Should I Stay Or Should I Go

Oh, the times, they are a changin'. At work today, Okubo-San revealed to me the master plan for the coming year. With the impending merger looming just over the horizon, the Momoishi board of education is in for some big changes. First off, we're not only going to combine with the Shimoda board of education, we're also going to be moving to Momoishi town hall. The new Oirase-Cho board of education is set to include myself, Charlie Mac, Kondoh Kacho (my supervisor), Baba-San and two people from Shimoda whose names I didn't recognize. Resident English expert and my occasional savior, Yayoi-San, will be moving to another office. And Okubo-San, sadly, will be leaving us altogether. It turns out that she was only a temporary employee and her two-year contract will expire in March. As such, she asked me that dreaded question: if I was ready to turn in my re-contracting form yet.

While the JET program is essentially a one-year program, if "the Contracting Organization and the JET participant agree...it is possible to re-contract for another year". While this sounds tenuous, the truth of the matter is that unless you prove yourself to be horribly incompetent or somehow demented, your supervisor will be crossing his fingers that you choose to stay, if only to save himself from the expense and paperwork involved with procuring a replacement. It is possible to stay for up to three years under normal circumstances and in some cases, even up to five.

Now here's the problem: I haven't made up my mind yet. When I initially arrived here, I was almost positive that I would do at least two years but my priorities and goals have changed since then and moving out to D.C. is looking like an increasingly attractive proposition. On the other hand, the JET program affords me any number of great opportunities that I know I will never have again if I choose not to re-contract. As good as my situation in Momoishi has been, I do get the feeling that after one year, I will have seen most of what there is to be seen in the vicinity. Or maybe I'm completely wrong? Perhaps I've only scratched the surface?

Well, I was pretty sure that it was going to come down to a coin-toss on February 3rd, the day of the printed deadline, but Okubo-San has given me a new deadline: January 25th. Which means that I'll have to make sure to bring a 100 yen coin with me to work next Thursday. Feel free to chime in with your opinion in the comments, I'll be sure not to take it into consideration.