My first 12 days...

2008-08-06T16:41:00.000-07:00

Day 1 (July 26^th)

The start of the adventure! A few problems getting away; definitely have a cold; had to make last minute trip to Woolys to get vegemite as well as Sheeni and B turning up when I was about to leave Renee’s house. Was glad to see Tifa was taken away safely, but she wasn’t happy that I was leaving her; wouldn’t look me in the eye! I think because I got distracted at this point I forgot to check I had everything I needed.... I didn’t! On the plane iI noticed that the Omiyage page from Corrie’s notes is no longer with me! FUCK! Also cannot find the CDs Chewie made me.

After that things were ok. Baggage was fine, 20.4kg. Got to talk to all the other Tassie JETs. Saw Mark Taylor in Sydney! Too shy to say anything though. And to finish the day... overnight flight to Japan!

Day 2 (July 27^th)

Trying to sleep on a plane in economy class? Bit of a waste of time. Got more sleep than most, maybe 4hrs, but that includes waking up every half hour to change position in a pathetic attempt to get comfortable. Probably didn’t need sleep in hindsight; the energy being in Japan gave me was incredible! It felt like being in a club, listening to sick beats while tripping on Es!!! Even the fact I had a cold wasn’t getting me down. The phrase “TASSIE NOOOO!!!!” was repeated (and explained) numerous times on the bus ride from Narita airport to Shinjuku in Tokyo! Getting through the airport was pretty easy, though the Tassie6 did get split up at this point with Liam, Simon and I getting away first. Expected the bus to be packed, but were plenty of seats free, which was nice after the tight plane ride.

Suggestions that the extra day we Aussie JETs got in Tokyo should be used to catch up on missed sleep were appropriately ignored. We were lucky enough to be able to check-in immediately upon arrival, and Aya was already there waiting for me (the bath house she was going to visit was fully booked for the rest of the day!). After finally being able to unload all my heavy bags, including about 15kgs or more of carry-on, it was time to explore. Aya was only a remotely useful guide. One thing I will say about Tokyo is that it wasn’t as busy (even though it was a Sunday) as I had expected.

After 6:30pm we met up with Corrie. I invited Liam along to dinner too. After all we had been unable to get away from each other so far (next to each other on domestic flight, international flight, and in the same hotel room!). After a short walk we decided on a Japanese Pizza (pancake) place which looked ok, apart from the scary steep stairs leading down to it. Had nice cheese and Mochi pancake and enjoyed talking to Corrie, though she was shorter than I had expected. After a visit to the observation level of the nearby government building it was time to say goodbye to Corrie. After that I began to feel the combined effects of too little sleep, too much heat, a nasty cold that was only getting worse, a busy day that began around 5am, and just general emotional stress. The result? I crashed! The burning sensation in my nose was unbearable and I had no energy left to stay awake. Aya looked after me like she always does (what an Angel!) and I wish I could’ve said goodbye properly.

Day 3 (July 28^th)

This day began kinda badly! After struggling to wake up I had to spend about 15minutes clearing my head of about 1kg of thick green mucus! To do so was quite painful and all the mucus in my lungs was causing me to lose my voice. After breakfast (the first of many ordinary meals provided by JET and the Hotel) I got my first chance to meet the other JETs going to Miyagi prefecture. Every single JET from group A was shoved into a room barely big enough to fit us all (due to the Hotel’s renovations causing the temporary closure of the main hall). The opening ceremony was somewhat out of order due to the head Japanese guy being delayed because of a train accident! For the most part it was entertaining with the various speakers trying to make us laugh either with them or at them (intentionally). However, after enduring a painful international flight on uncomfortable chairs everyone was keen for the ceremony to end and get the chance to walk around (especially the Americans). And after many, many hours we got that chance! Unfortunately the rest of the day consisted of boring workshops (sitting again!!!) with very little useful information being imparted on us!

Dinner was another non-Japanese looking range of partially cold food. The plus side of these meals was the chance to talk to other JETs. Everyone was being really friendly to each other and usually asked the same set of questions (Where are you from, where are you going [and wear the fox hat!] and why the JET program? At dinner I got to meet all of the new Miyagi JETs and have a nice chat. Some time later that night we, the Miyagi JETs, and the Sendai City JETs went out on the town together. We spent the evening at an all-you-can-drink Karaoke bar. Even though my throat was still quite sore I wasn’t about to let that stop me from belting out a tune or two and having a good time! The pick of the night for me was my powerful rendition of Limp Bizkit’s cover of Faith! Hope everyone else enjoyed it, it’s hard to be sure after drinking that much!

