Flowers for a Hundred Yen

I've now been in Japan for almost 3 weeks, 2 of them in my actual placement in Sai-mura. I must say... wow wow wow. These past few weeks have been... what have they been? Let's let the events speak for themselves. Luckily the journal I've been keeping is right next to me. Otherwise, this blog may never be written. So, here we go!

My flight to Tokyo was pretty sweet. My consulate (Miami) flew out on Continental. There were TVs on the back of every seat, and you could choose from over 100 movies to watch along with some popular TV shows. There were also a bunch of games. I was entranced for about an hour playing that BookWorm game that's basically just Boggle. I watched The Hangover, Date Night, Alice in Wonderland, about 1/4 of Ice Age 3, and about 15 minutes of Pocahontas in Japanese before my brain started to hurt. I wanted to sing the songs, but I didn't know the words. Sadface.

After 12.5 (napless) hours, we reached Narita Airport. You'll hear from your coordinator that you'll be greeted either incredibly cheerfully or eerily and silently by fellow JETs. About every ten feet on your way to the buses, you will be waved on by a JET. You'll probably feel like a rat in a maze.

Make sure you have your blue accident insurance book with you. You'll be giving that to the JET guide on your bus ride to Keio Plaza. The ride is about 2 hours long, give or take. The only thing that sucks about it is more sitting. Get ready for your ass to hurt every day until you get to your contracting organization. The sitting! The sitting! But hey, you'll get to see Tokyo Tower on your way. Yeah, I wasn't that impressed.

All of the instructions you get about orientation and what will happen on your way to your CO are completely confusing and usually convoluted. But, there's a flow to Tokyo Orientation. Know what time and where you need to be, and you're golden. Just follow the mama or papa duck. Seriously, I'm surprised they don't wipe your ass for you. And those workshops they say are incredibly important are useless. Now, I'm not saying you should skip them and spend the day touring Tokyo, but... >_>

Depending where your CO is, you'll be taking a car, bus, train, shinkansen, or plane. I had an hour flight to Aomori airport and was picked up by my supervisor and two of my coworkers from the Sai kyouikuiinkai (Board of Education). The drive to Sai-mura was about 3.5 hours of mountains, trees, farms, and sunflowers. We did stop at a nice little restaurant along the way where apparently whatever meal I chose was what everybody would order. I chose pork ramen.

It was really scary to all of a sudden be thrust into a van with three Japanese. I've studied Japanese for roughly three years, but I have never been to Japan before this. I tried my best to ask intelligible questions to one of my coworkers who was sitting next to me. We'll call her Phoenix. Phoenix speaks some English thanks to Black Cat, but apparently Black Cat stopped speaking English after her Japanese got better. Now Phoenix doesn't really get any practice. Maybe I should help out.

When we got to Ohma (where the grocery store is), I hesitantly picked out some food to last me for the next couple days. I hate when you're taken somewhere by someone else's generosity and you feel like you're wasting their time. Long story short, I ate bananas and bread for the next two days.

I was really happy to see that Black Cat left the house in immaculate condition. She even left me little notes on things like on a Jamaican flag colored tin with a joint-smoking monkey on it: "I thought this was hilarious for some reason. Feel free to throw it out!" Will do, Black Cat. I only wish you'd left helpful hints on how to operate the gas stove, microwave, clothes washer, shower, and boiler before you left.

The principal of the junior high school came over to my house unexpectedly my first night in Sai. I was expecting to just sit around alone and unpack my stuff, but I was treated to an amazing dinner (complete with shrimp head soup!) by kouchou-sensei and kyoutou-sensei who tagged along. I haven't seen either of them since. I think kouchou-sensei was away fighting crime or something. Duty calls.

The next day was all about being issued my hanko/inkan, applying for my gaijin card, and creating a bank account. Oh, and learning how to sort the trash. It's no big deal here. I only have 5 different trash categories. On the JET video, there's some girl with 22. Yikes.

On Saturday (my fourth day in Sai), I nearly cried at the car dealership. The car I'm getting is fairly expensive, I couldn't understand what the salesman was saying, he was asking me what kind of insurance I wanted and showed me some ridiculous prices, and then it happened that since I didn't have my gaijin card yet, I couldn't even get the car. Needless to say, I was pretty frustrated. BUT, I didn't cry. I told myself it wasn't a big deal. Who cries over buying a car? Not this lady!

I also went to SoftBank to get an iPhone but was told without the gaijin card, I basically can't do shit. Whatever. I went out to dinner and karaoke with a bunch of other Shimokita JETs, and we had an awesome time! Totally made up for my shitty day of not being able to get anything done. It was really a great way to get to know everyone. I sang "House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals and "Somewhere Beyond the Sea," the Robbie Williams version. I had NEVER sung karaoke before, so I was quite pleased that I came out of my shell a little and had a fantastic time. The two closest ALTs to me, now known as Rogue and Shadowcat, are also new JETs. This made it really easy to bond. We've actually almost hung out every day since we got here. During karaoke, we sang GaGa, Aqua, and a whole bunch of other embarrassing songs. ;)

Rogue is the Kazamaura ALT, and Shadowcat, the Ohma ALT. Since meeting, we have done karaoke, had a sleepover, cooked dinner together, gotten lost in the mountains for four hours, roamed around the most famous place in Sai-mura (Hotokegaura), seen about 7 monkeys and a kamoshika, and been to two festivals together. This is a really crazy way to start friendships! After Rogue drops off Shadowcat when the three of us hang out (Rogue is the only one with a car right now), she and I listen to crazy songs on full blast in her car and sing obnoxiously loud all the way back to my place. Songs butchered have included: I Need a Hero, Just Dance, Mr. Sandman, the Pokemon theme song, I'll Make a Man Out of You, and the list goes on.

I’d like to point out that I have not cried or felt homesick since I’ve been here. I’m working really hard at staying positive and staying busy. I don’t see the point in lamenting my move here. I had plenty of time to drop from the program. This is what I want to do, and I’m not going to cry about it.

This blog takes us up to Sunday, August 8th. My next blog will be up shortly!

Sai-yonara! ;)