Leaving on a jet plane Pt 1

No not me, not yet. But most of the people I used to work with at NOVA have now left.

Sara left early November, after finishing her contract 4 days before NOVA imploded - good timing, ね？ Some photos from her various going away events:

Yakiniku dinner with Nobu, Misuzu and Sherman - かわいい、ね?

Sara and I - I can't tell, but it looks like she's giving herself bunny ears.

(Violent) Group photo.


Drinks by the river - a good idea in summer. A freezing idea in the middle of November!

From left: Garcio, Daniela, Michelle and Sara

Camilla, me and Rachel

We then decided to have some fun with the glowy ring things Sara had - perhaps as a way to warm up..

This one of my face looks kinda freaky:

An old man doing the "old man backward shuffle" down the river.
Then in order to get some final group shots before the party split up (but alas, after the old man shuffled away), we made good use of the timer function on my camera, some stools from Papalo Mama and the walkway space below the subway line.







This was followed naturally by karaoke... the photos of which will never see the light of this blog.

The next morning, Sara's last in Japan, we had a sushi breakfast at the local sushi restaurant.
Our sushi chef - I don't know his name - who kept trying to pass us our plates through the glass. I still can't decide whether he was doing it on purpose or as a joke.

Three of the last Nishi-Funa NOVAites - Sherman, Sara and me.

The Kettle Shackians together for one final meal - from left: Sara (US), me (Aus), Nik (Canada) and Jasmine (UK). Nik is the next to leave, on the 10th of December. Jasmine and I have made a pact to leave at the same time, so that neither of us leaves the other to face the madness of Kettle Shack alone.
And so it was that Sara, who I'd spend most of my time with in Japan, left the country - hopefully, as I wrote in her card, we'll catch up one day and drink wine in a tiny village in the middle of Spain, basking in the sun and remembering how friggin' cold it was at the top of Mt Fuji.

Photos from Sherman's going away on Sunday will appear maybe tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the contract for my current job (I've been working as an ALT - Assistant Language Teacher - at junior high schools in Tokyo since mid October) expires in March, and while I could renew it if I wanted, I think by then I'll be looking to move on to the UK, and so will be heading back to Aus in April, for a few months at least while I work out visas etc. As much as it is going to pain me to leave Japan (there's so much about this country that I love), I think I'm making the right choice.

Also, if you want to see photos from Nikko, but can't be bothered waiting for me to upload them to my blog (I will eventually, but these things take a lot of work you know!), check them out here.