After all that fun it was time to crash again, now with a much sorer throat, but a head full of fun memories.

Day 4 (July 29^th)

This day was similar to the day before. It began with me painfully trying to clear out the mucus in my head, then more sitting down, speeches, boring workshops, crappy food (bean curry!! Why do all the lunches have to be vegetarian??? Just make the vegos a sandwich and tell the to fuck off) and various other boring things that I cannot be bothered to remember. The big difference today was that I was barely able to talk to anyone! My voice at times was non-existent. Other times it was so croaky that other people struggled to understand me.

After struggling to stay awake during some off the workshops I decided to skip a couple and see more of Shinjuku. Later that day I bought my first electronic dictionary.

The plan for that night had been to drop off my big bag for tomorrows bus ride, then meet all the other Aussie JETs and go to the Australian Embassy for ‘debrief and cocktails’! However, I was late making the drop and getting to the meeting place. There was only one other Aussie JET and one embassy employee left, the rest had already left. After waiting a little while longer for any other latecomers we made our move. The embassy was a bit far, even though we rode the subway to get there, and when we arrived the ceremony had already started. Unfortunately it seemed I hadn’t missed many speeches cause I still had to endure many more. When the talking was over I joined the Tassie6 (minus Liam who was still at the hotel packing) and got stuck into the best free food so far (but that wasn’t hard!). Unfortunately almost everything seemed to contain onion, and lots of it!

After receiving some useful maps and stuff we decided to make our own way back to the hotel. Upon exiting the embassy we noticed it had started to rain. There was also thunder and lightning, though partially masked by the smog. I really enjoyed walking in the rain. I was wearing my suit, no tie, shirt untucked and collar up, and felt very good about myself! It’s nice too feel like that sometimes. The subway ride back to the hotel was interesting. To call it crowed would not be doing it justice. At one point a junior soccer team got on just as the cars were getting crowed. They pushed and squeezed their way on board and I found myself squashing an oldish Japanese man into the corner! We were so close together it was actually hard to breath! And to get off at our stop we had to force our way through the tight mass of people in our way. After a short stop for ice cream we arrived back at the hotel. We decided the Tassie6 should all get together one last time before we went our separate ways in the morning. However, the room we agreed to meet in was on one of the few floors in the hotel which needed the appropriate key card to access! After a bit of comedy we were finally all together again. After sharing our thoughts so far, and the taking of cheesy photos, we said our goodbyes. The next day we would all be on our way to our new homes for at least the next year.

Day 5 (July 30^th)

Still difficult to talk, however my cold has failed to destroy the beautiful energy that has been coursing through my body since arriving in Japan! It did however make it hard for me to make my way downstairs to the Miyagi JET meeting area. Fortunately there was another person even later than I, so I felt no guilt. After a short walk around the corner from the hotel’s main door we met our new bus. Once again we were in luck as there were twice as many seats as there were JETs so we could all stretch out a bit.

The trip was nice, plenty more of Japan’s green scenery to enjoy. We continued to chat with each other as we had for the last few days, though some took the opportunity get back some lost sleep. We were told the journey would take around 6hrs, but even though we left late it took less time than that. We stopped 3 times during the trip, the second time for lunch (where I had a bad blood nose!) and the third time to change into our suits for the Miyagi prefectorial welcome meeting.

Lots of trees in Sendai city, which makes sense because it is called the city of trees! The weather was quite cool, but our bags were heavy. Thus the mere act of taking our bags inside the building from outside caused several of us to start sweating! The lack of AC in the meeting room didn’t help either. After this short ceremony I came to the conclusion that there are no comfortable chairs in the whole of Japan! The end of this ceremony also meant it was time for us Miyagi JETs to go our separate ways. We were whisked away by our respective city officials quite quickly, so much so that we were unable to say proper farewells to each other. Fortunately we will meet again at the Miyagi Orientation, so it will be ok.

