State of the Gaijin - Nearing the End.......(?)

My last day of school is 3/24. I'm not renewing my contract with my current company (Interac) for the following reasons:

• Contracts begin at the beginning of April (when school starts) and I need more of a breather than just a week back home
• Contracts are for a year and I'm not ready to commit for another full lap
• There are enough teaching jobs in Japan that there's not much pressure to lock in to something when the timing's off
  
• I was pushing hard to get transfered to a bigger city like Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Nagoya or Tokyo, but didn't get it. With most Japanese companies - you don't get what you want - only what the system dispenses. I don't know how the placement process "functions" but it hasn't worked well for me. I think this is an issue with most of these ALT supporting type companies in Japan - so it's not unique to Interac - but something to be prepared for if you're thinking about signing up. On the other hand I do recommend Interac to anyone looking to teach English in Japan. It's currently the biggest and one of the most well respected company's of it's kind

Moving Forward: I'll be returning to the blessed, blessed soil of the United States of America - the greatest country in the Universe - on 3/26 - hopefully early enough to catch some March Madness and maybe a spring training game.

Bridging the Gap: The current plan is to bum around AMERICA for a month - stock up on the things I've been missing like freedom - genuine laughter - friends - sincerity - coolness - debauchery - fun - hamburgers - individual thinking and justice. After I've gotten a nice fix - I'd then, come back to Japan for another teaching stint - and have all of those things sucked right back out. This move back to Japan would be only for a few months in order to save money before I pursue the long-term goal of balancing everything out by moving to Chile in August or September. I'd like to work/volunteer as a journalist at one of the English newspapers/media outlets in the country. If that doesn't pan out, I've heard the English teaching market is pretty strong and it's not too difficult to find a job if you've got training and experience (which I do - wa'sup?).

Economic Outlook: Bleak - either way I wouldn't be making much money - so if anyone's hiring in April - pretty much just for April - let me know.

Entertainment: I've been told numerous times by various Japanese locals that I have a "Japanese heart." This compliment has been the result of a wide range of acts from helping sweep during the daily school-cleaning time (where the entire school - students and teachers - take 30 minutes to clean - no janitors/outsourced cleaning crews - all in-house baby), to speaking broken drunken Japanese with a few drunken Japanese at a drinking party. The Last Samurai 2: The Last Samurai.

Health care: I banged up my knee teaching these kids how to ball and have been on the DL for the past few weeks. I did think of a nickname if I ever made the AND1 mixtape tour: Ghostwipe.