When it rains it pours, especially in Japan. I use this term literally, its rained almost everyday since my arrival. I guess the rainy season is supposed to be over but just kept on going, but I also use this term metaphorically. FOR INSTANCE: I got a pretty rough placement for JET. The physical area is totally fine with me. I dont mind that there isnt really anything to do here, its beautiful all around and I am near a bullet train station which makes life a lot easier. The rough part is that there are absolutely no other JET folks near me at all. Some JETs get placed in apartment buildings with 5 other JETs in them, some are just placed in the same town. The closest ones to me take about an hour or so to get to. On top of this, my supervisor (a JET Supervisor is one of the English teachers at your school who helps you do everything, ie. get your alien registration, open a bank account, get you a phone, help you move into your apartment, show you how to get around town, help you get a car if you need one.) is nonexistant. I met him once, he was really really nice, but he just isnt particularly helpful. I lived in that hotel for a week by myself and they expected me to be able to get from one hotel to another on my own as well as into my apartment on my own. I have 150 pounds of luggage and no car. Luckily, my predecessor helped me out a bunch, though I'm not his responsibility. I was starting to get frustrated! In order for me to get any of these things done, I had to do them on my own and on my own TIME. If I wanted to go during the week I had to use my vacation hours (everything is closed by the time I finish work at 5pm), even though they were supposed to take me to do these things a while ago. On top of that, do you have any freakin idea how hard it is to open a bank account and get a cellphone only using Japanese? It ain't easy. So we're off to a good start, yeah? Yeah.
I was informed I had to go work at a three-day-two-night English Camp in Myoko. During these three days my predecessor would move out of the apartment and I could move in when I returned. Great. I moved my luggage into the place BEFORE I left (smart move, yes, thank you, it was my idea.) I kept a duffle bag and a backpack with my computer and phone and stuff in it, though it was still pretty heavy. The plan was simple: Check out of the hotel and catch a 6:23am train to Myoko. I'd get there at 9:30am, itd be great. Easy plan. I woke up, off to a good start. I decided i wanted to wash my hair this morning, I hadn't used my own shampoo yet, just ones provided for me at hotels. I opened my bag that has extra toothpaste, shampoo andconditioner bottles, and a comb. It was covered in a green minty fresh substance. Wonderful, toothpaste all over everything. I pulled things out one by one and looked for the broken toothpaste. I then, for whatever reason, scraped some off with my fingernail and tasted it. Don't ask me why. It was at this point, when my finger was juuuuust touching my tongue, before I could taste anything, that I remembered my toothpaste is white, not green. My shampoo is green and also kind of minty scented. Too late. I ate some shampoo. Great, off to a good start. I showered and packed my stuff up and ran to the station. I got there and walked onto the wrong platform... the train was juuuuuuuuuuuust leaving. So I walked into the ticket office and talked to the guy. He gave me a new ticket, the same price, for a train that would arrive at 10:52, not too much later. I called the camp to let them know I'd be late since they chartered a bus for everyone to take at 10 from the station. They said it was cool, they would send a car to get me at 10:52.
I board the train and everything is going great. I had to transfer twice to two different trains. At the first transfer point, I switched to the train I believed I would be taking. I was stopped. 'This ain't your train, kid.' Said the conductor. 'Why, yes it is!' I said as I proudly showed him my ticket. 'Nah, you need to pay extra to ride this train, this ticket allows you to ride THAT (points to another train) train.' 'Hmm, ok.' I get on the train, its leaving 5 minutes after the one I had planned on going on. Thats ok though. I boarded the new train and we left. About halfway through the conductor said 'Alright, we will wait at this station for a bit so if you need to use the bathroom, please do so.' I still had another 8 stops and a transfer to another train and it was 10:40 hmmmm. Something wasn't matching up. I finally got to the last station where I would transfer and take one more train. It was 11:10. The next train left at 11:45 and would arrive at 12:35. Perfect. I called my mom and let out a long vent of anger and frustration with the lack of help I get at this place. Then I called Hilary, my girlfriend and did the same. THEN I called the camp and informed them. They were kiiiiinda cool with it. One of those 'Oh, Im sorry that you're fucking everything up...that sucks, dude' kind of attitudes. I boarded the train and looked for a seat. Threw my backpack up in the little baggage storer thing and shoved my duffle bag under the seat and listened to my ipod. After a few stops I took my ipod off because I realized they weren't announcing stops and I needed to be at full attention to know when to get off. So I looked and looked and looked. When is my stop? I looked some more. Some of the stations didn't even have signs saying what stop it was. There weren't maps. I was basically alone on the train. Hmmmm. I was in the total-middle-of-no-where-est place I've ever been in. I thought the place where I lived was rural. The places this train was going by were just totally empty. Nothing. I'm not even sure animals stayed there because it would be too rural for even them. Next stop I poked my head out the car door to see if there was a sign. There was! It said 'SEKIYAMA' Which is exactly where I was going. Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinally. I grabbed my duffle bag and ran off the train. Wait a minute. I had one more bag.... The train bound for Nagano (yes, where the Olympics were that one time) had sitting in it two thousand dollars of travelers checks, my laptop, my external harddrives with all my photos and music so far, a razor, deodorant, and all of the props I needed to show about my hometown during my mandatory 20 minute speech on Chicago I had to give at the camp. Perrrrrrrfect. Before I started freaking out. I bolted into the station and told the old Japanese guy working there what had happened. He explained it was going to Nagano. As if I didn't understand that. I said 'I need it back, there is important stuff in there. It's probably worth more than the train and this town put together!' He said he would call Nagano station later and then call me to tell me when they get it. Then I would have to go to Nagano to pick it up later. Perfect, he can just call my cellphone that I didn't have yet because my supervisor never helped me get it. I gave him the number of a guy who would be at the camp.
