Rat Tales

My application to stay for a fourth year on JET went through! I received the paperwork today and have never felt so relieved. Well, there was that time when I got the acceptance notice from JET. I felt pretty relieved then too.

 

I have big plans for the next year in terms of cementing my lesson plans, continuing my professional development, and getting involved with JET on a local and national level. Hopefully I still have time to socialize and see the last things on my Japan Bucket List!

 

It’s really interesting looking back at how quickly time has gone by. Some days it still feels like I arrived a few months ago. It’s only when I compare my life to the lives of others, when I hear about graduations, weddings, break ups and other adventurous stepping stones of life that I grasp how long I’ve lived here.

 

Remember that umeshuu I started brewing last summer? Well, The Dude and I got back from our trip to the US for the holidays and after all the hell United Airlines put us through, we needed a drink. Voila! The perfect “I-have-no-energy-to-leave-the-apartment-much-less-my-bed” answer. It’s still a bit tart, however store bought umeshuu has a tendency to be sickly sweet so this is a nice balance. We found that adding a bit of Sprite or soda water tones down the tartness.

 

Surprisingly enough, our rats like the flavor too- what few drops they’ve managed to lick up behind our backs.

Hans enjoys the sweeter things in life

 Oh, yes! The rats! It’s been a hard transition to a life without pets. My kitty passed away in the time that I was gone too. It wasn’t unexpected, but it still hurt. Anyway, I got to reminiscing about pets with The Dude and my rats were a topic that kept coming back up. The Dude was really curious about pet rats, and I apparently managed to convince him they were cool, because we searched out a pet shop and brought home two little bouncing balls of energy.

 

Their names are Hans and Dieter and their presence in our lives has been nothing short of magical! Recently, I’ve been dealing with some really lame school bureaucracy, and the thought of going home at the end of the day to play with the rats is sometimes the only thing that get me out of a negative funk.

 

Thank goodness for pets. Even better is how much The Dude has fallen in love with them. He has an album on his phone dedicated to them and I fear it’s only a matter of time before he makes a Facebook page for them!