Released from Tokyo!

So all I can say about Tokyo Orientation is that its an over done affair that is designed to freak you out more than `ease` you into your current living situation. I mean, Keio Plaza is a hotel I couldn`t afford as a lone traveler and is NOTHING like my current town. It is much less stressful away from the hodge podge of crazy city living and `you have to attend EVERY lecture`threats. Oofh. Not cool.

I have made it into Fukuoka and will reside in Chikogu, once my apt is ready for me to move in. Until then, I have been put up in another hotel. Its not a bad place but I am itching to have a place called home. Wandering around a bit, things seem familiar and strange at the same time. I walked to a grocery store only to discover it is a Walmart in disguise! I find that I am usually laughing to myself when I see labels or signs on items that I recognize. At the Sunny (Walmart) there was cranberry cocktail a `Great Value` line of product or like last night, there was a sign for Bed Bath and Beyond... but no store associated with it!

School here is different, of course.  Where in the States, we jail ourselves into our buildings, Japan is a bit more open air. Windows arent covered by screens (your expected to have common sense not to fall out of them and bugs are everywhere, so deal with it.) Students walk or take a train to school. Teachers share one office room, they have their own bathroom (we have that in the States, too but the teachers would usually get the nicer bathrooms over the students, it the opposite here). I change slippers to go into different rooms around the building but all in all, its a high school. Its not so different in many respects to school anywhere else.

Some after thoughts

So, I've been trying to keep in mind that the Orientation here in Tokyo is something of a glamourous affair and not how my life in Japan will actually be. I mean first off, there is air conditioning in this hotel, The toilet is similar to that Simpson's episode, you know the one, the fountain bidet with the jumping dolphins? (someone confirm this, b/c I could just be losing it) and there is a Denny's down the street. Not in anyway, the one you think of in the States but yea... Denny's.

Our guest speaker at opening ceremony was a former JET ALT and CIR and a great speaker by all accounts. The part of his speech I most related to was that there was those in the audience who weren't at stage one of the JET experience. Instead of euphoria, we put on a face while secretly being miserable. (Ok, maybe miserable is a bit of an exaggeration but I'm definitely not one of those riding high, socializing, and pepping it up. I know why it is, too.) There is hope for me yet, though. and my mission is to find a quiet place to be alone so that I can finally cry it out. The first day was a day loaded with speakers and crowds, speeches in Japanese, fancy food, warnings of this and that, running to lecture to lecture. I feel apprehensive, TIRED, excited... I need a quiet place all to myself, to absorb everything that has happened and is happening.

I wanted to come to Japan, visit my family, be a teacher, and right now... I just need the quiet me time to absorb that it is actually happening. It is not going to be an easy journey ahead, until I find a bit more balance. One more day in Tokyo, tomorrow I fly to Kyushu.

Tokyo Night

I have arrived! That was a killer flight, 12 hours of closely confined spaces, food that does nothing to satisfy the pallet and everything bumpy on the ride here was a promotion to my gag reflexes. If the flight to Japan left much to be desired, actually being in Japan, walking around Tokyo by myself was invigorating.

After we received our welcome bags with stacks of information, carted upstairs with the luggage we weren’t sending on and exchanged money it was well past 8 PM and though exhausted, I was impatient to buy my first meal in Japan. Jasmine tea, a tiny choco, 1 curry and 1 kimchee onigiri, the excursion was influenced by Laurel my Tokyo tourist expert. On the way to finding the 7-11, I was helped by Shu, my first conversation with someone from Japan in Japan! Whew.. thankfully, he spoke really good English and could direct me to a closer 7-11 than was on my map and he even gave me the name to a restaurant in my prefecture of his friend who entertains the ambassadors from Australia and America! 

Unfortunately, I have begun to express excitement with, "How cool is that?" and I think he caught on to this expression after only 5 minutes of a conversation. Dun dun dun! I think I have begun to influence this country, already.

O'hare post

 Ok, so. I’m sitting in the airport, with an hour and a half till the stewardesses start loading us onto the plane. It’s been a hectic last few days, one with lots of running around and moving stuff.  I’ve said goodbye to friends one last time and stuffed my suitcase to the brim. Speaking of… I’m a little panicked right now because one of my suitcases is sans the TSA lock… it went missing en-route to the baggage drop off. So, my mind keeps wandering to the fear that my suitcase is going to explode, my clothes will be everywhere between Chicago and the Pacific Ocean and I will have nothing but 4 pairs of underwear, pants and blouse to survive Japan until reinforcements arrive.  Other than that, everything I own that isn’t in those suitcases are packed and stored away and I am left wondering, when did I accumulate so much stuff?

Stuff is sort of the bane of our existence isn’t it? We tend to think that we need some of this stuff to make our lives easier but I can’t help but wonder how much happier I’d be if I didn’t have to heft this large and heavy backpack, or two large suitcases halfway around the world. On the other hand, it will be nice to return from Japan knowing I have things to prep me for my next adventure instead of having to re-buy everything. I suppose life is just a balance of minimalism and extravagance. 

            

That left a mark...

Packing, unpacking, meet up with friends, last minute errands, sneak in some studying, relax with a movie... With less than week left to before I depart there is just a few things left to get done. 


I think the biggest task was saying goodbye to everyone. Who'da thunk I was popular? Despite the what FB tells you, I don't have THAT many but it's been a pleasant surprise with the number of people who have managed to bid me adieu this month. However, next time, I'm going to ban saying goodbye over food. I can't fit into my jeans anymore....


Incase I've forgotten you and you're reading this. Thank you. To my family that is probably reading this. Sorry for being a pain in the butt, thanks for loving me anyway.


“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." ~Maya Angelou