tee hee

Okay, still at "work," but this is just a funny thing I wanted to share with you guys.

Everybody know the movie "Dreamgirls," that came out a year or two ago and made a big splash with the critics? The musical one? Well, I can hear my school's junior high band practicing next door, and guess what they're playing a suite of music from? :D

So far they've played the title track once, and that one about "Move, move, move on outta my life!" about ten thousand times. It just made me giggle when I realized why the music sounded so familiar.

Nothing else to report, really, except that I've spent a large portion of my late morning and afternoon filling in about twenty Japanese crosswords. (Decidedly for beginners. I'm not that slick.)

This keeping myself occupied business is trickier than it sounds. Alas, short attention span.

Monday, Monday.

I've only been in the office an hour and a half, and already I'm sleepy. (And a wee bit grumpy, as my back hurts. Must have slept in some funny position.) Excluding yesterday, though, I've been relatively busy since my last communique on Thursday afternoon.

True to my word, I got paid at four o'clock (already about five hundred dollars, and I'd only been on the job, what, four days?), and then we drove around town a bit. I remained glued to the car window, trying to fix the location of everything in my mind. I haven't gone on any long excursions into the wilds of Sonobe from the apartment yet, but I also haven't gotten lost yet, so I'll count that as a win.

Thursday evening, Stephanie and I hopped the train into Kyoto city to meet a few friends of hers for kaitenzushi. I have quickly discovered that I have an extra stomach just for sushi, allowing me to eat great amounts. Fortunately for my weight and my wallet, I managed to restrain myself from going overboard. (Though it didn't stop being tempting.) I was introduced to Stephanie's pals Nick and Jane, who both live in Arashiyama (another stop on the same train line as Sonobe, but much closer to the city). Jane is staying on another year, but Nick is leaving soon, and being replaced by a South African girl named Lerato. I recognized her from orientation, and we had a few nice conversations.

After dinner we wandered around a nearby shopping arcade for a bit, where I bought two pairs of lacy dress socks (huzzah dollar store) and a box of blueberry tea. When we went home, Stephanie got off with the others at Arashiyama. It was her last night to say goodbye to Nick, and they were going to set off some fireworks. I was really tired, though, so I went on home. By some miracle, I did not get lost in the dark during the twenty minute walk from Sonobe station to our flat, though there were a few nervous moments when I thought I had.

Friday at work was spent, like most everyday in the office so far, alternately brushing up on my Japanese or chatting with Stephanie and Wakabayashi-sensei. He is a trip to talk to, and we had some nice long conversations about law, and politics, and international relations. I was surprised to learn about the North Korean Mass Games, which somehow I had never heard of. That is some serious business.

Stephanie and I grabbed a large lunch at this really tasty restaurant called Bisque, and in the afternoon we went to get me a keitai and to have Stephanie's cancelled. It took two hours to get my plan and everything set up, and then have the phone activated, so we ended up getting off of work an hour later than usual. Poor Wakabayashi-sensei hates bureaucracy and paperwork, and he got stuck translating for me! (I think I'm going to give him some peach coffee I brought from home as a thank-you.)

On the upside, the phone is rad. Cute, pale pink, with an (admittedly not great) camera, text messaging, internet access (though I'll use that sparingly), et cetera. Through much trial and tribulation, I even navigated a Japanese website to download myself a fun ringtone; "Hikari no Machi" by the band TOKIO.

Friday night we went and met the other local foreigners at a place called Good Bar. The local foreigners mainly consist of: myself, Stephanie (who is leaving tomorrow), Nelis (the SA kid in my apartment block), Mike (an American here on another English teaching program, who is leaving soon), and Brad (a British guy here on the same program as Mike, but who is staying on). There's also Kristin, who will be working with me, but she's in Canada on vacation currently. Also, Mike is being replaced by some British person named Timothy Vickerman. I suspect he might hate us when he arrives, because we have already nicknamed him Vickers.

We arrived to find Good Bar closed, actually, but Mike just called the owner up, as they are apparently good friends. We poked around in the supermarket to kill time, and after fifteen or so minutes, the owner, Hiro, appeared to open the bar for us. I ate a decent ham and egg sandwich on garlic toast, and we all mainly got to know each other.

On Saturday, I woke up naturally around 9:30 a.m., and spent the morning laying around the apartment and finishing the second season of Dexter. (Whoa, by the way.) Stephanie had left before I awoke, off to visit her sister in Hiroshima for two days. Around 10:30, I received a text message from Brad, who was going into a local town called Kameoka for some shopping, and wanted to know if I'd join him. I got myself cleaned up and met him at the station at 12:30, only to discover that he was driving! So we piled into his little two-seater car, and hit the road.

In Kameoka, Brad mostly showed me some good shops to get used goods (called "recycle shops" here). I bought a cute pink umbrella, which I'm really tempted to use as a parasol against the melting summer sun. Then we went once again to kaitenzushi (it never gets old, I'm telling you), and headed back to Sonobe. As we approached town, Brad mentioned that there was a lake nearby, and did I want to see it? Neither of us had anything better to do, so off we went, driving on through Sonobe and up to Hiyoshi Dam. The lake was quite pretty, and we spent a good hour just driving on these nearly empty mountain roads around it, listening to KT Tunstall in the background, with everything all green and sunshiny and overlooking the water. It was a lovely time. Often we weren't positive where we were going, but we just followed the edge of the lake and rivers as best we could, stumbling across a little campsite, the town of Hiyoshi, and managing to accidentally find our way back to the Dam in the process.

At last on our way back, Brad was kind enough to take me by the grocery store, so I wouldn't have to lug my purchases home through the heat. I only bought a little bit to get me through the weekend; bread, jam, some truly good camembert cheese, Japanese rice snacks, and a bit of pre-marinated beef that didn't cook up so well in the end.

We broke for dinner at five o'clock, having had a four and a half hour adventure, and then made another short trip to Good Bar that night with Nelis. Poor kid had to work that day, even though it was Saturday, because his school was having an open house. He seems a bit stressed every time I see him, and for a variety of reasons; most of all, because this is his first time ever out of South Africa, and he doesn't speak any Japanese. I think he's beginning to settle in, though, and we're all trying to help him out where we can.

As for yesterday, I did a whole lot of nothing. I read some, sketched a little picture, and watched a whole lot of Japanese television. My excuse is that it's improving my comprehension. Yes.

Stephanie got home in the evening, and we cleaned out a lot of old food in the kitchen, and then, under the cover of darkness, she snuck a microwave left here by Kristin out to the garbage pile. Evidently, it would cost some 100 dollars to dispose of properly, which is why she was sneaky.

I also finally spoke to my parents via Skype, which was nice. I miss all of you guys in the States! Get this program, it's golden!

And this morning so far has been, continuing endlessly, studying Japanese. There is so much I've forgotten! (And also, I have nothing else to do, as Stephanie's last day was Friday, and Wakabayashi-sensei is in Mie Prefecture for the day. On my own, and trying to look busy!) Ah, well. Back to it, I suppose.



kaitenzushi: Literally, "revolving sushi." You sit by a counter, and a bunch of tiny little plates with usually two pieces of sushi each come scooting by on a conveyor belt. You just grab off whichever ones you want to eat, and then get charged for the number of plates you consume.

keitai: Japanese word for a cell phone.

Hikari no Machi: Literally, "City of Light." It's a good song, so check it out! :)

For those that have been asking:

Gurando Haitsu Sonobe E-mune 202
Oyama-nishi machi nomoto 13-2
Sonobe-cho
Funai-gun
Kyoto-fu
622-0043
JAPAN

Addressed to me, of course.

And if you people give me your addresses, I can send you post in return! :D

Sonobe-cho!

The last day of Tokyo Orientation was not so great. A bit of stress, a lot of sleeping. I woke up to a thunderstorm at one point, which meant a sweet view of the lightning from our room on the 36th floor. I slept through dinner, woke up to Briana returning at midnight, and watched two episodes of Dexter on my computer before crashing again.

Wednesday morning was check-out and get out. All the Kyoto JETs met downstairs at 9:15, hopped the train to Tokyo Station, bought lunch and then boarded the shinkansen just after 11. On the two-hour ride I sat between Fig and a nice girl from D.C. named Christine, who reminded me just a bit of the indominatable Jen Roust. Then we hustled through Kyoto Station, up two thousand escalators with all of our orientation luggage, and into some sort of international center. As we waited in line to be let inside, I met Cornelis Van Staden, the South African guy who is living in my same apartment complex. When we realized how close by we lived, we agreed to travel to next week's Kyoto Orientation together. (These orientations never end!)

Finally we went into a small meeting room. Inside were a bunch of Japanese people wearing business suits: the supervisors from our contracting organizations. Waiting for me was a friendly middle-aged man named Wakabayashi. After a short ceremony and some introductions, we were sent off to our various towns. Wakabayashi-sensei and I boarded yet another train out of Kyoto, northwest until we hit Sonobe, my new hometown! Along the way I learned that Wakabayashi-sensei is a kind and funny human being, who has done a lot of traveling and loves fast cars and guns. (Both of which surprised and tickled me, considering that this is Japan. Apparently he goes to a shooting range, and is a pretty fair shot. Also, he owns an Alpha Romeo, an Italian car of which only 1000 were made. He drives it on a closed course.)

Our first stop in Sonobe was at Sonobe Senior High, my new workplace. (Being ogled by students all along the way. Boy, we surprised some girls in the train station.) I met the principal, Mr. Mori, and a thousand other staff members whose names I'm working on. Also, I finally met Stephanie, my cheerful kiwi predecessor, with whom I've been exchanging emails for some time now. She strikes me as a lot of fun, and has been very patient and helpful so far. Too bad she has to leave just as I arrive!

The apartment isn't huge by American standards, but is very reasonable for Japanese. Three rooms plus the bath; kitchen, sitting room, and bedroom. All in Japanese style, with tatami and a futon for me to sleep on. There's sort of stuff everywhere, as Stephanie is just in the middle of moving out, but I think it'll be nice when I finally unpack properly sometime next week.

I and Stephanie were also kindly taken out to dinner by the principal, along with Wakabayashi-sensei and another English teacher named Takemura-sensei. She seems very sweet! The meal was delicious, and we had a pretty decent conversation -- half in English, half in Japanese. Back at the apartment, Stephanie and I watched Knocked Up and hit the sack. (We're sharing the apartment until she leaves.)

This morning Stephanie and I walked to school, and she showed me around me a bit and gave me a packet of information. Then Wakabayashi-sensei and I went and got me some passport-sized photos taken, and applied at City Hall for an Alien Registration Card. (For which I needed the aforementioned photos.) Coincidentally, we ran into Cornelis and his supervisor, who were there doing the same. It was nice to see him again; I hope we can become friends!

Next we stopped by the apartment to pick up a tax form I'd brought along from the IRS, which we gave to the office lady, whose name may or may not be Takaya-san. Stephanie and I braved the abysmal heat to go get lunch, a fried-chicken bento from a little stand run by two middle-aged ladies. It was quite good, but I couldn't eat it all, because my stomach was a bit queasy. (I think from being overheated. I drank a lot of water in response, and now feel much better.)

After lunch Wakabayashi-sensei took us to the local bank, where I opened an account, and Stephanie closed hers. And that's up to the minute! At four o'clock or so I get to go pick up my very first paycheck, for the five days I'll have spent here in Japan, and then we're going to go poke around town. (In Wakabayashi-sensei's car, thank goodness. It really is unbearably humid. Makes me feel faint!)

To make a long story short, I'm optimistic. Sonobe is small, but it seems like a nice enough place! :D







shinkansen: the bullet train! It goes 300 km an hour...so about 170 miles, maybe? Anyways, it's super fast, and costs almost as much as a plane ticket. Thank goodness I didn't have to pay!

sensei: the Japanese word for teacher, used in place of san

tatami: woven mats used in place of rugs or carpets

futon: a padded pallet placed on the floor and slept on instead of a western-style bed

san the Japanese equivalent of Mr. or Ms.

bento: quite literally, a lunch box. A plastic carry-out box of assorted foods, that usually come in pre-determined sets.

