Rise and shine, America!

So it's about 7:36 in the morning, as I have been waking up amazingly early for some weird reason here, I think its because of the roosters and the blinding sun but maybe I'll get used to that. Just to give you an idea of time, its about 6:36 at night in America. Gotta love that time difference.

So yesterday was another really good day. First, Negishi-san took me to Takasaki to get some important form for buying a car, then we went to Yamada, a great electronics store that is insanely hectic and usually very busy (although Negishi-san told me that it usually was more busy than when we were there). So I bought an electronic dictionary, which probably won't be amazingly helpful for pronunciation as it does not include that, but it should be helpful for when I am talking to a Japanese person and don't know how to say something. I just type the word in, get the meaning in Japanese, and show them what I am trying to say. It was expensive, but I think it should be pretty helpful. I bought it with a credit card, and that was a half-hour ordeal in itself, but now things should be fine.

Sidenote - there are a lot of mosquitoes in my apartment! I am itchy! Ahhhhhh!

Back to my day - so Negishi-san went over to these massage chairs in Yamada and sat down in one of them. She told me to do the same. Twenty minutes of heaven. These chairs didn't just massage your back (and massage seems such an inferior word for the pulsating, kneading and rubbing this chair did), it massaged your legs and feet by squeezing them in little cuffs, bringing them up and down, and pretty much making you feel like a million bucks. For those of you who could use this, they were called Family Medical Chairs - very expensive (214800 yen, about 2148 dollars) but sooooo worth it.

Then Negishi-san and I went to a secondhand store called Hard-off (I am not kidding) and I bought a bookcase for 600 yen (about 6 dollars), and we ate sushi at this great restaurant next door. We sat at a booth there, and there was a revolving sushi counter - I had tuna and salmon and seafood salad (so good) and shrimp (not so good).

Not exactly like the restaurant I went to, but close

Then we went to her house, where her father (who works with plants, like many of the Japanese people I have seen here - you should see the gardens!) gave me a miniature rose and an azalia. So lovely, and I got to see his roosters, which were actually really beautiful as compared to American roosters.

So then more time at the yakuba boning up on English, then back home for some laid-back time watching Indiana Jones and doing some sewing. Hopefully tonight will be a bit more exciting - I should be going out with people in Takasaki. At a beer garden! Yay!

I have a new boyfriend...the 100 yen store

So let me introduce you to this wonderful invention: the 100 yen store. Now 100 yen is about a dollar, but the only thing the 100 yen shares with the dollar store is the name. 100 yen stores actually have nice things - decorations, dishes, everything you could think of - for pretty good quality. I went on a spending spree today at the 100 yen store, Don Quixote (this insane and completely capitalistic monstrosity that is the store equivalent of Japanese television), and a small store that completely reminded me of TJ Maxx. Gone are the days when I thought Japanese was some kind of exotic, ancient country: nope, it's just as materialistic as America, and the only difference between Japanese stores and Walmart/Kmart/Target are the names.

Today I had a really great day. I didn't have an alarm clock, so my predecessor told me to sleep by the window so that the roosters would wake me up in the morning. I did, and I woke up at about 5 to spend my morning listening to the Pachabel canon while cleaning the apartment and getting things in order. Then Negishi-san picked me up, and after an attack of "Debbie idiocy" (we had to keep going back to my apt. because I kept forgetting things) I paid my rent, opened a bank account, and signed up for an alien registration card. We had to wait a long time for my card, and the whole time I was talking with Negishi-san about her life, her thoughts, her family, etc. It was such a wonderful language exchange, exactly what I have come here to do. I know that Negishi-san is not a typical person - she is just such a wonderful lady, I can't begin to tell you - but I have a feeling that a lot of people are nice, they just are completely insecure in their English and scared to talk to the gaijin (foreigner). It's not going to be shiny happy Japan for the next year, but I really think that the high parts will match up the low parts.

Negishi-san and I went to lunch at an Udon noodle place, and it was delicious. I had kitsunei udon, noodles with tofu tempura (how excited am I that I am in the land of tofu!), which was noddles in a salty broth, covered by thin slices of tofu tempura. Wow, so good. Plus, I had some cucumbers and sesame sauce. I don't have much money, but I thought that it was worth it to have such a long time to chat with Negishi-san - I had such a great day with her, we talked the whole time.

Then I went to my office at the yakuba (Board of Education) and the fun ended. I had nothing to do (I forgot to ask if we would be going to work today so I could bring some Japanese books to study). So I checked internet and went online for about 2 and a half hours. Oh well, I should see this coming a mile away. Then we went shopping all around Gunma-Machi and Maebashi. What did I buy? Cleaning supplies! I have made a promise to myself that when I turn the apt. over to my pred, it will be beautiful - having this to clean up when I first get here is amazingly irritating. I will only charge a fraction of what I will pay, and this apt. is going to be the bee's knees.