Myself, and 2 other Kurihara JETs, managed to squeeze our luggage into the car that had been sent to pick us up (just) and then made our way out of Sendai city. After an hour drive, which included yet another rest stop (Japanese love these!), we arrived in Kurihara City. A small welcome ceremony was held for us and we made our first self-introductions. Then we signed our contracts, said a quick goodbye to each other before once again being whisked away by our local area representatives. I was driven to Wakayanagi by Kei car with the Junior High English teacher and an oldish guy from the Community Centre. We unloaded my bags at the ‘Mansion’ I would be calling home for the next year or more(?). I was taken to the local supermarket, which is less than 5mins walk from my flat, and shown around inside. I bought a couple of things to get me through the night before being escorted home and then finally being left completely alone.

Not surprisingly, after such an intense day, I found myself feeling a little sad! After being part of a group of many hundred, to a group of about 16, to a group of only 3, and then finally being alone, I found that the powerful energy that had gotten me through this adventure so far had finally gone. I felt kinda confident that I would be able to handle the situation. However, before I had a chance to worry too much I received my first visitors. Liz Bull, a Kiwi JET who I met briefly at the Kurihara reception, and Rob, an Interac teacher from Wales, stopped by to see how I was going and to welcome me to the area. I was very pleased to discover that Rob was in fact living and working in Wakayanagi and lived only a short distance from my flat. Knowing that there was another whitey living close by really lifted my spirits.

After fiddling around trying to charge my phone so I could use it as an alarm clock I finally got to bed. Tired? Yes. Lonely? A little. Ready for what was to come??? Fucked if I know!!!!

Day 6 (July 31^st)

Sleeping here is not easy. My first night in my new flat was an uneasy one. I woke many times and thus was very tired still in the morning. The man from the community centre, who had driven me to my flat the day before, arrived exactly when he said; 8:15am on the dot. His English is almost non-existent and his Japanese is difficult to understand. At the community centre I made my first self-introduction of the day (in Japanese?), unaware of how many I would have to make that day. At this point I met my supervisor, Mori-san. He seems really friendly, helpful, and his Japanese is usually easy to understand. This last point is important because he doesn’t speak a lot of English, though I think he knows more than he lets on. However, today I would spend most of my time with the driver, who at this point I feel may be the director of the community centre, Iwabuchi-san.

What followed was a busy, tiering, and very repetitive day. Together we visited all the schools and centres that I would be working at, and there were a fucking lot of them!!! At each school I would be introduced to the staff and the principal before giving a short self-introduction (in Japanese) and then a quick chat/meeting with the principal in his office. During this time I was given either a hot coffee, green tea, or cold coffee, which, of course, I drank. It seemed like the polite thing to do! The downside was that at probably half the schools we visited after lunch (which we returned to the community centre to eat) I had to ask where the toilet was!

After the last visit was over I felt utterly exhausted. Iwabuchi-san told me I could relax, but it wasn’t easy to do, especially listening to his Japanese! Also, the act of speaking, and listening, in another language requires much concentration, which after a long day like this results in a headache! After a short rest at my flat I walked to the local shopping centre to stock up on some much needed items. After visiting the 100￥ Shop and the pharmacy I already had way too much stuff to be able to do supermarket shopping. I returned home and waiting for Rob, who was coming around 7pm to drop off his old prepaid mobile. After he had come and gone I went back to the supermarket. After much searching I finally found the butter! Everything else was easy enough. Most things are cheap, though fruit and veg and beer seem a little pricey (especially the fruit).

Before long it was time to go to bed (after rather belatedly writing the first 4 of these journal entries). Before going to bed I realised I may have purchased the wrong shampoo! The one I bought appears to be a medicated shampoo. Hopefully not every one in the town will find out!

Day 7 (August 1^st, Friday)

This day started badly! Simply because I got lost! I was meant to meet Mori-san at the community centre before 8:30. However, I got lost on the way there and by the time I happened to stumble upon the place I was at least 15mins late. I was never late to work during my whole time at Mures, and this was Japan! So naturally I felt terrible, apologised as much as I could and bowed very low! Mori-san told me not too worry, probably because it was my first time going there alone and cause it is still summer break, so not so important. However, I had hoped to avoid doing this completely during my time in Japan and I was disappointed that it had happened so early on. Maybe it is better to be late now, while it is still early days and I am still new, but I do worry about the impression that it gives people about my ability and commitment.

