Christian Angelos
Nov 6 · 3 min read

Watashi ga kita: Intro

I am back. Back on medium and back in Asia. When I left Macau, I did not think I would be back in Asia for quite a while. Last winter, I decided that I would not apply for a second year of Princeton in Asia. It was a very difficult decision, but I felt happy with my choice.

However, I did have some real regrets as my post in Macau began to wind down. After a chaotic summer program, I was left to pack as a typhoon moved through the area. It gave me lots of down time to reflect on the year I had just completed. While I had travelled almost everywhere on my list when I set out, I did not feel that I had ever been fully immersed in Macau. I think a big part of that was my inability to pick up Cantonese and/or Mandarin. While I did make meaningful friends and connections in Macau, I did not feel like I was a part of the community there.

In many ways, I felt that my year abroad had been too surface level for my liking. But there was nothing more I could do at that point. I gathered up my things, said goodbye in the brief time I had left, and then I flew back home.

As I began looking for jobs back home, PiA asked if I was interested in applying for a post in Japan. It was difficult to imagine leaving home again after being back for less than a month. I applied thinking that I would wait to see if I was offered the job before I decided on whether or not I would take it.

But as I waited to hear back, I began to feel more and more that I was going to accept the post if I was offered it. It seemed like the perfect post to correct what had gone wrong in Macau. Situated in Yakage, a small town in Japan, the position required language learning, and because it is such a small town, there is a much stronger sense of community. It also was a completely different kind of teaching. While last year I taught University students, this year I would be teaching kindergarteners.

Picture from the playground at Yamada Yochien

By the time I got the offer, I had made up my mind, I was going to go to Japan. Two months of waiting for my visa passed, and I began my impromptu second year of PiA. After being here for less than a week, I know that I made the right decision to come.

My last blog publication in Macau was not the model of consistency, but I did enjoy writing the posts. This year, I am going to try to stick to posting once a week. I’ll include some adventures from last year as well as updates from this year.

On the ride to Yamada with my co-fellow Galen

Follow along with me as I try to learn Japanese and find my place in this beautiful and charming town. Ganbare masu! (I’ll do my best!)

Watashi ga kita

Welcome to my second year of PiA in Yakage, Japan! There will be ups and downs, and a whole lot of food

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