The camp went well. We did camp things like make curry over an open fire. (Im not kidding, we did.) I will tell you more about that another day. It poured the whole time we were at the camp. So much that the train tracks flooded between Sekiyama station and Nagano. No trains were running there for a few days. So, what the hell could I do? I told my teacher and he was like 'Fine, I will take you, it takes an hour to get there and then an hour to get back... if there is no traffic' We left and there was lots of traffic. After about 5 hours, I was back in Sekiyama waiting for a train to do my whole adventure backwards to get BACK to Urasa so I could walk by myself to my apartment (about a 20 minute walk) in the rain and pitch black (no streetlights off of the main strip in urasa) with 40 pounds of luggage and I didn't have a key and there would be no internet when I got there. Thanks for the help mr. supervisor. Zack, my predecessor, had said he would leave the key in the storage room, I reminded him a bunch of times and he said he would try and remember. But there was NO freakin way I was walking all the way to that house with the slightest chance that key wasn't there. I went back to the hotel near the station (not the one full of prostitutes) and booked myself a room. In fact, they gave me the same room I had. I found my comb that I left there. Hooray. I emailed the local helper lady, Yoko and asked her to help me move in. She said 'TOTALLY.' She saved my life.
Anyway, that sucked, dude.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Things Move Slow When You're Getting Started
Since my predecessor is still here, I have had to sleep in a hotel. No biggie. It has internet. I was informed, however, that one of the nights I must sleep in a different hotel across the street because they couldn't book it. I was in 'Hotel Okabe' but had to move to 'Hotel Paramount' I was told that Paramount was a very very very bad hotel by my vice principal and he apologized over and over for making me stay there. My dreams of a large plush bed were crushed when he told me this.
I switched to the other hotel, with the help of Zack, my predecessor, for a night and showed up to check in at noon. I figured that maybe my room wouldnt be ready since it was early but I could leave my luggage there. Well we walked into the hotel and there was no one there. There were video slot machines in the lobby as well as weird sculptures and dirty coffee cups. We rang the bell on the counter. No one came out. We found a note that said 'Be back soon, call this number if you need help.' So Zack and I called the number.The phone behind the desk started ringing. No luck. So we left and got lunch and then came back.
When we arrived back there was an old Japanese man drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes playing slot machine in a wife beater and sweatpants. I asked if we could check in, clearly this man worked here as his attire fit the atmosphere perfectly. He let out a disgruntled sigh and said 'HAI.' He gave me my room key. He didnt even need to know my name, usually I would this is because I am the only foreigner at the hotel, but this time I think he knew because I was the only person in the entire hotel.
I got to my room, it was surprisingly big but rather revolting. There were stains on everythere. The beds, the carpets, the walls, the desk, the TV. The TV came with free pronography and two other channels. There was no internet. The airconditioner was broken and only put out hot air. There was an add for a massage for 2000 yen, that is about 20 bucks. All I had to do was dial 367 on the phone and they would come give me a massage. Clearly they were running prostitutes out of this hotel. So I called and arranged a massage.
About twenty minutes later my friend playing slots in the lobby appeared in my room with a small case that I hoped contained oils. He opened it up and put on latex gloves and then put, what looked like toothpaste, all over the gloves. He told me to leave my clothes on (WHAT?). At this point, I thought, I dont really want a massage anymore. He took a crazy looking chair out of the closest and in English said 'Theez eez feelz good.' Ok, I lied, I didn't get a massage, but I assumed that is what it would have been like.
I decided I didn't want to stay in my room after I dropped my bags off so I went with Zack to the fireworks fest in the town over. They were pretty, here are some pictures.
After the festival, I went back and went to sleep. There was a small earthquake that night, but nothing I couldn't handle.
The next morning I packed up my bag and got the HECK out of there. When I was leaving the guy who was smoking in the wifebeater waslike 'You get free breakfast when you stay here! you should go eat it' I didn't want to get near any food in that place. I still think there were no other people in that whole hotel...
