my new job!

So, drum roll please....
....
....

I have accepted an Area Coordinator position at Clark University in Worcester, MA. It's gonna be cold there, especially after living in the desert for the past 2 years. But the staff are great, job is great, apartment is amazing, and students are great. All in all, I think I will be very happy there, and I am very excited to start in 1.5 weeks!

Thanks to everyone that has been really supportive of my job search. It has meant a lot to me.

I'm at home now and it is weird. I haven't been here in so many years, that I feel a little out of place. It's a strange feeling. And it's not really affording me a lot of privacy or support to work through my culture shock, which is still pretty bad.

On a less happy note, I have forgotten over the years just how racist and culturally incentive my family is. Having just moved back from another country a little over a week ago, hearing derogatory comments about just about every race, religion, or background, (including gay people) is not really tickling my fancy. If nothing else, it makes me really proud that I have turned out so well and am such a diversity celebrator. Apparently giving them Crash last
Christmas did nothing to curb their racisim. Boo!

But, I have a JOB!!! So, who cares...I'll challenge their stereotypes another time. haha

Chris

2 job offers, and I'm Time Magazine's person of the year!

In the past 8 days, I have:

been on 8 planes, been on 4 trains, been in 12 cities in 10 states and 2 countries, had final day long interviews with 4 schools and 1 short second round interview, slept in 5 different hotels, and had some serious jet lag and culture shock after returning from living in another country....

And now....after all is said and done, I received not one, but two job offers yesterday. With the possibility of a 3rd today. What a relief! And I am very excited about the opportunity to work at one, possbily 2 of them. I will have a final job answer tomorrow morning.

I am finally done with all of this interview madness and traveling. I am at my parents' house and I can also finally stop lugging around suitcases with everything I own around the country. I just feel so happy and so relieved.

Of course, I'm sure that after a few days of living at home until my new job starts in 2 weeks, I will start to go nuts, but for now, I am a very happy guy.

This is going to be a good Christmas!

Chris

Another update from the road

Hi y'all.

Well, I am in New York City this morning! I just had my final interview for a great job here. I had an interview yesterday, and I am leaving for the airport in a half hour or so to fly to my last interview. Finally, after a full day interview tomorrow, I get to fly home to spend the holidays with my family.

FYI, to all of y'all out there who are really misinformed, I'm not going to be working at UNLV. Although I love UNLV, that's not an option right now and I'm not sure where y'll got that from haha.

I think I've been doing a great job at all of my interviews so far, but unfortunately, I get the feeling that none of the schools are going to be ready to make offers before Christmas. Honestly, although I've been interviewing well, some of the schools so far have not tickled my fancy, so I'm getting a little concerned. In fact, there is one job that I am pretty sure that I would turn down if offered, based on the on-campus interview. Res. Life is not just a job; it's a support network, a lifestyle, and a place to live as well. So it's so important that the department/school is a good fit. If it's not, you could be really miserable.

The scary part is that there is the chance that I won't get an offer from one of the good ones. If that happens, (and I'm trying to be positive and optimistic) I'm not really sure what I will do. I haven't really thought that far ahead. There won't be so many jobs available until the spring probably, and with these interviews and travel home really eating through my savings, it's a pretty scary thought.

On a positive note, I'm doing sllightly better with the culture shock now (to the point where my every thought isn't about going back to Japan...now it's only every other thought) and I'm slowly getting over the jet lag. (Though the really loud people having sex in the next hotel room last night didn't really help me catch up on my sleep haha) Even so, I'm still really excited to be going home and getting to sleep and rest, and most importantly, not travel and interview and where a suit everyday!

Well, I am off to Boston. Wish me luck on my last interview, and keep your fingers crossed that I get a good offer soon.

A quick update from the road

Well, after 25 hours of traveling, I finally arrived in Baltimore last night at about 10pm. The 3 flights and 2 trains were fairly pleasant...well, as pleasant as a 25 hour trip can be. But, it is a pain in the butt lugging around all of my heavy luggage. Speaking of which, the airline lost my luggage from Japan yesterday!

Yep, they lost all of my luggage, including the bag with all of my interview clothes and notes. Literally, my first hour back in America was spent trying to track down my missing luggage and watching an angry customer in a similar situation get arrested by 3 airport police. Nothing says "Welcome home" quite like airport police and missing luggage. Well, luckily, they found my luggage in Chicago and had it delivered to me overnight.

