Summer Days, Blowing Away

Good news! I signed up to get internet at my apartment today. It is one of the faster types available, and doesn`t cost much more than the really slow one (around ￥4300 per month total). The bad news? It`ll be 3 weeks before they can install it. *queue Zelda dying scene* Ah, well, at least there is a date in sight, right? It`s been a month now, what`s 3 more weeks?

In other news, I have a 3 day weekend!!!Because I spent all of last weekend at Prefectural Orientation (English Camp and Awa Odori), I got two days of "daikyu", or compensation days off. This month is the best time to use them, as school is not yet in to use them, as school is not yet in session, so I`ve decided to have two 3 day weekends in a row, and one 3 day week. Sounds cushy, and one 3 day week. Sounds cushy, no? Now I have to find something to do with all that time! Maybe watch an anime that`s on my harddrive, or bike out to Naruto and get a glimpse of the whirlpools, or scour Tokushima city for signs of a church, or work ahead on Christmas presents. There is always something to do. The difference here is that there is rarely anything that must be done. What a sweet break from the 4 year hustle I played during college.

The weekend after next sounds promising, though, with a JET beach party in the works. It is a ways away, but I may be able to is a ways away, but I may be able to carpool with others going and split the gas money. Still have yet to see if I`ll go, though...

Shirohama Beach

Still working on getting a cell phone. I chose Softbank in the end after all, since there doesn`t seem to be one best company. And, of course, their ads are adorable. (just type Softbank into Youtube and look for the white dog!) So maybe next week I`ll have my own keitai, and be that much more contactable.

Hm, I feel like I`ve been cranking out so many letters in the past couple weeks that I`m not sure what else to say! As always, please continue to tell me about your lives and what`s been going on at home. Every time I write the 553** zipcode (or 68122) I feel a little pang of nostalgia for all of you. Hope things are going well!

Overview

Hello again, folks!

So, I`ve gotten a few questions as to what I`m actually doing while I`m here, so I`ll try to clear some of that up with a general answer session.

I am employed by the Japanese government to teach English in the public schools. Technically, I am employed as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT), so I will always be working with a Japanese Teacher of English (JTE) in the classroom. That gives a bit of relief to my lack of experience! We will plan lessons together and execute them as a team for the students. I`m teaching high school aged students, so they are not much younger than me. However, there is a clear distinction between who is a student and who is a teacher - all of the students wear uniforms to school. This is common throughout Japan, through Junior and Senior High.

I am assigned to work at 3 different highschools. Kitako is my base school, and has a special English program, so the students here are very smart. Right now I am here every day, but when school starts, it will just be two days a week. Another two day a week school is Kagikou, a science and technology school. It has more of a vocational focus. I`ve only been there once, so have yet to feel out the atmosphere. And my last school, Awanou is an agricultural school. It has all sorts of plants and animals on the grounds that the students take care of, and whose produce they sell to people in the town. It`s a very practical school, but the students aren`t very motivated for schoolwork, and many have various disabilities that make it difficult to learn. I`ll be there once a week, and need a car to drive the 40 minute distance.

My job is also salaried, which means that I am able to pay for an apartment, and live alone. Before coming, I heard many estimations of how big (small, rather) my apartment would be, but it really is incredibly spacious! 2 bedrooms, a living room, kitchen/dining area, and bathroom/shower. My school subsidizes the rent, so it is only about $400 per month, I think. It`s a much nicer place than I could find in Minneapolis for that much, at any rate! It also came fully stocked with things from the previous ALT owner, so I barely had to buy anything to furnish it.

However, I have had a lot of expenses in this first month. I bought a (used) car, insurance for it, paid rent right away, orientation costs, and will soon have to get set up with a phone and *crosses fingers* internet. As long as I can make it until my next paycheck, I think I`ll be financially flourishing for the next few years, and hopefully pay off my student loans while I`m at it.

Let`s see... what other kinds of questions have I gotten? My area is not quite as rural as I anticipated, and feels very much like a suburb to me. There are houses all over, plentiful supermarkets, and even a mall in (or near?) my town. It`s about a 40 minute bike ride to the biggest city in the prefecture, so I`m nicely positioned. At the same time, though, there are almost as many fields as there are houses (ok, not quite), wedged in their tiny lots. Rice, radishes, pears, and a zillion other plants whose names I don`t know. It`s rather pretty, really.