Theeeeeeeen the other night was the Nagaoka Fireworks Festival. Nagaoka is the closest 'city' to me. Its a decent size and is about 45 minutes by car or 10 minutes by bullet train. Not too shabby. Anyway, this festival is famous in Japan as its the largest fireworks show in Japan. The finale is called the 'Super Phoenix' where they basically blow up a bunch of huge fireworks all alone this river. My expectations were kinda high but fireworks... I dunno. I like em and they are really cool... but I wasnt sure if they could hold my attention for two full hours.
I took a road trip there with Zack and some people who live in my building, they were all really nice. We left right after school so I was in my work clothes and was burning up, I was so sweaty. That is the one thing that really gets me down about Japan. The lack of central air/heating. It is so insanely humid and hot here in the summer that its impossible to go anywhere without sweating your tush off. I dont know why more people dont invest. Fans just do not cut it.
BACK to the story. We drove there and well... I guess there isnt much of a story to tell other than that it was the COOLEST FIREWORKS SHOW IN THE WHOLE WORLD OHMYGOSHITWASCRAAAAAAAAZY. They were easily the loudest, largest, and most colorful fireworks I have ever seen in my whole life. Fireworks shows in Japan are really interesting because various local companies and stuff pay for sections of the fireworks shows. So you get a bunch of mini shows all in a row. So 2 minutes will be from a car dealership and then 2 minutes will be from a school. There is usually a short one minute break between the mini-shows. BUT this one has major Japanese corporations paying for parts so it is crazy. Here are some examples of what I saw...
CLICK HERE TO SEE FIREWORKS FIREWORKS FIREWORKS
CRAZY.
I switched to the other hotel, with the help of Zack, my predecessor, for a night and showed up to check in at noon. I figured that maybe my room wouldnt be ready since it was early but I could leave my luggage there. Well we walked into the hotel and there was no one there. There were video slot machines in the lobby as well as weird sculptures and dirty coffee cups. We rang the bell on the counter. No one came out. We found a note that said 'Be back soon, call this number if you need help.' So Zack and I called the number.The phone behind the desk started ringing. No luck. So we left and got lunch and then came back.
When we arrived back there was an old Japanese man drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes playing slot machine in a wife beater and sweatpants. I asked if we could check in, clearly this man worked here as his attire fit the atmosphere perfectly. He let out a disgruntled sigh and said 'HAI.' He gave me my room key. He didnt even need to know my name, usually I would this is because I am the only foreigner at the hotel, but this time I think he knew because I was the only person in the entire hotel.
I got to my room, it was surprisingly big but rather revolting. There were stains on everythere. The beds, the carpets, the walls, the desk, the TV. The TV came with free pronography and two other channels. There was no internet. The airconditioner was broken and only put out hot air. There was an add for a massage for 2000 yen, that is about 20 bucks. All I had to do was dial 367 on the phone and they would come give me a massage. Clearly they were running prostitutes out of this hotel. So I called and arranged a massage.
About twenty minutes later my friend playing slots in the lobby appeared in my room with a small case that I hoped contained oils. He opened it up and put on latex gloves and then put, what looked like toothpaste, all over the gloves. He told me to leave my clothes on (WHAT?). At this point, I thought, I dont really want a massage anymore. He took a crazy looking chair out of the closest and in English said 'Theez eez feelz good.' Ok, I lied, I didn't get a massage, but I assumed that is what it would have been like.
I decided I didn't want to stay in my room after I dropped my bags off so I went with Zack to the fireworks fest in the town over. They were pretty, here are some pictures.
After the festival, I went back and went to sleep. There was a small earthquake that night, but nothing I couldn't handle.
The next morning I packed up my bag and got the HECK out of there. When I was leaving the guy who was smoking in the wifebeater waslike 'You get free breakfast when you stay here! you should go eat it' I didn't want to get near any food in that place. I still think there were no other people in that whole hotel...
Theeeeeeeen the other night was the Nagaoka Fireworks Festival. Nagaoka is the closest 'city' to me. Its a decent size and is about 45 minutes by car or 10 minutes by bullet train. Not too shabby. Anyway, this festival is famous in Japan as its the largest fireworks show in Japan. The finale is called the 'Super Phoenix' where they basically blow up a bunch of huge fireworks all alone this river. My expectations were kinda high but fireworks... I dunno. I like em and they are really cool... but I wasnt sure if they could hold my attention for two full hours.
I took a road trip there with Zack and some people who live in my building, they were all really nice. We left right after school so I was in my work clothes and was burning up, I was so sweaty. That is the one thing that really gets me down about Japan. The lack of central air/heating. It is so insanely humid and hot here in the summer that its impossible to go anywhere without sweating your tush off. I dont know why more people dont invest. Fans just do not cut it.
BACK to the story. We drove there and well... I guess there isnt much of a story to tell other than that it was the COOLEST FIREWORKS SHOW IN THE WHOLE WORLD OHMYGOSHITWASCRAAAAAAAAZY. They were easily the loudest, largest, and most colorful fireworks I have ever seen in my whole life. Fireworks shows in Japan are really interesting because various local companies and stuff pay for sections of the fireworks shows. So you get a bunch of mini shows all in a row. So 2 minutes will be from a car dealership and then 2 minutes will be from a school. There is usually a short one minute break between the mini-shows. BUT this one has major Japanese corporations paying for parts so it is crazy. Here are some examples of what I saw...
