A day of firsts...

When I arrived at my school, nigh seven months ago, there were many things impressed upon me by the outgoing English teacher I was replacing. But there were two things she made extra sure to impress upon me

1) The Japanese staff absolutely dislikes the foreign staff. Do not attempt to befriend them, as such attempts will be in vain. You'll be lucky if they say hello to you in the morning and goodbye to you at night.

2) While there are many wretched students to be dealt with, the most wretched, the most horrid, the most evil is one little 7 year old boy named...Itsuki. He is a nightmare and incredibly (and I quote) "dumb dumb DUMB" so the best advice is to not try to teach him at all. Just keep him distracted so he doesn't destroy anything or anyone.

Those are not particularly the most encouraging things to learn on your first week in a foreign country, in a new job. I distinctly remember writing home to my family, absolutely depressed at the situation I was walking into. But at the end of my letter, I told my Mom that I was resolved to have the best attitude possible. Just because the Japanese staff was cold didn't mean I had to be. And just because Itsuki was bad didn't mean I had to treat him badly in return. When Dawn arrived, I filled her in on the situation and she came to the same conclusion as me.

In the beginning, it seemed a hopeless cause. When I asked the Japanese staff to lunch, they'd just smile and shake their heads. When I said hello to Itsuki he might reply with a "How are you?" if he was in a good mood. But slowly...ever so slowly...Dawn and I started to notice a change.

Then today...today...
Every Friday, Dawn and I go to lunch at our favorite Indian restaurant. And every few weeks, I invite one of my co-workers to join but she always turns me down.
But today, she stopped by my classroom to confirm a meeting for later on in the afternoon.
"Will that work?" She asked "You and Dawn will still have time to go to lunch?"
"Yep!" I replied
She paused for a second and then said "Maybe I'll come with you..."

I nearly fell out of my chair.

After what was, without a doubt, one of the most enjoyable and laughter filled lunches, I returned to work. A few hours later, Itsuki trotted in the door. To my delight and surprise he leapt into my arms and unprompted asked "How are you?!"

I almost burst into tears.

This has been an unbelievable day of firsts, of things I was told were impossible. Dawn and I keep joking that we're taking an "accelerated growing up" course - but in part it's true. Today, I learned that sometimes things can change if you are dedicated and loving, inspite of everything. As silly as it seems, I feel like...Christie or Anne of Green Gables.

And now, to another first....
packing...for KOREA!