Okisho Bunkei Bye-bye

Many of you already know that I had my last day at Okisho on Friday. It truly was a bittersweet kind of feeling to be walking out of there for the last time. On one hand, I am excited about what the Lord is going to do in my life as I move to Hokkaido and take all my orders from Him. Also, (with all due respect to the school) I spent many days (months, really) frustrated at not being able to use a lot of the knowledge I was acquiring at grad school because of Okisho's curriculum. (By the way, it's an excellent school for students who want to get into elite universities, but I was not free to teach in a way that I saw as fit for the students' future. Sad.)

Kenney & Yukky - they were like a brother and sister to me - even fought like siblings!
ケニーとユッキー。本当に兄弟のような関係だった（喧嘩もよくしたよね？）

On the other hand (沖尚生のみなさん、あの熟語わかる？「一方では』というつなぎ語だよ！）I absolutely loved my students and co-workers. I think about each graduating class I taught at Okisho (total of 4 groups of students), and can't help but laugh and smile when I think about the wonderful minds I had the opportunity to teach. As for my co-workers, I enjoyed talking not just with the English teachers but also the math, social studies, and Japanese teachers from the Humanities department. Here are some pictures of the people I had the pleasure of working every day with. (There are also several teachers who were not around when photos were being taken. In fact, three of the teachers I respect the most - Mr. Enoki, Mr. Yamaga, and Mrs. Chon, are not in these pics.)

Akemi (Classic Japanese) the Tea Ceremony Expert and Yonamine (Math) the Pun Master!
茶道の専門家の明美T（古典）と　ダジャレ王の與那嶺（数学）

いうまでもないけど、金曜日は沖尚を離任する事になった。本来は一日６時間の勤務だったけど、最後に離れるのはあまりにも複雑で帰りづらかった。結局は９時間ぐらいいました。ある先生は体育館で用事があったけど文系職員室に内線電話をかけて、「もう少し残ってくれますか」と優しく聞いたから少し帰るのを延長した。待っている間に先生方と写真を撮ったりしました。この素晴らしい先生方とともに勤める機会が与えられて感謝でいっぱいです！生徒たちもとても優しくて親しみやすくて頭良くて（ほめ殺しかな？）日本の将来は大丈夫！と思うぐらい彼らを誇りに思っています。

Gucchi (Japanese) the Smiliest Man Alive and Aoki (Japanese) the Host with the Most
いつもニコニコしているぐっち（国語）と　いつも家に誘ってくれた青木先生（国語）

英語科の先生方だけではなく、国語，数学、社会科の先生方とも話すと、笑いが止まらなかったり新しい知識を得たりして毎日が祝福された恵まれた日々でした。多くの頼もしい先生方に助けていただいたばかりで、恩返し切れないと思います。本当に沖尚の先生方、３年間お世話になりました！これからも沖尚生の為にがんばってください。