Hanging my hat in Maki

Hey all -

I heard from my predecessor, Melissa, today who has been in Niigata for the past two years. She told me that I would be living in Maki which is a small part of Niigata city. Two points of Melissa's message stuck out the most -- 'air-conditioning' and 'heated toilet seat.' Now, one might wonder if these items/services would gel together in tandem -- I would say no. But during the historically brutual summers and the frigid winter months, I'm quite sure their individual benefits will be greatly appreciated on my part when the time is right.

It looks like yours truly will be driving as well -- I will be responsible for one junior high school and a handful of elementary schools. There is a local fellow who rents cars to JETs in the area for about $200 a month including insurance and whatnot. Now if I could only start driving on the left here in NY to practice...

The pic above is of me and two students from the Kumon program I worked for over the past 3 years. Yesterday was my last day at one location and saying good-bye was not easy. But all the kids are great and will continue to do really well in school! I'm really proud of all the hard work every one of them did while I was teaching at Kumon (even with the random games of 'black jack' or 'dare.' Note to self: work on 'poker face').

Anyway, all my best for now...

Keep surfing!
Brendan