So now I am at home. It is HOT - I am laying on my futon (not a bed, much thiner and harder and right on the floor, but I find it more supportive on my back than a bed in some ways). My air conditioner is weird - I can hardly feel the cold air. Oh well. I think I shall take a nap and relax. I deserve it:-)

A challenging first day

So yesterday was my introduction to Gunma-Machi, my home for the next year. It wasn't what I expected at all, but at least now I have stories to tell my kids.

So my supervisor (a sweet lady named Yoko Negishi) - actually, she isn't my supervisor, some guy is, but she's the one who mostly will help me - picked me up yesterday and took me to Gunma-Machi. The main differences that I have found from America are that buildings in Japan are very thin and often have little depth, mostly because of the land crunch here, and every available plot of land seems to house a rice patty. Oh, and the roads in Japan are the TINIEST roads ever - there was a two-way street that was the size of an American driveway, with no road markings. And I own a huge Honda station wagon that I bought off of my predecessor. Scary.

When I arrived at my school, which looks very trim and clean and has a tile mural of horses on the side (I will ask why when I see her today), I was introduced to people in my office and shown my desk. Most people were very friendly, although the level of English even amongst the English teachers was incredibly low. However, many other JETS have told me that once I go to an enkai, which is a bi-monthly work party where every one drinks a lot and loses their reserve, their English would suddenly appear out of the blue. I guess that many Japanese people are shy to use their English (and language in general - my predecessor told me that its common to have people here who don't speak at all yet get along very well in the world).

Then I went to take money out of the ATM. Beware: as I have learned, VISA, Mastercard, and any other credit forms are NOT COMMONLY USED in Japan except for Tokyo. It's a cash economy here, which is why I am praying praying praying that I can withdraw some much needed money today (I was only able to get 50000 yen yesterday, and that was at the post office after successive failures at the bank). I'm so used to swiping my card everywhere, so this is a bit different.

After that, I went to my house. Now I was expecting to see a nice clean apartment, but what I found was a nice, pretty, but incredibly dirty and unkempt house, thanks to my predecessor who looked like he had just started packing that day. Clothes were all over the floor and there was little furniture to be found. Then, I was introduced to my new car - which is HUGE, a little van almost - and was left to ponder what it will be like to drive that thing on tiny Japanese roads. In fact, at one point yesterday, I was beginning to question if I could make it here - it seemed like there were so many new things to take in and get used to, and for a moment I just wanted to go home. But every traveler has moments like those - I had many in Africa and Europe, so I know the drill. Obstacles are actually challenges, and challenges are actually amazing opportunities and the mode for conquering your fears. Who would have thought that little old me, who is scared of most cars and roads in America, would be driving around Japan on the left side of the road? But I did. And I will. Sometimes the best way to stop being afraid is to do what makes you afraid - if you keep running away, you'll never conquer anything but your own capacity to experience the world.

So I am feeling better and more relaxed. I will do some yoga this morning, then go out with Negishi-san (Mrs. Negishi, for those who don't know Japanese) to get some more stuff for the apt. and learn some sense of direction. I have heard that my job won't be as challenging as I had hoped - in fact, I might only teach ten classes a day, for the Gunma-Machi teachers tend to underutilize JETS, and because of this the two people before me only stayed for a year. However, this gives me time to learn Japanese, read, research jobs, and research possible weekend trips (with my big station wagon, I have to take advantage of it!). I'll try my damndest to reach the teachers and students, and whatever happens I will make the most out of this experience.

Nihongo (Japanese) of the day (I'm keeping it simple at first):

Ohayou gozaimasu. Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Debbie desu. Douzo yorushko.

Good morning. How are you? My name is Debbie. Pleased to meet you.

Konnichiwa!

Ohayo Gozaimas (Hello)! I'm here in Tokyo, staying at the Keio Plaza Hotel, and it is pretty amazing (although I am completely itching to go to my prefecture - Tokyo is a bit too westernized for my tastes). I'm pretty exhausted right now - I've been through two days straight of workshops and other orientation events, and tomorrow I am taking a bus to Maebashi, the city which my little town of Gunma-Machi (machi means town) borders. From there, I will meet my supervisor, Yoko Negishi, and she will take me to my home. Let's cross our fingers that it is nice and clean! I've learned a lot at orientation - I've attended workshops on how to shop for food in Japan, how to live on a budget, and how to become friendly with the locals, just to name a few - but I am definitely ready to have some alone time in Gunma-Machi to unpack and study.

As soon as I get broadband services connected to my home (hopefully soon), I will be regularly posting pics and stories on this blog about my travels, adventures and (hopefully not too boring) career in Japan. Sayoonara (Goodbye)!