Culture shock has hit my like a brick. Seriously, I never imagined how hard or how fast it would hit me. Everything is just so different and I miss Japan and my life/lifestyle there already. My life was so simple and slow paced there, and already I am flying around the country and interviewing at a pretty unrealistic pace. Of course, hindsight has kickd in and I have been questioning if leaving was the right choice. Honestly, there's such a big part of me that wants to go back. Maybe my missing luggage was a sign from the Baby Jesus that I should just hop back on the plane and go back haha. But, I know that I had to leave eventually and now is probably the best time. Besides, I can always go back another time and visit as often as I would like. Regardless, this is going to be a really hard time for me and something that is pretty much impossible for other people who have never experienced this to understand.

I stayed with my awesome friend Ashy overnight and then took the train from Baltimore to NY-Penn Station at 8am. My interview wasn't until 2:30, so I checked my baggage at the station and went and wandered around the city. I went to Timesquare, Herald Square, saw the big Christmas tree at Rockefellor Center, and had a genuine NY hot dog and pretzel at Bryant Park (the location of Olympus Fashion Week from Project Runway!)

My interview went pretty well I think. It was a second round interview with the assistant directors and director and I think that they all liked me. I also got to meet my would-be coworkers and chatted with them for about an hour as well. I got such a good vibe from the department that it has cemented itself as my top choice so far. I let them know that if they are interested in a 3rd interview for me, that I could be in the area again on Tuesday, so I would imagine that I will hear back from them relatively soon. (incidentally, a friend of mine is also interviewing for a position there in the department. We aren't really competing against each other though since there are 2 openings)

After the interview, I picked up my luggage at Penn Station and took the longest taxi ride of my life to JFK airport. The taxi ride took about 1.5 hours and at some point during the trip, exhaustion set in, and I fell asleep. The exhaustion didn't stop and I fell asleep on the plane before it even took off. When I woke up, I was in Pittsburgh haha.

So, now I am in downtown Pittsburgh at a pretty swanky hotel for my interview tomorrow. After my interview, I'm switching to a slightly less swanky hotel and am spending the weekend here in Pittsburgh to get lots of sleep and rest up for the 2nd round of interviews next week before going home to my parents' house on Wednesday night.

Well, that's it for now. I should get some sleep now, but with so many things happening and so many emotions going through my head, I thought it might help me process it all to write about it.

Going home tomorrow

Well, the adventure's over and I will be on a plane back to America tomorrow. I feel that this is such a pivitol moment in my life and I am truly going to treasure and miss my experience here.

While I've moved plenty of times before, leaving Japan is different: it's leaving a way of life, a culture, an adventure. It's the conclusion of a dream. It's the beginning of a career. It's the end of a chapter and the start of a new one.

It's a big deal. And while I am so excited for what lies ahead, I can't help but think about how much I will miss this place and my life here. It's changed me, and I think it will take weeks, maybe even months to fully reflect on and appreciate this experience.

I wish that I took more pictures.

Today, I said my final goodbyes to most of my students, and the showering of support and sadness that they demonstrated was amazing. It's such a great feeling to know that my students aren't angry at me at all. Rather, they are sad because they will miss me and because I've been a good teacher and friend to them. They brought me presents, wrote me cards and letters, and drew me pictures.

On more than one occasion, their outpouring made me cry. In particular, a group of students brought me a special Japanese charm that is believed to help heal, to give to my mother to help her recover. This truly moved me. And while I am not at all a crier, there were plenty of tears of pure happiness today.

What a perfect way to end this journey.

So, today is my last day at work, and I fly home the following afternoon. It's a 2 hour train ride to the airport, followed by a series of 3 flights totalling 18+ hours. Needless to say, I'll be tired. Once I arrive, I have a full week of back to back interviews all over the Northeast. I'm really excited about this and I have a really good feeling about some of the institutions I'm interviewing with.

This will be my last blog from Japan and maybe my last until after all of my interview madness is over and I am at home with my family in Georgia. So, wish me luck with everything, especially with the interviews. And hopefully when I post a blog next time, it will be to announce my next job.

Thanks to everyone who has made this experience generally such a positive one, and thanks to everyone who has read my blog and actually taken an interest in my life here while I have been away. It means a lot to me.

Cheers!

Almost died...again

Who knew that Asia could be so dangerous? (or really, that I am so clutzy)

It started when I first went to Thailand and almost died falling off a boat into the super polluted Chao Praya river in Bangkok.

Then, I almost died falling off a startled elephant in Chiang Mai.

