Feeling a little sentimental.
Just had the ALT Mid-Year Seminar this past week at Suidobashi, my fifth and last, would you believe?! I took the kouhai (the ALTs who started after me) for the traditional drink at the New York Bar, with a detour past the Tokyo Government Building where the seminars used to be until this year, and reminisced.
Five years went by so quickly, it almost felt like yesterday that I first touched down into Tokyo. I'm feeling more than a little unsettled about where all that time has gone.
There were a lot of changes this year. Up until now, at the most there had just been ten Tokyo JETs (mainlanders and islanders), but this year, there are now a hundred and five, hence the change of seminar location. To be honest, I enjoyed the intimacy of the smaller groups of previous years; with most of the newbies this year being fresh-faced college graduates, the seminar had this cliquey, frat atmosphere to it... Anyway, it's strange to think that I am the longest serving Tokyo JET right now, the only 5th year Tokyo JET... I should have moved on years ago.
With another two hundred ALT friends to play with (the other hundred coming later this year), I doubt the original five mainland Tokyo JETs after me will place sentimental value in, let alone continue, the traditions that had been passed on since M-City first become the only city in Tokyo to utilise the JET Programme eighteen years ago. I know times move on, but I can't help but feel kind of sad about it, the traditions that are very much a part of my JET experience and those before me, will no longer be when I leave JET this summer.
Anyway, now that I've got the sentimentalities out of my system, let's think about the future... moving apartment, job searching, CPD, there will be a lot to think about during these next few months.
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