Japan, Germany - the works!

Ok, so a couple people that read my blog have been complaining that I have not written in awhile. (You know who you are, and you had better be happy I am writing now!)

Japan - A lot has happened since the last time I wrote in my blog. My parents came to visit me in Japan over Christmas. I was happy to be able to celebrate with my parents. Being so far away from for the first time and not having anyone around for 4 months can be hard, so when my parents decided they were going to spend the Holiday season with me I was excited. We traveled around Japan. We spent a couple days in Kyoto, which used to be the capital of Japan, walked around, and looked at different temples and shrines. It was fun showing my parents around Japan. Aside from Kyoto we also went to Tokyo tower, Asakusa, and Shibuya (the busiest intersection I have ever seen!) I showed them where I worked and where I lived. I showed them how to use the public transportation (though they never used it on their own – it is hard to learn – I still get lost sometimes!)
After my parents left Japan, I still had a couple weeks off before my semester started back up again. I just relaxed the entire time and did not really do much. It was nice not having to worry about doing anything for a couple weeks. I did have to do a couple things for school, like create my final exams and get other papers graded and stuff, but overall it was very relaxing. My semester actually ended January 27th. Final grades were handed in before I left for Germany and my new semester will start on April 9th. I will have 9 classes to teach next semester as well as helping with the extracurricular activities we have for the students like English Café and special classes we offer. I will have 2 classes on Monday, 4 classes on Tuesday, Wednesday will be free, 1 class on Thursday, and 2 on Friday.

Germany – For those of you that do not know, I am actually in Germany right now. After my semester was over in Japan and I had my grades done, I hopped on a plane and flew to Germany. I arrived here on February 10th, and will be here until March 1st when I fly to the US. So far, I am having a lot of fun. I am visiting Lilly. She was the exchange student (from Germany) my senior year of high school, and I had not seen her since we graduated in 2002 so I decided it was about time to see her! I have seen Leipzig, Nordhausen, Weimar, Sondershausen, and the Harz Mountains. At these different locations, I have seen historic buildings, a concentration camp, the summer theater where Lilly used to work, and a couple other very interesting things. I have been able to enjoy amazing German food and beer. We have coffee and cake practically every day (German Custom!!! I love it!!!!) I still have 10 days left here with a lot more places to go and people to see. I had the opportunity to meet Lilly’s husband even though he was sick and only home to go to the doctor. He is an actor and has to travel a lot to rehearse different plays.