Things I am Excited About

Today I drove on the left side of the road, while sitting on the left side of the car, and it was super weird but empowering to know that my brain could transfer information and help me overcome my habit of doing everything on the right. My kacho, section chief of the Board of Education and the funniest Japanese man, let me drive him around, directing me in his best English and gestures, "left, turn right stop, careful." Luckily, I did not hit anything or anyone, and somehow 90 degree backed up into this tiny garage where the BOE car is kept. I will have to do that every day. Yikes.

Before I get to the things I am excited about, here are some photos from last nights' beer party, which turned out to be a welcome party for me too! We played BINGO, but Japanese rules are weird. First, they don't say, "B-11" ... the just say, "11." When you are one away from winning, you stand up and everyone starts saying "richi" - Japanese pronunciation of the word "reach" which is supposedly a term in the game Go when a player is one move away from winning. Like almost checkmate I guess. Then, when someone wins, they don't check to make sure you have a "good BINGO" - you just win. And what blew my mind was that once there is one winner, you don't "clear your cards" - you just keep going until you run out of prizes so everyone wins basically. It was sweet. Last night the prizes were all fish. I was sent home with a box of cod roe, which are very salty and taste like beef jerky.

Tomorrow I am taking my first Japanese train - the JR Hakodate Line - to Mori for a festival. I can't wait! Then on Friday early early morning (3:45AM), Japan's womens soccer olympic team takes on the ol' US of A! I don't mind getting up in the middle of the night. I am excited to see their match-up after their surprising stalemate during the world cup.

After a weekend of much needed relaxation, Tom will then arrive, I will purchase my Iphone 4S, and the weekend after I will be traveling to Sapporo for the HAJET Orientation. I will be taking the train, staying at the Gracery Hotel, and going out for a couple of meals. Thanks to the BOE for funding this and future business trips!

When I return from training, I will finally be working in schools as students will be back from summer vacation. After about a month, the Hokkaido Southwest Welcome Party will take place at Lake Onuma and I will likely take the train there too.

And I haven't even started scheduling personal travels around Japan! I have to figure out some way to get to the mainland...

Settling In

Well, the chaos of pre-departure orientation in Chicago, Tokyo orientation, and arrival in Yakumo is over.
Here are some firsts that occurred in the last week and a half:

• I took my first solo flight which went from Minneapolis to Chicago.
• I took my first international flight -14 hours long!
• I set foot on international soil for the first time in my life in Tokyo. 
• I survived jet lag.
• I made my first purchase in Japan - onigiri at a conbini (convenience store).
• I used my first Japanese fancy toilet and squat toilet.
• I opened a Japanese bank account.
• I climbed my first mountain in Japan.
• I relaxed in my first onsen. 
• Tonight I will have my first enkai (beer party!)
• I have been away from my husband and my dog for the longest time in recorded history.

Honestly, I was extremely nervous to make this journey. I had so many questions and fears, many of which worked themselves out with the help of JET program staff, my supervisor, family at home, and my friends. I am finally returning to a feeling of normalcy now that the whirlwind has subsided. My head was about to explode last Sunday, after being awake for 24+ hours with the flight, arrival at Narita, and my obligation to explore Shinjuku my first night, but I was entirely overwhelmed. 

I was thinking about topics for this blog post, but I do not have anything to report of comparable note to my previous posts. I am alive and well. For your viewing pleasure, this was the takoyaki stand outside the supermarket when I went shopping yesterday. Of course I purchased some. :)

A Saturday Work Outing

My third day in Yakumo, my supervisor invited me to go on the public sector union's trip to Mt. Komagetage in Mori, Hokkaido. This makes it sound pretty exciting:

Hokkaido-Komagatake, or Komagatake (Hokkaido), Volcano is located 30 km north of Hakodate City with population of 320,000. This is an andesite stratovolcano (1,133 m high) whose summit has a 2 km-wide horseshoe-shaped caldera open to the E, resulted from large collapse 30-40 ka. Large-scale pumice-flow eruptions had occurred several times from craters within the caldera, including historical 3 major eruptions; 1640, 1856, and 1929.

While the hike wasn't grueling, there were many patches of loose gravel on steep inclines. Some people brought their children, and while there was much sliding and hand-holding, everyone made the ascent and descent okay. As we approached the top, the cloud layer soaked us!

Afterwards, we took the bus to a hotel where we enjoyed as much yakiniku (grilled meat) as we could eat (and as much Sapporo as we could drink):

After a long climb, delicious food and drinks, and some insect catching by my supervisor's son, we headed over to the onsen. There are lots of rules in Japan, and I didn't want to break any of them during my first onsen experience, so I followed the lead of my supervisor. Also, some of the little girls that hiked with us ended up looking out for me. They are much better at nonverbal communication than adults, and they help me learn Japanese by reading signs to me and helping me say the right things. :)

Sorry I didn't take any pictures, but when entering the onsen you take off your shoes and are in a locker room with lots of baskets where you put your clothes. You are only allowed to bring a small towel in with you. First, you sit down and wash your hair and body very thoroughly at the shower area, and then proceed to the 5-6 hot tub things of varying size and jets. You aren't supposed to bring your towel in the water either! It was so relaxing!

