that have brought me joy.
I daresay that joining and officially forming my band Roseburn Avenue would be the biggest positive I can take away from all this. I’ve been able to make fantastic friends, and in turn, I’ve been hit by several random thoughts that have inspired me to try out different things.
After all, if it weren’t for the random idea to create a website for the band, I wouldn’t have been inspired to create my own personal website, and I wouldn’t be typing up this post while taking the Sasebo Liner train from Nagasaki to Huis Ten Bosch.
Other things that I can genuinely feel proud of would have to include getting a student of mine into the annual municipal junior high school English speech competition four years in a row, and sucessfully convincing two of the sixth grade teachers I work with to embrace Kahoot as an unofficial summative assessment tool. Ok, it’s all under the table, and I’m doing all the work of writing the tests, but the quizzes have proven to be a massive hit.
So yes, I’d like to think that I’ve managed to grow a bit as a result of all the positives I’ve either accomplished or experienced. Naturally, I’ve also learnt a lot from the negatives that I’ve either experienced or instigated, but in the end, if I can become a better person, that is all I can ask for with each passing day.
Take care,
Zach
Posted November 26th 2021, JST