and so it begins!

konnichiwa!

so i know it's taken quite a while for me to get this blog up and running [as i have been SO kindly reminded by my most dearest jain friend], but you can all breathe a sigh of relief, for here it is.

so, i arrived in japan just over a month ago. the period leading up to my flight went by far too fast, and much of it is a blur! between running around doing errands and seeing friends and family, both for two weeks straight, i didn't have much time to think of what i was getting myself into. which might have been a good thing. i had been looking forward to escaping, i mean traveling to japan for quite some time, and i'm quite glad i had no time to talk myself out of it. though i doubt that would have ever happened.

my flight, from what i can remember, was preceded by lots of tears [none that were my own], hugs, and well wishes. thanks to all who came over and "helped me pack", ie) sat around and received free stuff from the inventory of my room. =)

the flight itself was rather long, and slightly uncomfortable. however, i finally got to meet alanna, whom i was corresponding with via email for the weeks prior to our departure. she's awesome! i also met a bunch of other people who are teaching at nova as well, alicia, stefan, beverley...all very cool. =) from the airport, we all had to go our seperate ways. my train ride was from narita airport to yokohama station, and i met another foreigner who was working in yokohama for a month on the train. he was getting off at the same stop as myself, and assured me that he would get me to where i was going, as he had been here a number of times and i was barely awake. BUT, lo and behold, we missed our stop...not his fault though, the train had a little light up map that showed you where you were going, and it was OUT OF ORDER! this is apparently a very rare occurence in japan so it's easy to understand why he missed our stop! anyway, after backtracking a little, i got to my stop at yokohama station and met up with my roommates! THEY are awesome. amanda is from the states, and claire is from ireland. we got home and they were so great they forced me to stay up until i was literally nodding off mid-conversation. but in the end it was best, because i didn't have much jet lag!

went and ran some errands the next day with amanda. got my application in for my alien registration AKA gaijin card, did some groceries, had lunch with both her and claire, and discovered my favourite aspect of japan: the 100 yen stores. these stores are incredible, you can get almost anything for 100 yen, which is equivalent to about 96 cents canadian. you think dollarama is great? you have no idea what you're missing here. here is a smattering of the things you can buy:

butchers knives
cutlery
real dishes
pots
milk
bread
meat
fruits/vegetables
men's ties
towels
umbrellas
clocks
laundry baskets

the list goes on, and on...and on. these little stores are everywhere, and they are the best thing in the world! i also ended up getting a cell phone the day after, which was a process in itself. i was lucky enough to have a wonderful japanese-speaking translator/liason/deal-maker to help me, dustin, a guy that worked at my branch. got a cool purple phone, with a plan that has free calls/texts within the network, all at 980 yen/month! i'm paying off the phone each month as well though, i think it comes to about 1700 yen, so not bad for a plan and a phone!

spent the few days trying to set up my room despite excruciating neck/back pain. i have a futon mattress, which is conveniently located on THE FLOOR. and i had a tiny little pillow that just wasn't good for me. [i have since bought a new pillow, so you can all stop worrying about me! =p] on sunday, i ventured out with my friend alanna and her roommate victoria to harajuku and shibuya! if i can figure out how to put photos on here, i will. it was crowded as s--t! we couldn't even move coming out of shibuya station, there was some sort of campaigning going on not far from the exit and there was just a massive sea of people. we weren't even walking, we were [appropriately] floating. it was awesome though. FYI: shibuya is best known for the infamous crosswalk surrounded by tall buildings and bright lights you see in all those infamous japanese movies. it's like the times square of japan! it was really cool. harajuku was cool as well, loads of little shops selling awesome stuff, and of course, the harajuku girls and boys! definitely a sight to be seen!

monday-wednesday was training. loads of fun, of course. i met a really nice girl named lauren, who is from england. so that was probably the best part of it! work began on friday. my branch is called kurihama, and it's pretty small. we have about 6 classrooms, with one kids' room and one larger classroom for voice classes AKA discussions. there WERE about 6 teachers in total including myself, with 5 on at any one time. numbers have since dwindled, as dustin left soon after.

teaching so far has been great! i work with people of all ages. i started out with teens/adults, and then had kids training the following week, and began to teach kids aged 3-12 thereafter. the adults are great, they are so dedicated to learning the language, and most of them try really hard! so many of them have really interesting professions. i've met a couple of engineers, a fighter pilot, a nurse, a hula dancer...the list goes on. i wasn't a fan of the kids classes early on, but i'm getting used to them now, and they are really awesome. the rate these kids pick up english is insane, they are so responsive! we get to sing songs ["...and bingo was his name-o!"], and play games, so it breaks up the day nicely. and they're so damn cute!

that's pretty much it for the boring introduction of my life in japan. i'm going to get on a new post soon so i can update you all on my status here, cuz things are definitely changing!

that's all for now. missing my city, and the people who make it.


--
soph