Unlike many of my friends and even many of my fellow foreign teachers, I didn't know anything about Japanese culture when I made the decision to teach in Japan for a year.  I wasn't into Japanese manga or anime, I didn't listen to Japanese music, and I didn't speak the language, even in the most rudimentary way.  In fact, when I first considered the Amity English teaching program, I ran to locate Japan on the map because, although I knew that Japan lay on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, I didn't know exactly where.  In short, there was much I was looking forward to learning and experiencing during my year in Japan and I certainly have not been disappointed.  Not only have I had the chance to grow as a professional teacher and even as a businessperson, but also I have had the chance to grow as a human being.  After only six months of living in Japan, I have come to discover that in learning all of the things I wanted to learn about Japanese people and Japanese culture, I have also learned more about myself than in any other time in my life.  For those reasons alone, teaching in Japan for a year has been well worth the trip.

I have heard it said that there is nothing more rewarding than teaching.  I would like to add to that and say that there is nothing more rewarding than teaching children.  There is something indescribably exciting and moving when babies or children you've been teaching for months, but who haven't spoken a word, finally say their very first word or sentence in English.  Every word or sentence they say after that never fails to make me feel both grateful and proud that I was an integral part of that experience.
Teaching children for Amity has also served to remind me of how fun and exciting learning a new language can be.  From the babies who punch out their first English words and the mothers who smile at them proudly, to the parents who take my class and laughingly ask me to explain English absurdities, their intoxicating joy and excitement for learning English has only drawn me to appreciate English more than I already did.  It is truly a pleasure to have students who openly love the English language as much as I do.

The food is delicious.  I think that many foreign teachers who eventually love Japan come to that love through at least one particular aspect of Japanese culture.  It could be the Japanese language itself, karate, Buddhism, or simply sightseeing and touring some of Japan's ancient and beautiful sites.  For me, I loved Japan first with my stomach and then with my heart.  I have had the most wonderful time learning the ways in which Japanese cuisine is much more diverse than simply sushi.
In addition to the edible rewards to living in Japan, getting to know Japanese people themselves is a reward in and of itself.  They are some of the most kind and honest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.  Their generosity and patience with foreigners makes the transition to living in a completely different country much less stressful than it has the potential to be.
When there isn't great food to be eaten or wonderful people to meet there is an abundance of things to see.  The futuristic beauty of the colorful and high-tech major cities is surpassed only by the grandeur of the majestic mountains and green, sparsely populated valleys.  In fact, after months of trying to eat, do, and see all the things I want in Japan, it has taken me no time at all to come to one inevitable conclusion: a year is not nearly enough.