CLICK HERE TO SEE FIREWORKS FIREWORKS FIREWORKS
CRAZY.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Situations Situations Situations.
Every time I travel out of the country (sometimes even in the country) I find myself, at least once, in a situation where I'm think "how on earth did I get myself into this situation?" It's not usually a bad situation, like, when I was accidentally involved in that bank robbery in Senegal. Just kidding (heh-heh). It's actually never the situations that you think either it's situations like this...
So all week for the first week I was at school the principal was all "How strong are you with alcohol? HAH. HAH. HAH." The principal is this shortish serious Japanese man that everyone says looks a bit like a tanuki. This is a tanuki.
This is what Japanese people perceive tanukis to look like...
it's kind of like a raccoon without it's bank robber mask on. (Bank robberies TWICE in one story? Heh-heh...uh oh.) Anyway, I'm not completely sure I understand why people think he look like that. Either way, he was SUPER psyched for my welcome party. I was kiiiiinda excited and kiiiinda nervous. The one thing I'm not a huge fan of is Japanese business etiquette. I'm fine with being polite to people and buying gifts, I'm a nice dude. But I'm not a fan of ultra cautious politeness to upper people, you can totally ruin your life and other people's if you use the wrong word for "Good afternoon, Principal." (You laugh, but many JETs have died this way.) And the other thing I'm not a huge fan of is the college-style drink-a-thon work parties. I'm all about having a beer or some wine with people to celebrate. But...not the whole business men getting sloppy drunk and then walking home.
So Thursday after school I get driven to a restaurant, or should I say "the restaurant" since there is only one restaurant in my town. (I'm kidding, there are three...and two are Italian food.) We went to a Japanese place. Do you still call it Japanese food if you're IN Japan? Answer: Yes. I walk into our private dining room, a decently sized room with a long table on the tatami mat floor surrounded by pillows. The principal is just sitting there by himself. I walked in with another teacher who immediately dives for a phone in the room to call downstairs to order beer and edamame for the three of us. Eventually two more teachers come. Nice.
So here I am, 23 year old Mike, sitting in a room with five 50+ year old Japanese men for the welcome party (I think most of the teachers forgot or couldn't come... or something.) More food is brought to us we had sashimi, pig stomach in some type of sauce, some veggies, edamame and fried chicken nugget things. It was all good. The principal did the honors of ordering a giant bottle of rice wine, sake. Niigata is famous for sake so I was excited to try it. We had Hakkaisan Sake which was significantly better than I thought. In fact, I liked it. I didn't really think I was too into sake, but this was good. Really really good. Hakkaisan is the name of a mountain in Niigata, I can see it from my school, actually. Nice.
So I was playing it safe, I sipped my sake nice and slow, I took my time. Over the course of two hours I had, maybe, 4 cups of sake. These are small small cups, by the way, each cup holds maybe two shots. So I was in pretty good shape, I wouldn't have driven, but I was totally cool. Really cool. The other gentlemen, I can't speak for. After we (they) finished two bottles of sake they ordered another one. This time served warm instead of cold. I had another two cups (baby cups) of this over an hour. Like I said, I was good, it sounds like a lot when I say it in how many cups I had, but it was really like sipping a shot glass, I'm not even kidding. I looked around and realized I'd been conversing entirely in Japanese with these old drunk men for three hours straight and I thought to myself, how did I get in this situation? They loved me. The principal thought my name, Michael, was pronounced "Mic-hah-yale" and I explained "no, it's my-kuhl" he was blown away and asked if Michael Jackson spells it the same way. I said "Yes" and, naturally, he called me "Michael Jackson." For the rest of the night. He thought it was so funny.
This wasn't the "moment" though. The "moment" came later. I was walking back to my hotel with all the teachers and each one eventually went their own way. At the end it was just the principal and I. We were being very chatty about my girlfriend, in fact they offered her a job if I decide to stay for two years... we'll see, Hilary. He asked if she was tall, and explained that American women are so tall that it scares him. He was pretty cool. He was also pretty drunk. Then he's like "let's go to 7-11" So in we went. A 65 year old drunk Japanese raccoon high school principal and a tall slightly buzzed white stick-like american discussing my girlfriend completely in Japanese. It was one of the most bizarre situations I've ever found myself in. I bought melon-bread and a pocari sweat (the gatorade of Japan). He bought a big bowl of curry, raisin bread and a tea. I'm pretty sure we're best friends now. Even though he probably won't talk to my at school for the rest of my stay here.
So all week for the first week I was at school the principal was all "How strong are you with alcohol? HAH. HAH. HAH." The principal is this shortish serious Japanese man that everyone says looks a bit like a tanuki. This is a tanuki.
This is what Japanese people perceive tanukis to look like...
it's kind of like a raccoon without it's bank robber mask on. (Bank robberies TWICE in one story? Heh-heh...uh oh.) Anyway, I'm not completely sure I understand why people think he look like that. Either way, he was SUPER psyched for my welcome party. I was kiiiiinda excited and kiiiinda nervous. The one thing I'm not a huge fan of is Japanese business etiquette. I'm fine with being polite to people and buying gifts, I'm a nice dude. But I'm not a fan of ultra cautious politeness to upper people, you can totally ruin your life and other people's if you use the wrong word for "Good afternoon, Principal." (You laugh, but many JETs have died this way.) And the other thing I'm not a huge fan of is the college-style drink-a-thon work parties. I'm all about having a beer or some wine with people to celebrate. But...not the whole business men getting sloppy drunk and then walking home.
So Thursday after school I get driven to a restaurant, or should I say "the restaurant" since there is only one restaurant in my town. (I'm kidding, there are three...and two are Italian food.) We went to a Japanese place. Do you still call it Japanese food if you're IN Japan? Answer: Yes. I walk into our private dining room, a decently sized room with a long table on the tatami mat floor surrounded by pillows. The principal is just sitting there by himself. I walked in with another teacher who immediately dives for a phone in the room to call downstairs to order beer and edamame for the three of us. Eventually two more teachers come. Nice.
So here I am, 23 year old Mike, sitting in a room with five 50+ year old Japanese men for the welcome party (I think most of the teachers forgot or couldn't come... or something.) More food is brought to us we had sashimi, pig stomach in some type of sauce, some veggies, edamame and fried chicken nugget things. It was all good. The principal did the honors of ordering a giant bottle of rice wine, sake. Niigata is famous for sake so I was excited to try it. We had Hakkaisan Sake which was significantly better than I thought. In fact, I liked it. I didn't really think I was too into sake, but this was good. Really really good. Hakkaisan is the name of a mountain in Niigata, I can see it from my school, actually. Nice.
So I was playing it safe, I sipped my sake nice and slow, I took my time. Over the course of two hours I had, maybe, 4 cups of sake. These are small small cups, by the way, each cup holds maybe two shots. So I was in pretty good shape, I wouldn't have driven, but I was totally cool. Really cool. The other gentlemen, I can't speak for. After we (they) finished two bottles of sake they ordered another one. This time served warm instead of cold. I had another two cups (baby cups) of this over an hour. Like I said, I was good, it sounds like a lot when I say it in how many cups I had, but it was really like sipping a shot glass, I'm not even kidding. I looked around and realized I'd been conversing entirely in Japanese with these old drunk men for three hours straight and I thought to myself, how did I get in this situation? They loved me. The principal thought my name, Michael, was pronounced "Mic-hah-yale" and I explained "no, it's my-kuhl" he was blown away and asked if Michael Jackson spells it the same way. I said "Yes" and, naturally, he called me "Michael Jackson." For the rest of the night. He thought it was so funny.
This wasn't the "moment" though. The "moment" came later. I was walking back to my hotel with all the teachers and each one eventually went their own way. At the end it was just the principal and I. We were being very chatty about my girlfriend, in fact they offered her a job if I decide to stay for two years... we'll see, Hilary. He asked if she was tall, and explained that American women are so tall that it scares him. He was pretty cool. He was also pretty drunk. Then he's like "let's go to 7-11" So in we went. A 65 year old drunk Japanese raccoon high school principal and a tall slightly buzzed white stick-like american discussing my girlfriend completely in Japanese. It was one of the most bizarre situations I've ever found myself in. I bought melon-bread and a pocari sweat (the gatorade of Japan). He bought a big bowl of curry, raisin bread and a tea. I'm pretty sure we're best friends now. Even though he probably won't talk to my at school for the rest of my stay here.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
URASA (and then some.)
Let's start with a video, shall we? Enjoy this in HD if your computer can handle it...
A video montage of my trip so far
So here I am in my teeny tiny business hotel. Things are just dandy in here.
Urasa is one of the smallest towns I've been in ever. Especially in Japan. The only way I can gauge how small it is for Japan's standards is that there is only ONE convenient store in the whole town. (Typically you'll find about 6 in one block in most other parts of Japan.) There are 3 or 4 restaurants. 1 small supermarket. 2 gas stations. No movie theater. No mall. A hardware store. A train station. and a skinny American. That's the whole town pretty much.
The area, however, is gorgeous. It's full of rice fields that are bright bright green and huge beautiful mountains that are also very very green. It's cloudy here all the time, which I'm told I should get used to as it precipitates over 200 days out of the year. HOWEVER this can be seen as a good thing since Niigata was the original target for the atomic bomb but due to constant heavy cloud cover they didn't drop it. So... I guess no one here will complain that it's too cloudy.