The rest of the day went pretty much without incident. Today was about setting me up to be able to live in Japan. So much has happened since I got here so it’s hard to keep everything in order. I think by this stage I had already received my Hanko and filled in the Alien residency forms, so the first thing we did today was set up my bank account. This involved a lot of standing/sitting and waiting! We visited the town hall again today, though not sure what was accomplished there. After this we drove to a nearby city, forgot the name, and did a little shopping. After finding a mobile phone that I liked we grabbed some lunch... at McDonalds! And despite Aya’s claims that fast food in Japan is actually fast it took probably longer than usual (in Australia) to get our food. Luckily (?) the taste was about the same. After eating we went back to collect my phone (have to wait for them to do something, not sure what it was!), with a quick stop on the way to buy new speakers for my laptop.

We took the scenic route back to Wakayanagi, which meant driving past a lake filled with Lotus plants. And because the season was right (well, it's the beginning of the season) they were in bloom! Near here was a restaurant or school (?) that we stopped at to meet some of Mori-san’s family. They were really nice people and were looking forward to having me round for lunch on Sunday. Back at the community centre we talked a little about getting an internet connection before I was given the good news that I could go home! The rest of the day.... not sure what happened but I have a feeling it was very lazy!

Day 8 (August 2^nd)

My first day off, and a welcome one at that. However, because of the heat and high humidity it is very difficult to sleep-in! I tried my best, but when I got up I still felt very tired. After a quick shower (which I’m still struggling to figure out, keeps going cold, then hot, then cold again and again!) I went for a walk around the neighbourhood. I stayed on my side of the river and went in a loop that allowed me to do some shopping just before getting back home. Back at home I tried to keep my mind busy by watching DVDs and sorting out all the JET stuff I had received. However, before I knew what had happened I was asleep on the sofa in a highly unconventional position that would have appeared most uncomfortable to any one looking... which is probably because it wasn’t that comfortable!!! At about 6:30 I was woken by a buzz at the door. To my surprise it was the mailman, on Saturday! I was getting a bit excited (though visibly you wouldn’t have known because I looked crappy-tired!) because this meant my parcels might have arrived already. Luckily I wasn’t disappointed. I did struggle a bit to understand the mailman’s Japanese, but everything went ok.

Even though I had packed the boxes myself it was still exciting to open them (one of the good things about having a shit memory is that things are always surprising, even if you’ve done them before!). Unfortunately the fun was over way too soon as unpacking the boxes took less time than I had expected/hoped! So after I was finished there was little else to do. At this point I decided to try and sort out my Omiyage (greeting presents), which I’d been avoiding doing because I lost the sheet Corrie made for me detailing what sort of gifts to buy and for whom. I had the gifts, but no idea who I should give what to! This had been causing me a lot of stress in the days prior. I was thinking to call Corrie’s parents number and see if she was there. That would be awkward and expensive, especially by phone. I could wait to do it by email, but I wanted to sort it out sooner so I could give Mori-san his gifts straight away. I’d searched every bag and stack of papers I had, twice or more times, without finding the piece of paper I needed. Then when I looked inside one of the paper carry-bags that I’d gotten in Salamanca when I bought some of the gifts..... there it was!!!!!! The feeling of relief was immense; this was turning into a good day! I was brought back down a bit by the fact that I probably hadn’t bought enough of some things, but I had a back-up plan in case of this situation (tim-tams from the foreign food shop in the nearby city). So after wrapping Mori-san’s gifts it was finally time for bed.

Day 9 (August 3^rd)

Another restless night. It’s really hard to sleep at night in this heat and humidity. People have been telling me to use the AC, but I dislike using it for long periods of time, especially when I am sleeping. Short bursts to cool down the room are ok, but they never last the night. Morning showers are a must here.

