the brothers crow

I realize that, looking at the title, many of you will wonder why I’m mentioning the New Year when it’s April. But, you see, the New Year actually does start in April, in a manner of speaking, at least in Japan.

April is a time of rebirth and renewal, largely because of Cherry Blossom season. These beautiful trees have a knack for blooming suddenly and abruptly near the end of March, showering everyone with a flurry of pink and white petals, only to once again return to an unassuming state.

I’m sure countless papers have been written solely on the influence of Sakura on Japanese culture, about their symbolism as a harbinger of death and rebirth and the fleeting nature of life within the Japanese psyche. But that’s a little dull and academic, which I get my fair share of when working at a public school, so let’s move on.

In a more concrete and practical sense, April is when employees at various companies are officially transferred, the new fiscal year starts, the new school year starts, and when a ridiculous amount of boring but necessary paperwork and meetings become necessary. Arguably in response to this, the number of work-related celebratory drinking parties increases fourfold (no seriously, I have five scheduled for this month alone). For the average foreign English teacher, this isn’t necessarily a bad situation, as we tend to be exempt from the more mundane responsibilities of regular teachers yet can still partake of the nightly festivities.

For example, I have no classes this week. There are simply too many things that need doing, such as testing, introductory classes and procedural explanations. Much as I’d like to think my influence is a necessary part of English instruction, the cold hard truth is that more classes are taught without me than with me. So when I speak of procedure and acquainting students with this year’s policies, those polices are designed around my absence.

Sadness.

But, on the bright side, this does give me more time to do other things, such as write a long overdue update on this blog. Which is (coming full circle to the title whose significance I neglected to fully explain), I’d like to think, something of a resolution. I say “something”, as I’m hesitant to make it a full fledged resolution, because then I’ll feel worse when I inevitably break it. But, until that day, please look forward to me writing again!