I got picked up at the train station. My supervisor was out of town so a random teacher picked me up. He was cool except, apparently they're supposed to bring me somewhere so I can get lunch and they never did so I was starving. He brought me straight the school and I began working. It was really hectic because junior high schools were visiting. I got to meet my predecessor and watch him teach some classes and that was amazingly helpful. Most other JETs don't get to meet their predecessors. Mines hanging around for a little while longer. Unfortunately that means I have to stay in a business hotel until he's gone. But that's ok, it's worth it.
I met the principal who seemed really scary. But, then again, most high-ups in Japan just act scary. I have a feeling he's a cool dude. I went in his office and he stood up and greeted me and just looked very serious. A shortish dude with white hairs. I bowed over and over and thanked him for letting me work at the school. Then he quizzed me like a real Japanese business man would. He asked me how much I could drink. I told him I'm not a good drinker since I'm so skinny and he laughed. Then he invited me to a welcome party coming up thursday. I. am. nervous. Japanese men can drink a lot at these parties and I have to work on friday. Hooray.
Then I went back in the office until classes were over and then went out to dinner with Zack and Swe Swe (another ALT who works at the school who is also really really helpful.)
They brought me to kaitenzushi, the sushi that moves around on the rotating belt. I totally forgot how good Sushi in Japan is. If the rest of the trip is a nightmare, it will be worth it for the sushi. (Actually that's a lie, I really hope it's not a nightmare.)
I noticed that there are tons and tons of frogs here. They are about the size of a nickel or quarter and they are constantly hopping around at night. They're bright bright green and are hilarious and kind of scary. Chicago:Squirrels/Rats/Pigeons::Urasa:Tiny green frogs.
They brought me back to my hotel and I totally crashed. It sucks living in a teeny tiny hotel, but I can handle it. Although, I'm gonna run out of clothes fast I think.
Over all, I am really starting to like this place a lot. It's very different and I'll definitely have to get out every month or so for a weekend, but I think it'll be a really nice change of pace from living in a place like (insert any place in the whole world that I've been to.) I am excited.
Hope all is well with everyone. Heres a link for everyone to enjoy. The first...
President Obama Sushi Art
A video montage of my trip so far
So here I am in my teeny tiny business hotel. Things are just dandy in here.
Urasa is one of the smallest towns I've been in ever. Especially in Japan. The only way I can gauge how small it is for Japan's standards is that there is only ONE convenient store in the whole town. (Typically you'll find about 6 in one block in most other parts of Japan.) There are 3 or 4 restaurants. 1 small supermarket. 2 gas stations. No movie theater. No mall. A hardware store. A train station. and a skinny American. That's the whole town pretty much.
The area, however, is gorgeous. It's full of rice fields that are bright bright green and huge beautiful mountains that are also very very green. It's cloudy here all the time, which I'm told I should get used to as it precipitates over 200 days out of the year. HOWEVER this can be seen as a good thing since Niigata was the original target for the atomic bomb but due to constant heavy cloud cover they didn't drop it. So... I guess no one here will complain that it's too cloudy.
I got picked up at the train station. My supervisor was out of town so a random teacher picked me up. He was cool except, apparently they're supposed to bring me somewhere so I can get lunch and they never did so I was starving. He brought me straight the school and I began working. It was really hectic because junior high schools were visiting. I got to meet my predecessor and watch him teach some classes and that was amazingly helpful. Most other JETs don't get to meet their predecessors. Mines hanging around for a little while longer. Unfortunately that means I have to stay in a business hotel until he's gone. But that's ok, it's worth it.
I met the principal who seemed really scary. But, then again, most high-ups in Japan just act scary. I have a feeling he's a cool dude. I went in his office and he stood up and greeted me and just looked very serious. A shortish dude with white hairs. I bowed over and over and thanked him for letting me work at the school. Then he quizzed me like a real Japanese business man would. He asked me how much I could drink. I told him I'm not a good drinker since I'm so skinny and he laughed. Then he invited me to a welcome party coming up thursday. I. am. nervous. Japanese men can drink a lot at these parties and I have to work on friday. Hooray.
Then I went back in the office until classes were over and then went out to dinner with Zack and Swe Swe (another ALT who works at the school who is also really really helpful.)
They brought me to kaitenzushi, the sushi that moves around on the rotating belt. I totally forgot how good Sushi in Japan is. If the rest of the trip is a nightmare, it will be worth it for the sushi. (Actually that's a lie, I really hope it's not a nightmare.)
I noticed that there are tons and tons of frogs here. They are about the size of a nickel or quarter and they are constantly hopping around at night. They're bright bright green and are hilarious and kind of scary. Chicago:Squirrels/Rats/Pigeons::Urasa:Tiny green frogs.
They brought me back to my hotel and I totally crashed. It sucks living in a teeny tiny hotel, but I can handle it. Although, I'm gonna run out of clothes fast I think.
Over all, I am really starting to like this place a lot. It's very different and I'll definitely have to get out every month or so for a weekend, but I think it'll be a really nice change of pace from living in a place like (insert any place in the whole world that I've been to.) I am excited.