Living Situation in Rural Hokkaido

Ok, to call Yakumo rural might be an exaggeration, but in this town of about 20,000, only a few people have conversational English ability, a clothing store for young people does not exist, and there is actually a road named "Milk Road" (gyuunyuu) because of all the dairy farms.

Living in rural Japan has its benefits. I spent a couple hours walking around town this morning and I reached the edges of the commercial and public buildings on all sides, so nothing is too far away (unless you want to buy clothes, that is). There are many parks and serene nature is everywhere, from the Sea of Japan to the Pacific Ocean, to the mountains and rice fields...

Here are some photos of Yakumo so far. View from outside of town somewhere...

On the street where I live.

Road sign! Can you read it? :)

Here are some photos of my apartment. From outside & the entryway. Also the beginning of my first major cultural misstep - literally - when my supervisor brought me in to show me my new apartment, I was so excited that I walked in without removing my shoes. Luckily, my supervisor is very forgiving and reminded me that in Japan, you remove your outside shoes and put on slippers.

Living room - with the heated table (kotatsu) for the winter, and a television. The TV shows are all in Japanese - even Spongebob Squarepants and Sex in the City are dubbed over. Occasionally I will find one in English with subtitles. I have been watching lots of Japanese childrens shows because I can occasionally follow them. Ampanman or something like that.

My kitchen. It came with a fridge, stovetop, electric kettle, blender, rice cooker, microwave, and toaster oven.



Washroom - including a topload washer and frontload dryer!

Common Japanese style bathroom. One sits on the stool and cleanses oneself thoroughly before bathing. I am trying to figure out the best way to do this.

The only thing that could make my apartment better is having my husband, Tom, there to keep me company! 

Yakumo-cho Day 1

I am posting shortly on my lunch break about the trip to Yakumo and my experience so far. I do not have my camera and am unable to upload pictures, but I will post more later, whenever I get internet. (edited, now that I have internet)

We took a shuttle from the hotel to Haneda Airport, and the flight from Haneda Airport to New Chitose Airport took a couple of hours. We passed through check-in and security quickly, and it was no time before meeting my supervisor and the English circle organizer at the airport. The JETs walked into a large room full of supervisors, they called our names, and then we finally met! I was so nervous (and hot in the airport in my suit!), but we went for lunch at the food court, and ate some curry rice. (Welcome to Hokkaido sign below)

They had so many questions about me, my family, and America, and their English is so good! We drove back to Yakumo which took a few hours, stopped at my apartment to get the gas turned on, went shopping, out to a restaurant with the two others, and finally I was able to rest after many 12+ hour days of trainings, flights, etc. I will post pictures of my apartment later. I rearranged furniture and watched olympics on TV.

This morning, my supervisor picked me up for work and I received my offical contract from the superintendent, then meeting each person in each department in Yakumo town and the surrounding areas. My omiyage for the staff included whiskey from Minnesota and saltwater taffy, and I hope they liked it! It seemed pretty well-recieved, since my supervisor is very fond of alcohol. :)

Here are some photos from my trip to Haneda in Tokyo:

A Long Day's Journey into Japan

Despite many conversations and the best efforts of my colleagues to explain the notion of the way time works when you are flying from Chicago to Japan, I am still confused. My husband Tom told me about a basketball player from the 70s  who resigned from the NBA because he refused to get on an airplane stating, "I ain't gettin' in no time machine." That's exactly how I feel about it. I was enthusiastic about the flight until about 6 hours into it when my legs started going numb...13 hours on a plane is a long time. 

We left the hotel at 10am after loading our checked bags on a truck and ourselves on a coach bus. Once we found our bags at the airport, we shimmied around the American Airlines check-in line, went through security, and loaded the plane flawlessly. My friends taught me how to play the card game hearts (which I love) and I hope to play more later. It is somewhat strategic! I thought it was an old lady game.

I wasn't sure the best way to minimize jet lag. My first mistake of the day was waking up at 6am. Had I woken up later, I wouldn't have been conscious so long and may have made it through the day to crash hard in my bed at the hotel. I find it especially difficult to sleep sitting up on airplanes, so that would have been my best bet.

