Well... I guess I should get cozy since I'm stuck in this jar for a year.
First order of business, a recap of my 2014 (since I neglected to make a jar last year). It was a big year for me and really pushed me to my limits since I was constantly busy and had a lot of big life events. For those who aren't aware: I have lived in Japan for past four years or so and I work as an assistant English teacher (called "ALT"). In 2013 I got engaged to a Japanese man who happened to also be a teacher at my school. We work at different schools now.
January:
I celebrated my New Years with my in-laws so I got to try a Japanese-style New Year for the first time. But the fun was short-lived since I lost my cousin in a car accident when he was driving home from a New Years party.
It still shocks me since he was my age and died so suddenly and way too soon. It also hurt not being able to grieve with my family back home.
February:
I turned 25!
I can't decide if I'm still classified as a "young adult" or not.
March:
End of the school year here, which meant staff change at my school. I lost a few coworker friends to other schools but made a lot of new ones. I also turned down the opportunity to apply for a supervisor position in my school district. I probably wouldn't have got it anyway, but I'm so glad I didn't! I would have been overwhelmed.
April:
Start of the new school year! The new students are practically angels and everyone is shocked.
The second year kids look like wild hooligans by comparison.
May:
Golden Week holidays! My fiancé (now husband) and I took a road trip to Aomori to visit the northern tip of Honshu (the biggest island of Japan). Lots of fun and good food.
June:
No big events really, but this is when I started to hit crunch time. I started packing and cleaning my apartment in preparation for my move, but we didn't have a new place lined up and I didn't know who would move in. (That info was pretty vital since I needed to know if I could leave the furniture we no longer needed.) I had to prepare to switch schools in July, but I wasn't told where I would go until the end of the month. The waiting alone was stressful and I still had plenty of wedding planning to do.
July:
As mentioned above, this month I had to switch schools. On my last day of school we officially announced our engagement to our coworkers and students, which caused a lot of shock and gossip but mostly people wished us the best.
Since my contract was up, I had to move our of my apartment at the same time. So with no place else to go, I moved in with my in-laws. They're wonderful people, but the transition was so sudden I had a rough time adjusting at first. In retrospect, I'm super grateful since I learned a lot from my mother-in-law about cooking and keeping house in Japan.
The best part of the summer was taking a road trip on the back of my now-husband's motorcycle around the northern island of Japan. The weather was hell for the first half, but the second half was amazing. We definitely want to try that again someday.
August:
Classes start back up after the summer holidays at my new school. Wow, for the first time as an ALT I'm busy every day with a very full work schedule. It makes the day go by fast, but I no longer have time to do non-work stuff (including Mene) at work. Probably for the best.
September:
We found an apartment! It's still occupied but we sign up to get it mid October so we can move some stuff in and start living there post wedding. Aside from that, lots of other wedding stuff takes place, including my fitting for my kimono. Exciting!
October:
The wedding is here! My family also came to Japan for the first time to celebrate with us. It was a wonderful ceremony and a fun party afterward. I felt like a pretty princess dolled up in my kimono. We also started to move into our new place, including buying a new fridge and washing machine. The whole month was super busy, but things turned out great.
November:
From the start of the month we officially move in together. That meant that I had to start cooking every night after work. That was another challenge I was kind of dreading, but it actually was alright. Turns out I'm not that bad at it.
I have a lot still to learn, but I'm a bit more confident now.
December:
That brings us to the end of the year. We delayed our honeymoon to December so we could also visit my family for Christmas. First stop was Peru! We decided to make our honeymoon a trip to Machu Picchu since our first date was at a museum with an exhibit about the Incas. We had a great time, despite a few hiccups like breaking my camera, and safely arrived back in the US.
We then spent the holidays with my family and continued our trend of eating heaps of delicious food every day. (I'm still full!
) My brother also announced his engagement to his girlfriend, so that's exciting.
On the 31st we said goodbye to America and spent the last night of the year sleeping in our own beds.
Phew... What a year! So now I wonder what 2015 will bring.