Hope all is well with everyone. Heres a link for everyone to enjoy. The first...
President Obama Sushi Art
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Orientation. CHECK!
Alright, Orientation is done. I have a strong distaste for pretty much all orientations. Orientations tend to give too much information and they tend to be too long. I understand why and I don't blame the people for doing them, however that doesn't that mean I have to like them. For something like the JET program they're good in the sense that they have everyone together who is going through the same thing, but everyone is so scared and everyone is so out of it that no one really pays attention. On top of that everyone's situations are so different, they can't possibly teach us many useful things. BUT it's still fun just hanging out with a bunch of fun people in a really nice hotel in Tokyo. I skipped more of the orientation things. Anything that was said to be mandatory, I went to but... things where attendance wasn't taken I was usually out in Tokyo hanging out.
Once orientation ended I quickly realized that I've never been more scared in my whole life for what was coming. All I've heard about my place is that it's in the middle of no where, it's a tiny mountain "town" if it even qualifies for a town. It has snowed 6 meters in one storm at times... that is about 19.5 feet. Yes... 19.5 FEET of snow. Although last winter they had a lot less snow, which I'm hoping happens this winter. So as I packed my bag and realized I wasn't going to be in crazy Tokyo I started to say my prayers as my bullet train approached Urasa. There are a lot of JETs in Niigata however, Niigata is pretty big and most aren't near me. In fact, 4 people are living in the same area next to me called "Tokamachi" It's about an hour away. Another 5 are in Nagaoka which is an hour away as well. How many are in Urasa, you ask? Well let me take a look at my handy sheet... 1. There is ONE JET worker here in Urasa. That would be me.
I have a meeting next week in Niigata City which is about an hour and a half away by bullet train. We all got this nice map on how to get to the place and it included a train schedule and directions how to get there. Except for me in Urasa. There wasn't directions from me because no one really knows anything about Urasa so he said "Ask your school how to get here." Faaaaaaantastic.
Eventually my shinkansen (bullet train) arrived at Urasa station and I was tossed off the train as it rolled through the station at about 200 miles per hour (alright, fine, it stopped, but all the other JETs and Program Advisers on my train were like 'have fun in.. uh... what's this place called? BYE! Mark!' 'Mike, my name's mi..." "ADIOS!" and they disappeared.
This is where my Urasa adventure beings. Stay tuned for Part II of this story. Does anyone even read this?
Once orientation ended I quickly realized that I've never been more scared in my whole life for what was coming. All I've heard about my place is that it's in the middle of no where, it's a tiny mountain "town" if it even qualifies for a town. It has snowed 6 meters in one storm at times... that is about 19.5 feet. Yes... 19.5 FEET of snow. Although last winter they had a lot less snow, which I'm hoping happens this winter. So as I packed my bag and realized I wasn't going to be in crazy Tokyo I started to say my prayers as my bullet train approached Urasa. There are a lot of JETs in Niigata however, Niigata is pretty big and most aren't near me. In fact, 4 people are living in the same area next to me called "Tokamachi" It's about an hour away. Another 5 are in Nagaoka which is an hour away as well. How many are in Urasa, you ask? Well let me take a look at my handy sheet... 1. There is ONE JET worker here in Urasa. That would be me.
I have a meeting next week in Niigata City which is about an hour and a half away by bullet train. We all got this nice map on how to get to the place and it included a train schedule and directions how to get there. Except for me in Urasa. There wasn't directions from me because no one really knows anything about Urasa so he said "Ask your school how to get here." Faaaaaaantastic.
Eventually my shinkansen (bullet train) arrived at Urasa station and I was tossed off the train as it rolled through the station at about 200 miles per hour (alright, fine, it stopped, but all the other JETs and Program Advisers on my train were like 'have fun in.. uh... what's this place called? BYE! Mark!' 'Mike, my name's mi..." "ADIOS!" and they disappeared.
This is where my Urasa adventure beings. Stay tuned for Part II of this story. Does anyone even read this?
Sunday, July 26, 2009
The adventure begins...
I wish my adventure began with a real adventure. Where I'm chased by indigenous-forest-people and I make a crazy cool escape in an biplane while arrows and spears whiz by me ...then something blows up. Instead it was just sitting on an airplane for 12 hours watching a Zac Efron movie wishing the other movies weren't broken. Talk about a reaaaally not-exciting start.
So even though my flight was relatively boring I have to give props to American Airlines. They've made the 12.5 hours trek a lot better since they have video games at every seat. The games are pretty bad but you can get lost in them for a little while, while you wait for the Zac Efron movie to rewind. There's Tetris, a matching game, solitate, and a caveman themed pac-man rip off. None were fun. ALSO, the best upgrade in the flight was that they had a few drink stations where, during the flight, one could get up and pour their own cup of water or juice. One station even had a bunch of rolls and crackers. Quite a nice addition. Although 12.5 hours on an airplane is bad no matter how much free juice and bread you get.