Anyway, Mori-san came with his family to pick me up to take me to the ‘party’. It was being held at one of the elementary schools; this particular one was next to the Hasu (Lotus) lake, so had really nice view from inside the building. When we arrived a lot of the other parents and their children were already there. There were a lot of kids, about 15-20, with fewer adults. I was introduced to everyone, though not person to person. After that the kids were split up with some going inside to cut the fruit (watermelon, pears, etc), others to help prepare the Japanese curry, and the rest stayed outside to cook rice. The rice cooking was probably the most fun as it was down the old fashioned way. After being washed it was put in a container, which resembled a Billy-can, with water and then placed on a BBQ. The end result was surprisingly tasty! Inside was a little scary, in particular watching a girl, probably only 6 or 7 years old (all the kids were young, from 3yrs to 10yrs I guess), using a Japanese cooking knife without showing the knife any respect. She seemed constantly distracted by everything else going on in the room and wasn’t really watching the knife as she cut tinned pear halves! Scary shit!

After lunch the kids went inside to make water rockets out of plastic bottles. Once the rockets were completed it was time to set them off! The first one went pretty much straight up before catching the wind and going backwards! It just missed the parked cars, but Mori-san wasn’t taking any chances and promptly moved his van out of harms way. The racketeering went on for many hours as the kids experimented with angles and water levels. After a while though the novelty wore off a little and the kids became mainly interested in getting themselves and each other as wet as possible!

All this time I was busy chatting with the local families, mostly about the famous Australian things they knew! One guy in particular was a fan of Mel Gibson, Oliver Newton-John and Air Supply! He was an interesting guy, a farmer too. A few beers helped to handle the hot weather, which was taking its toll on everyone over the age of ten! I was very happy when Mori-san said it was time to go. As I was returned to my flat I remembered to give Mori-san his Omiyage, my first in Japan! Once inside I could see just how badly I had gotten burnt (pink, but not too bad). At this point I tried to call Aya’s number again, this time with success. Her mother answered and I tried my best to use polite Japanese (which is hard as I am used to talking to Aya all the time. I would later find out that she was very impressed!!!). She said they had all been worried about me as they hadn’t heard anything from me for many days. She asked me to call back later when Aya would be home. After this I received a surprise visit from a local girl whom I’d talked to briefly at the traffic lights the day before when I went out for a walk around the area. She couldn’t speak any English so my Japanese was put to the test... which meant referrals to my new electronic dictionary! She seemed a little strange but friendly and probably harmless. We chatted for a while, mainly about Tasmania, but also about Sendai and the local area. Later on I called Aya, which was tricky to handle as she was a little bit upset cause I hadn’t tried to contact her and cause I had bought a new mobile without checking with her first. I tried to explain how I had been cut-off from everyone and had had to make decisions quickly and on my own. Overall I felt I’d done a good job up until this point in time.

That night, before I had a chance to shower or brush my teeth I fell asleep on the sofa again (damn thing is surprisingly comfortable!). I woke long enough to set the alarm on my new phone before falling back to sleep! (I realized the next day that I had in act forgotten to eat dinner! So hot here often don’t feel like eating!)

Day 10 (August 4^th)

If it is going to be a hot day in Japan you will know about it the moment you wake up! The mornings can get very warm, especially inside my flat, which always seems to be warmer than outside! Anyway, this was my first working day at Wakayanagi Junior High School (WJHS); though I wouldn’t really call it work. Because it is still summer holidays there isn’t a lot for me to do at the moment, though there are many students around participating in their respective sports/club groups. The curriculum planner, Igarashi-san, talked with me a bit in the morning. I showed him some of the stuff I had about Tasmania after which he took me on a tour of the school. It seems like a decent place, a little old and worn with some obvious signs of earthquake damage, but it has lots of different facilities, including a pool, tennis courts, baseball field, running track, gymnasium and a separate Kendo/Judo hall.

Most of my first day was spent in the staff room going through some of the info and class plans Corrie had left behind for me (which is a lot of stuff!). It was actually a bit intimidating because Corrie seemed to have gotten heavily involved in all the aspects of teaching and was very creative and motivated. Hope I do ok!!! I was told that because it is still summer holidays teachers are allowed to leave 30mins early, at 3:30. However, I’m desperate to make a good impression so there was no way I was leaving at that time. I waited till about 4pm, when I was told (nicely) that I can go home. First thing I did when I got home was to take off my suit pants and shirt- way too hot for that kind of clothing here! But even being almost completely naked doesn’t mean you’re going to cool down! In the end I opened all the balcony doors and left them open to air out the house while I went to the supermarket to find something for dinner.