Tokyo!

So. We're here! It was a long and grueling trip, but we made it. Somehow.

As I wrote out this story, I discovered that a lot of Japanese words had drifted in, which not everyone may be familiar. So, for your reading pleasure, all words in bold are defined at the end of the post. :P

Friday afternoon was the mandatory pre-departure orientation, after which Fig and I went with my parents to our last dinner in America: delicious Lebanese food at Mezza. Then it was all packing all the time at my house, with only a brief one and a half our interlude in which we stepped out to say goodbye to a bunch of my friends.

We packed until all hours. I took a brief thirty-minute power-nap at 3:30, and then took a shower and finished getting my biz together. We were out of my house by 5:30 (a.m.), and at the airport by 6.

Checking in didn't take long, so we spent a good two or two hours sitting at the gate with our group of sixtyish JETs, all just chatting about the trip. Two-hour plane ride to Detroit, a three hour layover, and lunch at a place called the Jose Cuervo Tequileria. Goodbye, Mexican food.

Then the exhausting and uncomfortable twelve hour trip to Narita airport. I sat between two other jets; a 27-year-old guy named Jacob, and a black chick named Christine. We chatted a bit, I did something like eleven crosswords, watched two episodes of Dexter on my laptop, and tried unsuccessfully to take a nap.

Finally, sleep-deprived and slightly crazed, we landed. Breezed with surprising ease through customs, picked up our luggage, and were escorted by a veritable fleet of current JETs to a bunch of buses. We shipped our big luggage on to our host organizations and took our carry-ons with us to the buses, which then loaded up and proceeded on the two-hour drive to our hotel in Tokyo.

The Keio Plaza Hotel is a four-star, super-fance building in the middle of Shinjuku, a popular district on the west of Tokyo. Our room is really nice, with all manner of amenities, from a heated toilet seat (that automatically runs water when you sit down...boy, did that surprise me), to free hairbrushes, toothbrushes, slippers, and more! (The slippers, of course, have already disappeared into our suitcases.)

My roommate turned out to be Briana, a girl from Atlanta whom I just happened to know already. (We got in touch over the Atlanta JET forums online, and went to dinner with John and two other guys in June.) After briefly settling in, we met Fig, John, our friend Mari Christmas from the orientation, and a couple other kids in the lobby. The whole massive group of us caravaned into the Shinjuku surrounds, seeking dinner. We settled on a quick and cheap noodle joint, where I got curry udon better than any I ever faked in the states. Mmmm!

Then back to the hotel, where Fig and I met a different girl named Mari, who was a friend of ours at Wittenberg, and happens to live just south of Tokyo in Yokohama City. We went to a nearby izakaya called Watami, and had a few drinks. I learned that "blue apple" and apple-mango are both delicious flavors. Mari kindly picked up the tab, as a dual-purpose "Welcome to Japan!" and "Thank you for always treating me in Ohio!" gesture.

At long last, we stumbled back to Keio and our beds. It was by then 11:30 here, which would be 10:30 a.m. Atlanta time. (Meaning that I had been more or less awake for almost 48 hours.) I and roommate Briana watched the last bit of a Mythbusters knock-off show, and then finally, sleep!

Today was lots of sitting around listening to people talk. We were shepherded into a decently sized rooms, and divided to sit amongst the other JETs in our prefecture. The chairs were really uncomfortable and really close together, so we were hot and our bottoms began to hurt very quickly. On the upside, many of the presenters were pretty funny, so at least the morning sessions were interesting.

Lunch was a fairly nice affair, apart from the somewhat unpleasant faux-beef made from soybeans, and I met a very nice French girl. She suggested, quite cleverly I thought, that when approached by some undesirable (read: desperate host), you simply reply in nonsense Japanese. Her example: "Nihongo o tabemasen!" ("I don't eat Japanese language!") That way, they really think you have no idea how to say anything. If you try English, on the other hand, they'll probably just try to speak to you in that. The other option being to speak in an entirely third language. Upon reflection, I was pleased to realize that I can probably say that I don't speak Japanese in Polish.

The afternoon session was less entertaining, though the panelist from South Africa was pretty adorable. Already I was getting sleepy, and on several occasions closed my eyes because they felt sore. At last we were released, and after stopping by the AJET Information Center and being bombarded with free objects and flyers, Fig and I wandered about in the Shinjuku streets for a bit. I bought a cute little pocket notebook to write down anything important, we ogled some cameras, and bought a snack of onigiri.

Dinner was a crowded sort of a reception, with a welcome toast and more meeting of the prefectural JETs. I've met several very nice people in Kyoto-fu so far: Neil from New York, a guy from Canada whose name I forget, Liz who may or may not be from Colorado, Crystal from...somewhere, a cute guy from Scotland who has a very nice accent, and Todd, the guy in charge of us newbies, who has gauged earrings and recently married his Japanese girlfriend. (Shout-out to Reid: Todd is from St. Louis, and we had a nice chat about Ft. Leonard Wood, and why it was smart to be an MP!)

After dinner we finally changed out of our business clothes, and Fig and I set off into Shinjuku to meet our friend Alicia from Wittenberg, who has been living in Tokyo for two or three years. We were supposed to meet her at the station. Of course, we didn't realize until we were out in the streets getting not-quite-lost that there are something like four different train stations nearby with "Shinjuku" in the name, and we didn't know which one Alicia would be waiting at. After wandering for thirtyish minutes and making a few educated guesses, though, we finally found her! It was great to see her, and she's looking good. Tokyo (and a Japanese boyfriend) have really treated Alicia well.

We wandered into Kabuki-cho for karaoke, which was much fun. I had my first takoyaki of the trip, which made me a very happy Anna, indeed. As we left, Alicia and I were waiting for Fig outside the bathroom, and two Japanese teenagers in a karaoke booth were squatting on the floor and staring at us through the glass door. So I waved, and they waved back in great excitement, much to my and Alicia's amusement.

Afterwards, we moseyed a bit farther and stopped in an arcade to take purikura. Turns out the first machine was broken and wouldn't print, which was too bad (those pictures were cute!), but we got to use a different machine for free, and they turned out pretty cute. Fig and I dropped Alicia off at the train station, made promises to get in touch again today, and headed back to the hotel. On the way we coincidentally acquired John Neal and a drunk guy, who was a new JET looking for the hotel. His name was James, I think, and he was from Melbourne, AU.

When I got back to my room, Briana was hanging out with a very nice black guy from London, named Deji. He also had a great accent (there are a lot of them here!), and the three of us talked until 1:30 a.m. about politics and racism and the media in the US and Britain.

And that's about all so far! More orientation today, to be reported on later. :)






curry udon: thick wheat noodles usually served in soup; in this case, a spicy curry sauce specific to Japan

izakaya: sort of a Japanese tapas bar, where you order little plates of snacks to go with your drinks

host: a decently attractive young man who works at a host bar, where his only job is to sit and flirt with female customers, making them feel attractive and convincing them to keep ordering drinks (to spend money at their establishment, not for any creepier reasons)

onigiri: rice balls wrapped in crunchy (and delicious!) seaweed, usually with some kind of protein-based filling in the middle

Kabuki-cho: an area of Tokyo that abuts Shinjuku, and is known for its abundance of host and karaoke bars

takoyaki: delicious, delicious balls of fried dough that contain a bit of octopus inside, and are topped with a tangy sauce (among my top three favorite Japanese foods, fo' sho'!)

purikura: little photobooths that print out photo stickers, which you can decorate in a fashion somewhere between photoshop and mario paint

t-minus three hours

Bye bye.

no kidding

I am in super pack mode. So many clothes, so little luggage space!

Fig has arrived safely in Atlanta, and we are entering the final maneuvers in my long campaign to prepare for this trip. Oh god, I feel entirely unprepared. Alas, deadlines!