I apologize, dear snagger.org. I've left you feeling lonely for far too long. As one other teacher in my town put it, "It's a long winter." Of course, he said that in reference to his womanizing advice on how to "keep warm" in multiple senses of the word. Truth is, at the root of it, it has been a long winter here. And the 10 weeks or so that filled up the bulk of winter damn near drove me insane. As it happens, my region of Japan is split into two smaller areas: the San-In (san-een) and San-Yo coasts. In both cases, San means 'mountain.' They're different in that 'in' means 'darkness' and 'yo' means 'sunlight.' Guess which one I live in? Hint: I admit I'm a bit of a hypochondriac at times, but I definitely had a basis for dianosing myself with Seasonal Affective Disorder by the end of February.Spring is slowly coming to my area, which means the permanent dull grey of winter has been replaced with mere haze through which the sun still barely shines. But before spring fully springs, I had to be taught a small lesson about where I live:There was a TV special a few days ago about Shimane prefecture (where I live) being the worst in Japan. And there's plenty of reasons why: lowest population density, no youth, no money, an agricultural economy, widespread poverty, the aforementioned 'darkness,' and the list truly went on. By the time I saw this special, I had made up my mind: I was coming home. I spent the month of February in a panic about what to do next - where to live, what jobs to go after, what to pursue next. I'm the planning type, and the uncertainty caused enough stress to give me an ulcer. No, really, an ulcer.So, as it stands, I'll be moving home at the start of August, with a teaching position closer to Tokyo as a fallback in case I can't get myself a job stateside. See you kids in summer - and I'll do everything I can to write again before then.