As far as how I`m doing, good still. However, I seem to be tired almost all the time, even after habitual 9 hours of sleep each night! People say this is a part of adjusting to a new culture, so it must be true. That being said, I have plenty of time in which to rest or read or write or bike, or any activity that I please to do other than tv or internet. I`ve been getting increasingly lonely, so any emails, letters, pictures, or postcards you might send would be greatly appreciated. Also, I have lots of extra bedding if someone wants to come for a visit!

That`s all for now. Feel free to ask any more questions that I`ve neglected!

PS - see if you can find me in two of these pictures. *hint - I`m the only one in bright clothes.
http://tokushimakita-hs.tokushima-ec.ed.jp/index.php?action=pages_view_main&active_action=journal_view_main_detail&post_id=363&comment_flag=1&block_id=257#_257

Arrived

Hello!

So the summer is continuing nicely. I`m all settled into the apartment, clutter on the table and all. Life has already taken on a routine consistency, but still has the refreshing newness that it ought. I go to my school (Kitako) Monday to Friday, from around 8:30 to 4:30, and look for new tasks to perform each day that`ll keep me busy. I`ve already gone through most of the English materials in the former teacher`s desk, so today I made a poster with pictures of Minnesota (from a Travel Guide, no less!). My wonderfully kind supervisor has been taking me around to get different paperwork filled out - Alien Registration, Car insurance, tax whatnots, and so on. I hope they are paying her extra for all this.

We`ve also visited my other two schools, Kagiko (Science and Technology focused), and Awanou (Agricultural school). Kagiko reminded me a lot of dad`s garage, and Awanou had a relaxed, farmlike environoment. I like them both, but won`t go back again until September. Why, you ask? Because it`s summer vacation! Believe it or not, Japan does occasionally have some breaks (1 month for summer). However, what you won`t believe, is that everyone goes to school during summer. And takes classes! I couldn`t figure out why all the students were still in their uniforms when we first drove into town. They must like them a lot, I thought. Gee, who knew.

In the evenings I go home to hours of free time. Usually I read a bit as I make supper and bake myself in the hot apartment (postponing the use of a/c til November 1st. Hm, or was that heat?). Then, around 6, when the sun is nearing the mountainous horizon, I set out on my bike and wander the town. I`ve gotten pretty lost a couple times, but everyone is quite friendly, and I know that all roads lead to roam... Rome. I`ve had a fair variety of adventures with this method of time-spending, and find it very enjoyable indeed.

Altogether, things are good good good. I would really like to get into some kind of group, however, and perhaps makes some friends. The trouble is in deciding where to try. A dojo? Volunteer group? Hiking club (if there is one)? Choir (yes, family, you will laugh)? Hmm, it`ll come in time.

If you have any ideas on other activities, let me know! More importantly, if you have any news or nonnews in your life , let me know that , too :). Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers, and hopefully letters coming my way! It`s really nice to know that people care.

(once again, pictures for later!)

Travel Part II

It`s a little late in coming, but I`ve finally made it to Japan!!!

The plane flight went by really quickly (at least, only as fast as 13 hours can go). I found myself having to ration my time, between reading on the Kindle, eating the delicious meals, walking around the cabin, chatting with the neighbor, and watching movies. It was only after we landed that time seemed to come to a grinding halt while we waited in all sorts of lines, went through customs, etc., etc. But we were in Japan!

This whole time I`ve felt really calm about moving half way across the world. I thought My emotions will catch up with me once I`m on the plane. But it wasn`t until the very end of the flight, when we were instructed to put our tray tables up and seats back in the full upright positions, that my full enthusiasm was roused. As the plane descended to the rice fields below, my heart took flight to the heavens above. I`d dreamed of coming here for so long, seen so many pictures, videos, stories... but now here it was! Here it is, actually.

Tokyo Orientation was just another 2 day period of organized, fancy waiting. But it eventually blew through, and I was on the final flight to the real destination, Tokushima. The mountains and rivers and ocean stretched out below the clouds. Within a few hours, I was under them myself, settled in the new apartment. Home.



(Pictures to come later!)

Traveling Part I

Here begins the first leg of the journey! Things are finally coming into full swing now as my arrival in Japan thunders down to less than 48 hours away. Yet, still, it's barely sunk in. Does that mean there may be a severe shock when I get there? I sure hope not...

So last night I left my sweet little nephew, sister, and brother in law behind in Omaha. They dropped me off at the Greyhound station and said goodbye. It'll be a year+ til I get to hug them again, and who knows what little Westley will look like then! They'll send pictures, though. Here's one for now.