The airplane was humongous and my seat gave me enough room, even though the guy in front of me had his seat reclined the ENTIRE flight. There was a remote control for my TV and one of the first things I did on the plane was try to figure out how it worked.  There was a button that showed a person and then a person with a red line through it and I pressed it about 50 times before I realized it turned on a tiny light over my head which I think called the flight attendants. They were probably pissed off at me. Later, I got a small bottle of the complimentary red wine for a drink, and the flight attendant came back, gave me another bottle, and snarkily remarked, "Now you can relax," and walked away. Probably related. 

I was also given the Customs Declaration From and Disembarkation Form, and thankfully my personal hero, Tony Kim, helped me understand how to fill it in. He is now the only person I trust about important matters ^_^ I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, took a short nap, and read Psychology Today, Scientific American, and The New Yorker that I had purchased from the airport. Just tried to avoid the pulpy celebrity magazines.

I don't know what people have been saying, but airport food is amazing! My seatmate on the ride said that food is better on international flights, but just look at this spread:

The airplane was a Boeing 777 and our flight path took us back up through Minnesota, Canada, Alaska, and then south to Japan. I am unsure why, but for the most of the part we stayed over land.

Jeers to the same flight attendant who, upon my first sight ever of Japan, snarkily forced me to close my window because the light was shining into the plane. Buzzkill. From above, Japan looks different somehow than America: the way farms and towns are parceled together.

When we arrived at the airport, we took a short train shuttle to go through the hour-long immigration line, but thankfully the customs line was very smooth with no wait and no problems. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures because it was a secure area and I was more concerned about getting through the system properly. We sent our baggage off to our host prefectures and loaded the bus for a 2-hour ride from Narita Airport to Shinjuku's Keio Plaza Hotel. On the bus, current JETs gave us a quick briefing, we received our orientation guide which I paged through, and then I spaced out for awhile since I had been up for a good 24 hours straight. I have to give the JET Program a lot of credit: their arrival system was so streamlined that I really didn't have to think to get settled into the hotel. My hotel roommate is the same person I sat next to on the flight, which is comforting!

My first day in Japan was full of so many firsts including using a Japanese-style toilet (took me a minute or two to figure out how to flush!):

My first ever shopping interaction with was terrifying! I just said "konbanwa" and smiled and gave the money. It was strange because I paid with a 1000 yen note (more than $10) and received only change in return, because there is a Japanese 500 yen coin! I bought an onigiri with unknown filling and it was delicious.

We found pachinko parlors, karaoke bars, and were accosted by a few men trying to get me into their shops. We stopped in a fashion boutique, and as we left, the ladies working their bowed and thanked us. It was nice.

Finally, after one of the longer days of my life, I went to sleep. I am sure I left about a million things out, but this post is already way too long, so goodbye!

Chicago Orientation Part 2: I'm Tired Already

Yesterday my post came a bit too soon - we went out for dinner at a family restaurant next to the hotel in Chicago and I had an amazing Bacon Blue Cheese Burger, which was too good not to post:

There was a brief foreshadowing power outage. The rest of the night was a food-induced-coma-blur. 

Today began with continental breakfast and a realization that I adore early mornings: sunshine, coffee, and alone time to reflect and begin my day. I hijacked some peanut butter to bring to Japan too (pictured below with my loon that makes dinosaur noises):

We attended an orientation where we were given our passports and some information and advice. "Please be prepared. Please be flexible," Yasuhiko Kamada, director of the Japan Information Center in Chicago urged. Allen Kidd, President of the Association of Indiana Teacher of Japanese, taught me the power of group shame when he asked a series of questions where you were expected to raise your hand if, "you have been to Japan?" nope. "have studied Japanese in high school? college?" crap. and he went on to say, to those people, "You will be prepared." Well, guess I'm out of luck. I don't already know everything and I have a lot to learn and gain. Why wasn't that a thing to raise your hand for?

Then the power went out. In the entire hotel. We begin to sweat in our business suits. Seriously, my table of 4 people went through 2 pitchers of water. However, this outage proved to me the importance of adaptability in teaching - Mr. Kidd just went with it. Kudos, guy.

After the orientation we had a dinner/reception and I was able to meet some more Hokkaido JETs and chat with the "editor, writer, photographer, and janitor" at The Chicago Shimpo, the Japanese American newspaper. She interviewed me and a few others at my table, took down my name, and gave me her business card in order to contact her with stories and pictures from Japan! 

Then there was the "nijikai" (or, afterparty). I had been to a "bounenkai" (Forgot the Year Gathering) and "shinnenkai" (New Year's Gathering) with the Japan America Society of Minnesota, and so basically I love anything that ends in -kai, I think. The folks from the Chicago JETAA put together a great shindig, with appetizers, big projector of the Olympic opening ceremonies, and lots of alumnis there to give advice. 

Some more socializing later, my introverted self is inhaling, back alone in my room. Highlight of the day, my photo with JET extraordinaire Tony Kim: