お茶の間留学

In June of 2021, Nova asked me to go to Takamatsu for three months to teach. I've lived in Kansai for all of my five years in Japan and I'd never been to Shikoku before that so I jumped at the chance to explore a new part of Japan. Due to Covid restrictions, newly hired teachers were not allowed to enter Japan so my three months ended up turning into ten months. And I have to say, I truly had a wonderful time! 

First of all, Nova staff and students in Takamatsu were great and just a joy to work with.  And on top of that, I had the opportunity to explore some really beautiful areas. I visited all four prefectures on Shikoku while I was there. Some of the highlights were Ritsurin Garden, Naoshima, Shodoshima, Chichibugahama Beach, Konpira-san, Matsuyama Castle, Kochi Castle, and Shikoku Karst. I collect goshuin so having a chance to visit several of the eighty-eight temples of Shikoku was amazing. I've lived most of my life in huge cities, Osaka here in Japan and Los Angeles in the United States, so it was nice to spend a considerable amount of time in a more rural area. Takamatsu is a pretty good-sized city but you don't have to travel too far to be in the countryside. All in all, it was a lovely experience and I hope I get the chance to spend some more time there in the future.