Other people on this program seem to be falling into one of three categories. 1) Just got married and won't stop talking about it. 2) Really hardcore Japanophile people 3) Normal cool people. It's pretty easy to tell which kind of person you're talking to from the start, which is nice. I'd say category "1" is by far the worst. I have heard SO many stories about girls husbands who are coming on the trip and couples who just got married and whose husband is the better "house husband" and how one husband really likes mushrooms ("the food ones, not the drug ones.") and it just doesn't stop. The marriage thing is cool or whatever but I really don't care too much about how "wonderful and great married life REALLY is." or how someone "Got married the weekend after finals." Sorry, I had to hear about it for 2 hours on the bus from the airport to the hotel.
Other than that, things have been great. The food has been excellent and the orientation hasn't started. I'm sure it'll be bad. I still stand by my belief that if you give almost anyone a microphone they immediately lose the ability to communicate well. I'm not looking for some legendary speeches but I'm tired of hearing jokes about how I'll miss mexican food and how much rice I'm going to eat. This is getting bitter.
I'm really happy to be back in Japan. It's nice to have the skills to get around. I've noticed my speaking has gotten worse since last time but my reading has gotten a lot better and so has my understanding skills. Thanks to my Japanese teachers this year for the translation courses. Once I get to speak some Japanese I'm sure I'll warm up more.
Take care everyone. I'll update again when I have some more interesting things to say.
-Mike
So even though my flight was relatively boring I have to give props to American Airlines. They've made the 12.5 hours trek a lot better since they have video games at every seat. The games are pretty bad but you can get lost in them for a little while, while you wait for the Zac Efron movie to rewind. There's Tetris, a matching game, solitate, and a caveman themed pac-man rip off. None were fun. ALSO, the best upgrade in the flight was that they had a few drink stations where, during the flight, one could get up and pour their own cup of water or juice. One station even had a bunch of rolls and crackers. Quite a nice addition. Although 12.5 hours on an airplane is bad no matter how much free juice and bread you get.
Other people on this program seem to be falling into one of three categories. 1) Just got married and won't stop talking about it. 2) Really hardcore Japanophile people 3) Normal cool people. It's pretty easy to tell which kind of person you're talking to from the start, which is nice. I'd say category "1" is by far the worst. I have heard SO many stories about girls husbands who are coming on the trip and couples who just got married and whose husband is the better "house husband" and how one husband really likes mushrooms ("the food ones, not the drug ones.") and it just doesn't stop. The marriage thing is cool or whatever but I really don't care too much about how "wonderful and great married life REALLY is." or how someone "Got married the weekend after finals." Sorry, I had to hear about it for 2 hours on the bus from the airport to the hotel.
Other than that, things have been great. The food has been excellent and the orientation hasn't started. I'm sure it'll be bad. I still stand by my belief that if you give almost anyone a microphone they immediately lose the ability to communicate well. I'm not looking for some legendary speeches but I'm tired of hearing jokes about how I'll miss mexican food and how much rice I'm going to eat. This is getting bitter.
I'm really happy to be back in Japan. It's nice to have the skills to get around. I've noticed my speaking has gotten worse since last time but my reading has gotten a lot better and so has my understanding skills. Thanks to my Japanese teachers this year for the translation courses. Once I get to speak some Japanese I'm sure I'll warm up more.
Take care everyone. I'll update again when I have some more interesting things to say.
-Mike
Friday, July 24, 2009
I am off.
I am moving to Niigata for the next year or two.
In Niigata I'll be in Minamiuonuma it's this darker spot on the map.
Here is my schedule at this point: Fly to Tokyo from Chicago. Spend two days in Tokyo listening to orientation lecture things (which I don't cope well with. Some people should never be given microphones.)
Take the train to Niigata and meet everyone at my contracting organization and put things down in my room. (I won't be moving into to my apartment yet, I will spend a week in a hotel since my predecessor's schedule overlaps one week with mine... although I'm starting to think this might just be a very clever quarantine for swine flu that they are forcing on random folks.)
Following that, for about 50 weeks I'll help teach English at 3 high schools... that's that. I don't really know what else happens.
All I know at this point about where I'm going is that I have enough pairs of socks and that, my friend, is a comforting feeling no matter where you are going.
In Niigata I'll be in Minamiuonuma it's this darker spot on the map.
Here is my schedule at this point: Fly to Tokyo from Chicago. Spend two days in Tokyo listening to orientation lecture things (which I don't cope well with. Some people should never be given microphones.)
Take the train to Niigata and meet everyone at my contracting organization and put things down in my room. (I won't be moving into to my apartment yet, I will spend a week in a hotel since my predecessor's schedule overlaps one week with mine... although I'm starting to think this might just be a very clever quarantine for swine flu that they are forcing on random folks.)
Following that, for about 50 weeks I'll help teach English at 3 high schools... that's that. I don't really know what else happens.
All I know at this point about where I'm going is that I have enough pairs of socks and that, my friend, is a comforting feeling no matter where you are going.
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