Turn, Turn, Turn.

You might have heard me hint at it over the last few weeks in the comment sections of Facebook posts but the date has finally arrived. I am now officially an unemployed bum (as opposed to the employed bum that I've always been.) I had resigned a while back with the expectation that I'd land an ALT position in a High School or Junior High, yet that plan didn't come to fruition.

The cover story that I've told my students is that I need to take time off to return to Toronto and take care of my ailing mother. Much to my chagrin, the reality is that I need to take time off to return to Toronto and take care of my ailing mother. (It's a good thing I didn't land a job for I'd have to take a leave of absence in the first few weeks of work!)

Because I may be returning to my current ex-employer as a part-time employee, I haven't made a big deal of my departure. (Similarly, neither did my employer nor my co-workers.) I had a dandy shindig with one set of corporate students last week and today I had a Pot-Luck Party with my Senior Ladies class. They're a lovely sextet of sextugenarians who I've had the joy of "teaching" for the last several months. I can't really call it teaching, it's more like guiding them through conversations and adding a few tidbits of knowledge and some bad puns.

They had the pot-luck dishes all spread out before I arrived and they certainly went all out. The long pointy things are bamboo shoots wrapped in bacon. They were superb. (Oyaji gaggu alert: I said, "Let me ta-ke a picture." Bamboo in Japanese is たけ pronounced take. Oh, hilarity ensued.) The final picture is my special Ume-Hikari Chicken Balls (Sliced chicken covered in dried sour plum sprinkles) and they went over spectacularly!

I shall miss all my students dearly, I shan't miss the weekend work & split days off. Upon return, I hope to see them all again, albeit on a part-time basis.