WOW!!

Wow!



WOW!!



WOW!!!!!

This is my friend's new English school, and those were the first three things I thought when we arrived for their "open house".

After entering and touring the rooms, the "Wow!!"s continued.

As in...
"Wow! This place is huge!"
"Wow! What nice classrooms!"
"Wow! What cool wall paper!"
"Wow! What a nice waiting area!"
"Wow! What a beautiful tree." ← (There's an indoor patio)
"Wow! Look at all the food."
"Wow! Someone else gave them the same kind of tree as a present... And theirs is bigger...
"Wow! It sure is a good thing this school is out here in Mikkabi, and not any closer to Takatsuka...
"Wow! All our friends from our old company are here! Long time no see!!


(Oops. We didn't ask anyone's permission to put their picture on our blog.... Hmmmmm...... All right, I'll just make the pictures small enough that you can't tell who anyone is... hee hee hee)



Spending the day in their new school, and seeing so many old friends and former co-workers, brought back almost every memory that I have of living in Japan. Memories that actually go back to even before I came here, because it was this school's proprietor that brought me to Japan... Her family that supported me through the difficult transition of living in a "foreign" country... Her lessons that taught me everything that I new about teaching and became the basis for everything that I know now... Without her support, her friendship, her family and her (sometimes annoyingly strict) mentoring neither Micela or I would be the people or teachers that we are today... and for that we are forever thankful.

And to think, this all grew out of our chance meeting when I carried her luggage up to her room after she and her mother checked into the hotel that I was working at through college. I had already decided that I wanted to come to Japan, but it was meeting her (and her impromptu interview in that hotel room) that brought me to the company which she was teaching at. The company which provided me with not only visa-problem free stability and the freedom to explore other teaching oportunities, but also (and more importantly) the chance to meet my wife...

Kyoko, I am so happy to have worked with you. So proud to see how your school has grown into the wonderful building that we saw today, and to think of the times that I spent teaching at the classrooms that preceded it. We wish you, your school, your teachers and your family all continued happiness and success in the future...