Goodbyes

I’m feeling a bit down at the moment. A bit lonely. It’s that time of year again when the departing ALTs are, well, departing. Apartments are being packed and rumours are being spread, rumours about the newcomers. Apparently the new ALT in my town is called Ryan, an American chap with a Spanish heritage. He sounds interesting already!

The majority of the Yatsushiro ALTs, old and new(ish) alike are leaving, meaning we’ll be getting 7 or 8 new people in the city. I am reliably informed that out of these 7 or 8, 6 or 7 (ie all except one) are women. Not quite sure what to make of this at the moment, I don’t want to start prejudging people again. Most are American though and this is something I can comment on; I really wish there was more of a balance. In the vast majority of cases, Americans are as nice as any other people but I’d really like a bit of variety.

In my first year there was an Irish ALT, 2 Australians, 4 Canadians, 1 South African, 3 Americans and 3 of us Brits. This past year there were 2 Brits (me included), 3 Canadians, 1 South African, 1 Indian and 6 Americans (5 by the end of the year). I much preferred the mix during the first year, not that I disliked anyone this year. Well, not really. However, the few times I did go to Yats the concentration of not just Yanks but Californians (of the 6 I think 4 were from California somewhere) made me feel in the minority. An Englishman in New York if you will, although Yatsushiro is about as far from New York as that Welsh tramp wandering around Leeds.

There are a few people staying over from last year but only one other remains from when I first arrived. Of the others staying, two are cool and one is…a bit of a challenge but I shall persevere. If there’s one thing I mucked up this year it was the delicate Balance between girlfriend and friends, meaning that Hannah got too much of me and my friends were neglected. Not that I think they minded too much. Still, this year is another chance to even that out.

It’s a bit nerve-wracking though, especially getting a new ALT in my town. I sort of fell out of contact with Ellison this year, something I do regret, but hopefully this new chap will be as nice as the last guy. We shall see. Apparently he doesn’t speak any Japanese so that’s something we’ll have in common. He’s going to love that.