Pasta was the order of the day. I’ve eaten way too much noodle lately, even for me! I had planned to add a little butter to the pasta, but I finally noticed that the label on what I thought was some kind of butter spread actually said “butter (something), margarine.” I can only guess that the inserted Kanji mean something like taste or imitation! Still ate the pasta, with crappy Jap cheese on top! After a bit of Jap TV, which is funny just to look at, it was time to go to bed. (not before mistaking one of the sound effects from a DJ Tiesto live performance for my doorbell! Was so similar! I actually answered the door!!!). The plan for tomorrow is to get up early and go for a run before showering then going to work....... yeah right!! I know myself better than that!

Day 11 (August 5^th)

Well, I did wake up early... for a few minutes before deciding I’d take advantage of the cool morning air by getting an extra hour sleep! Is so hard to get good sleep here in the summer, so I’ll take what I can get. I’ll probably do some running in the afternoon, hopefully with a fully pumped football!

Culture note 1#: There is a space on the side of the road for people to stop their cars, though less than half the width of the car. So they leave their cars running, often with no one inside, while they dash into whichever shop they are going to to do their business. Small town culture? Or low crime culture? Who knows?!?

Anyway, my second day at WJHS I decided to dress like the rest of the teachers- casual. This seemed to be ok, though I was a bit embarrassed when I saw the vice-principal wearing a shirt and tie. Personally, I’m still struggling to tie a tie straight! But he was a really nice person and didn’t say anything about my clothes. He might of said something funny about the clothes I was wearing before lunch though. About an hour before lunch Igarashi-san took me to one of the classrooms where they were holding an adult learning class on how to wear a Kimono. And of course this meant I had to dress up in a Kimono! I think I looked quite cool, well, that’s what one of the ladies said (Kakkoii). The only problem was my Kimono, like most Kimonos, was designed for a Japanese wearer. Thus the length was a bit of an issue! But other than that it was quite fetching!!!

The rest of the school day passed quietly without much event. I spent some time with a few of the female teachers, talking about Tasmania (Devils mainly, which a lot of people thought were Nezumi [rats]) and showing them the various pictures and stuff I had. Everyone seems really impressed with Tasmania, which is kind of strange to hear, being a local! The rest of the afternoon I was kept busy trying not to bang my shins on the shelf underneath my desk (strange feeling having a desk in a school staff room, after seeing my mum at her desk all the time growing up!). After work I had to go to the post office to get my new bank card. I took the long way back home so I could go to the home/farm wares shop to buy a kettle, and then across the road to the 100yen store to buy some supplies. After all this excitement (not! Tassie noo!) the rest of the evening passed without incident, which I have a feeling will be commonplace from now on! So, bed time comes again, and with more plans to do exercise! Think it is really in my interests to do some physical work tomorrow!

Day 12 (August 6^th)

I think I had my first earthquake today! It was just before going to bed (before writing this entry) and I was sitting on the sofa. I felt myself wobbling a little! Wasn’t sure if it was just me, but my bag was visibly shaking too! Was really small, but the first I have noticed so that counts for something!

Other than that there was little excitement... not that that was very exciting! Still not a lot of real work to do at school, but I’m doing my best to look busy. The Vice-Principal is really nice, always telling me to do things I wasn’t sure I was allowed to do! And he is always getting changed and doing sports during the day! I wore formal clothes today as well, but I don’t think he cares much either way because it is still summer holidays. Seems like at this time of the year almost anything goes.

Spent a fair bit of time in the arvo trying to get my footy pumped up. I asked some students for help, and they tried really hard to find me a pump but with no success. So I tried at the servo near the school, again with no luck. After returning home to get changed I decided to try to walk to Aspal sports centre, though I was not exactly sure where it was! Turned out to be easy to find and they had a mountain of pumps! Problem solved. Now carrying my footy I set of for a run, on the way discovering the local high school (as opposed to Junior High). After my run it was hard to stop sweating, a result of the high humidity here. 2 cold showers later I gave in and turned on the AC!

After I had cooled down I went to the supermarket to buy ingredients so I could cook my own dinner, but a stomach ache in the evening put an end to any attempt to cook my own dinner! Some green tea helps to settle the tummy, while disc2 of the extended fellowship of the ring helps to settle the mind! Time to lie down in the dark, for hours, without moving... otherwise known as bed time!

Ramon Vs. Japan. YOU DECIDE!!!

My first 12 days...