The Greyhound ride was relatively enjoyable, as usual. This is my third time riding them, and the bus drivers all seem to have a nice sense of humour. Justine very generously gave me a Kindle for a going away present (can you believe it?!), and it came in soooo handy all night. Not only did I have something to read (Water for Elephants), but she even got one with a case that had a perfect little booklight! So I could read all for hours without disturbing the person next to me trying to sleep. As for sleeping, I got a little myself, in just about every scrunched up position you can think of for a bus seat. My bare arms and feet were cold all night, but morning finally came, as did Chicago.


Next came the trickiest leg of the journey, lugging my 4 bag, ~160lb. luggage around Chicago. It also wasn't encouraging that the only review for that Greyhound station online said that the person got mugged. Ugh! Yet, when I got there, everyone along the way was incredibly friendly and helpful. I know that there are bad people in the world, but I seem to never run into any of them! (or if I do, am happily blind to it) God has so faithfully kept me safe in every shady situation so far.

At 1 our Pre-Departure Orientation started, and I learned all about the flight and other things, and we all ate dinner together. Now time to turn in get rested for the flight tomorrow!

Tokushima

Tokushima, Tokushima!

It's like a sweet little treasure in my mouth to say the name of my new home. News of my acceptance into JET came two months ago, but it wasn't until yesterday that my placement was narrowed down to a specific prefecture. It hasn't seemed quite so real until now that I can point to a map and look up touristy information. The town has yet to be named, but this is good enough for me for now. There is also a good chance that I'll be working with highschool students, possibly rotating between a few schools.
It looks like the area is fairly agricultural, so I can skip through rice fields all day long, if I like. Also, there are mountains of mountains in the area. That'll making biking more arduous, but I can't wait to do some hiking up those many beautiful slopes! My biggest worry about this particular place is the weather. It's labeled as a humid subtropical type, and is roughly the same latitude as southern California. Now, we complain about humid summers in Minnesota, but I can't imagine what it will be like going to a place with "humid" in its climate name...

I was so excited yesterday that I sent out a lengthy email to most of my friends and family that have been asking for information(and some who haven't ;) ). In retrospect, it seems a little old fashioned. But then, how is it that email can be a classical form of communication already? Afterward I realized that facebook was a much better method of broadcasting the news. Oh well!

By whatever means it may be, I'll try to keep everyone updated!

conGraduations!

Today I graduated from the U of M. Even though people have asked me all day, "What do you think, how do you feel??" I'm still not sure what to say! It feels great to be done, but not so much in the surging excitement sort of way as it is a quiet relief.

No more daily quizzes, tests and papers, or making sleep sacrifices to the insatiable god of procrastination? After a lifetime of schooling, it seems unbelievable. What comes after this? We'll see! But I think this summer will keep me plenty occupied as I plod toward a life without eternal institutional evaluations. Dad reminded me, though, as I mentioned this to him, that I may no longer have letter grades, but will still be confronted with bonuses, promotions, tax-breaks, and other systems that "grade" in a more consequential way. Oh boy.

The day went really well, though! We drove past all my old schools along the way before arriving at the present, last one. The U was swarming with people. Seniors wearing the traditional black gowns and families bathed in exultant smiles. Check-in felt like a demonstration of cattle herding as we were all funneled through the basement of Mariucci Arena and out to the exhibition. When we got to our seats, I immediately whipped out the crocheting I had already hidden under my gown and went to work industriously. Being exceedingly frugal, I chose to use the ceremonial garb left over from high school and make my own tassel. It turned out fairly well, and is bound to be more memorable than the simply buying one. The ceremony only lasted a little over 2 hours, an organizational feat for having 1200 students walk across the stage (or so the rumour goes!).

Afterward we took pictures and soon whisked away to satisfy the longing of our stomachs. When I first moved into the dorm 2 years ago, Mom, Dad, and I went to Davanni's for supper before the final break. So, to complete the circle, that's where we went today, this time with considerably less junk in the car. (although we did go dumpster diving around the Superblock first.) Got a slug of goodies from the Asian supermarket, United Noodle, and finished off the celebrations with some deliciousness at Coldstone.

It was such a lovely day, full of a sense of accomplishment, seeing former classmates, and the new friends I've made here. And to finish the day, I got to test the bedtime of summer in a long chat spent with an old friend hearkening all the way back to kindergarten.