8/16/2019

Yes, I'm still alive. At first I didn't update this because not enough had happened, but then I found myself too busy to update it. So here we are two weeks later.

I left off with myself in Tokyo, and I can say that I safely arrived in Akita. My supervisor and the two other Nikaho JETs met me at the airport, and from there we drove an hour down to Nikaho, where I got my citizen certificate and my hanko, or stamp. We then went to the Board education,  where my supervisor told me and the other new JET what our next week would be like. We then met the director of the BoE for Nikaho, and he officially have us our positions. Afterwards we went to lunch at Gusto, a family restaurant, which if you read earlier you'll remember was actually my first meal with my host family when I landed in Yokohama did years ago. Funny how these things come around.
Afterwards my supervisor dropped off the other two JETs, and picked up my luggage from the BoE. to get any groceries I would need for the next day. He then showed me to my apartment and said that he would pick me up at 9am to start the process of getting settled in. At this point, I finally had a second to rest, and left most of my bags unpacked, immediately falling asleep.

The next day consisted of my supervisor and I running to the bank, the docomo (internet and phone) shop, and the car dealer, all while juggling possession of my hanko between the BoE and myself. I needed my hanko to sign for anything, but the BoE needed it for paperwork as well, which meant going back and forth to each place at least twice. Starting at 9, it was around 3pm before we could have lunch and go informally visit the schools I would be working at. The middle school was nice, and the English teacher I met seemed very respectful and easy to get along with. The elementary school teachers seemed happy to have me. Everyone was commenting on how young I was, and praised me for my Japanese. Around 5:30, my supervisor was able to drop me off at my apartment.
However, that wasn't the end of that day. There other JETs from Nikaho and the nearby city of Yurihonjo had dinner at a soba tempura place and invited all the new JETs, so I went along with them. It was great seeing everyone there and getting to meet the people nearby. After dinner we went and got drinks at an open karaoke place they frequent, which was fun.

The next day I was able to settle in a little bit, but also I got to go to a D&D one-shot that some people in Yurihonjo were having. It was good to go out there, and luckily one of my Nikaho JETs was nice enough to drive me along with him. It went fairly long, until 2am, but because of that we got a great view of the lightning storm that passed through.

The next few days were spent taking it easy. A jet from yurihonjo came down to visit and we talked, and I spent a lot of time in the supermarket trying to find things to cook. However later that day I started feeling feverish, and spent the next two days recuperating. The 12th however, I was feeling well enough to go out to some waterfalls with a Nikaho Jet and the same Yurihonjo JET. It was so nice to see them, and it's something I recommend doing if you come down to Nikaho.
Afterwards we drove up the mountain nearby, Chokai. Our little K-car struggled, but we managed to get it up there and had a beautiful view, even if it was cloudy.

The next two days were spent relaxing. My desktop came in the mail without any problems and I could hook it up to the TV with just an HDMI. I made curry, some kind of Chicken onion donburi, and simple stuff like that and it filled my soul. I also wrote introductory messages to my apartment neighbors on DC postcards as a form of greeting, attaching a packet of Old Bay to it as well.

And on the 15th I came to Akita city for an "Intensive Japanese Course". I'm staying in a hotel, which is coming out of my paycheck, but I do get to enjoy the city while I'm here. I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I honestly don't think there's much of a reason for me to be here. The BoE said to come here so I did, but this course was meant for people who hey just started learning Japanese or wanted to start learning now. That is not me, or the other new Nikaho JET for that matter. As of now we've just been sitting on the advanced class giving speeches about what we want to do in Japan and things like that.

What has been fun however is the excursions our whole group has taken into the city. Today our class ended early because the typhoon passed by the city today, so we ate out at Gusto, went to Uniqlo (clothing store), Tsutaya (book store), one of the Akita City JET's house (which was bigger than mine in the country), and went down to the train station to wander. And when I was there I found the best shirt I've ever seen. I'll leave that picture at the bottom.

And now it's 10pm on the 16th. I'm tired. A lot has happened now, and I'm excited to see what will keep happening.

We're here once more

Six years later, and I'm in Japan once more.
However, this time I'm coming in with a completely different set of circumstances. I'm an ALT now.

This, like the previous blog posts, is mostly to recount what happened, so that I can better remember once this is all over. Staying, of course, with this orientation.

Though I suppose starting with the DC orientation may be correct. So I'll do that.
The DC orientation was held in the Japanese embassy in DC, and for the most part it was informative. A lot about culture shock and what the procedure would be for going to the airport. There was a nice reception at the end which had nice food, and I was able to meet a few people who were going to Akita prefecture as well. It was a long day that ended with me finally closing my suitcases for the flight the next day.
The flight and the airport experience itself wasn't bad at all. The flight went by smoothly, as I watched Ant Man and Endgame, finally, which took a nice half of my time. We landed in Narita, dealt with put checked bags (which was a struggle, given both bags were 40 pounds), and hopped on the bus to go to Shinjuku. Getting to Keio Plaza hotel was great, as the Keio Plaza hotel is really a nice upscale place. I spent the night together with some DC people and got dinner, which was karaage for me, considering it was late and our group was indecisive, no thanks to me.

The first day of the orientation was busy, as we had a welcome reception followed by workshops and lectures about mental health and culture shock and such. There was a welcome ceremony late that day that also had good food. This night I was too tired thanks to jet lag, so I didn't really go out at all, and instead played smash with some of the other DC JETS.

The second day was more intense, though I'm not sure if that's because of the jet lag or because of any kind of increased workload. This day was more about teaching, which of course made me nervous. But after all the tiring courses, it was time to pack up my suitcase and hand it over so they could pack it in the bus. Later that night I was actually able to meet up with Nancy from the last homestay I did all those six years ago, which was great to actually see them again before heading off to Akita.

And now, today, I'm waiting to get on the bus to the airport, so I can fly off to Akita city, and go from there to Nikaho. Today is going to be busy, but I hope it'll turn out ok.

The year starts now.