A few weeks ago, I nearly died by rolling down the side of a mountain after jumping out of the way of a speeding car on a way too narrow and steep mountain road on my way to Gujo Castle.

And then, there's last night. Last night, I woke up and was really thirsty, so I got dressed and started to walk to the convenience store to buy something to drink. The convenience store is only 2 minutes away, and to get there, I simply must walk down a path between a very old and traditional Japanese house, and a rice patty. Well, as I entered the dimly lit path, I heard a strange noise. The noise got louder the more I walked, and after a few seconds, I realized that it sounded just like the sound that the creepy dead Japanese boy makes in The Grudge right before he kills someone. (If you haven't seen the movie, here's a clip so you know what I'm talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUs_28OwFvI)

Well, even though it was only a movie, it was dark, I was in Japan, I was standing next to a somewhat creepy old house just like in the movie, and I was definately a little scared. The noise kept getting louder, and I was pretty sure that either it was nothing to be afraid of, or I was about to die. So, I fearfully kept going. Finally, as I passed a tree which appeared to be the source of the noise, I looked up to see if anything was there, half expecting to see the creepy dead boy from the movie. Well, instead, as I looked up, a giant black cat jumped out of the tree onto the path right in front of me! I was so startled that I tripped, lost my balance, and fell off the path into the rice patty 3 feet below!

It had been raining, so the rice patty was basically just a big sunken field of mud, rocks, and twigs. I was fine, just covered in mud. Well, I did hurt my ankle a little bit, but I could have died. (probably not really, but it was a little traumatic)

Imagine the obituaries I would have here:

Chris Thomas: Was a great friend, was a great son, fell into a rice patty and died. 1981-2006
Definately, I think it's a good thing that I'm going home. There may not be any crimes here and I never even lock my door, but I'll take my chances on the not so safe streets of America over falling off a mountain or off an elephant any day.

Feeling it

Back in June, I thought that saying goodbye to all of my friends and family, leaving America, and moving to Japan was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I was wrong.

When I decided to come here, I had the support and excitement of my friends, coworkers, and family. I could see their excitement. I could hear them say they were proud and that it would all be okay. The support was visible. I could feel it.

Now, I am leaving Japan in just over a week. This depature, a few weeks earlier than planned, definately takes the not so coveted honor of being the most difficult thing I have ever faced.

While I know that I have the distant support of my friends and family, it is distant, and friendships have inevitably faded during the time I've been away. I don't have the support of my coworker or company. I for company reasons am not able to be totally forthcoming about my reasons for leaving to my students, and thus do not have their support either. Everyone is just sad and angry at me.

To add to this, I'm coordinating an international move in just over a week, am in the midst of a full scale mid-year job search, which because of the time difference, has caused me to wake up at all hours of the night for phone interviews, am sick as a dog (again), and am horribly worried about my mom, who is quite ill. All in all, I'm not doing so hot these days.

I've been being really tough about it and trying to just barrel through it, but yesterday, it all kind of hit me at once. It might have been because I was so tired from the interviews I had during the night before or because I am so sick, but when one of my favorite little girl students started to cry when her mother told her that I am leaving, I just broke down. And it didn't stop. My next class of the night also had a student which cried, and only spurred me on more.

It is hard to come to the realization that my students care so much about me and I care so much about of some of them, yet I am abandoning them for somewhat selfish reasons. It is hard to watch them cry because of a decision I have made. It is hard to go to work and feel the almost palpable judgement from my Japanese coworker and my company. There is just so much guilt. So much sadness. And now even a little regret (and that's a strong statement, as I am a person with few regrets in life)

And there's so much more to do. There's still more students to tell, getting ready to leave and readjust to American culture, more night time phone interviews, an 18 hour flight, and on-campus interviews ahead. I just want things to slow down a little so I can process it all and give this experience the appropriate and meaningful ending and closure that it deserves.

I'm just so tired.

But, there is a positive end to this pretty personal blog. If nothing else, even aside from the positive and negative aspects of my time here, this experience has made me realize that I am very ready to settle in one place for a while. As much as I want my life to be full of adventure, I can't keep uprooting myself like this and establishing and then leaving relationships in the sake of getting it. It's just too draining. And frankly, what is the point of having a life full of adventure if it causes me to have few people to share it with.

And on a final positive note, my job search is going really well and I am very excited about some of the positions that I have been interviewing for. I'll keep you posted, and hopefully should have a job before Christmas.

That's all folks.