Well...I have lots of random thoughts going through my head right now.
I will be at the Detroit airport in less than 12 hours. At orientation at the Consulate General's house today we were told we have to be at the airport by 1:00 p.m. for a 3:40 p.m. flight. We arrive in Japan at 5:35 p.m. on Sunday, August 3rd. So with the time change it should be about a 13 hour flight. I'll keep myself busy by sleeping (and reading the General Information Handbook and Language Materials that I was given today because mine got sent to St. Paul and lost in the mail). I'm trying to pull an all nighter to get last minute stuff done (i.e. laundry, re-packing, etc.) and to try to adjust my body clock to the new time zone.
I've been very busy at home this week...I didn't get everything that I would've liked to done but there's not much I can do about it now. I would've liked to see Toledo friends more, talk to MN friends more on the phone and I planned on calling all my family. I guess I was a little too ambitious.
At the orientation we received a lot of information about the next few days so I'm a lot less anxious. We will meet at the airport and from there as long as I have all the luggage tags and JET sticker I should be fine if I can just follow the group from the plane, through customs and to the bus to the Keio Hotel in Tokyo. It sounds like we have a welcome party the night we arrive and then orientation for three days in Tokyo and then two days following in our prefecture (like a state). My prefecture is Fukui. I met four people going to Fukui and befriended one of the girls who will hopefully go out with me to experience the Tokyo nightlife. There was one other guy I met who would be in Fukui city...he said he'll live in an apartment building with other JET's. I, on the other hand, will not. I think I'll like that better so I don't cling to JET's but instead try to meet more locals and be immersed in the culture. There was also a guy from the Twin Cities who was also a music teacher! There were a few other people from Toledo - even one from my graduating class at Central (Chris Rudski).
At orientation we introduced ourselves. We had to share our biggest fear and what we are most looking forward to. I said my biggest fear was the search for my father (I guess, maybe fear of rejection) and I am most looking forward to being in a school setting again. I haven't been in school since March when I finished my student teaching...so it's about time. And this time around I'll actually get paid. My student loans have been deferred because I've been in school for student teaching but there are due to be paid this August. I'm going to try to pay back $9,000 in school loans this year. It might be ambitious but if I write it down here it might be more likely to be paid off!
I'm a little worried that I have too much stuff to take...I just bought omiyage (gifts) for students. Since I don't know them yet I just bought candy, pencils and stickers. The candy is pretty heavy...and I have lots of books and shoes (also heavy) so I'm going to try to rearrange all my bags so I can fit the luggage requirements (two check-ins under 50 lbs., a carry on and a personal item). I'm also worried about exchanging money and carrying all cash.
In general one of my goals this year is to be more confident to speak Japanese and be willing to make mistakes (plus, then I would probably have lots of funny stories). I'm so hesitant to speak because I think that I may offend people by using the plain form of speech when I should use the polite form, or speaking too polite when I should use a more casual form or using the Tokyo dialect (which I learned about today - the one we are taught here) when I'm in a place that speaks another dialect (I guess it's viewed as sort of uppity).
Sorry I'm babbling on...I'll try not to do this in future blogs...but this is just how my brain has been working the past few weeks. I'll try to write in my blog once a week to record my thoughts and observation on my year in Japan. Please hold me accountable for this! Feel free to e-mail me anytime and if you would like my address just let me know and I'll send it to you.
Next time I'll write I'll be in Japan ;-)...Yikes
I will be at the Detroit airport in less than 12 hours. At orientation at the Consulate General's house today we were told we have to be at the airport by 1:00 p.m. for a 3:40 p.m. flight. We arrive in Japan at 5:35 p.m. on Sunday, August 3rd. So with the time change it should be about a 13 hour flight. I'll keep myself busy by sleeping (and reading the General Information Handbook and Language Materials that I was given today because mine got sent to St. Paul and lost in the mail). I'm trying to pull an all nighter to get last minute stuff done (i.e. laundry, re-packing, etc.) and to try to adjust my body clock to the new time zone.
I've been very busy at home this week...I didn't get everything that I would've liked to done but there's not much I can do about it now. I would've liked to see Toledo friends more, talk to MN friends more on the phone and I planned on calling all my family. I guess I was a little too ambitious.
At the orientation we received a lot of information about the next few days so I'm a lot less anxious. We will meet at the airport and from there as long as I have all the luggage tags and JET sticker I should be fine if I can just follow the group from the plane, through customs and to the bus to the Keio Hotel in Tokyo. It sounds like we have a welcome party the night we arrive and then orientation for three days in Tokyo and then two days following in our prefecture (like a state). My prefecture is Fukui. I met four people going to Fukui and befriended one of the girls who will hopefully go out with me to experience the Tokyo nightlife. There was one other guy I met who would be in Fukui city...he said he'll live in an apartment building with other JET's. I, on the other hand, will not. I think I'll like that better so I don't cling to JET's but instead try to meet more locals and be immersed in the culture. There was also a guy from the Twin Cities who was also a music teacher! There were a few other people from Toledo - even one from my graduating class at Central (Chris Rudski).
At orientation we introduced ourselves. We had to share our biggest fear and what we are most looking forward to. I said my biggest fear was the search for my father (I guess, maybe fear of rejection) and I am most looking forward to being in a school setting again. I haven't been in school since March when I finished my student teaching...so it's about time. And this time around I'll actually get paid. My student loans have been deferred because I've been in school for student teaching but there are due to be paid this August. I'm going to try to pay back $9,000 in school loans this year. It might be ambitious but if I write it down here it might be more likely to be paid off!
I'm a little worried that I have too much stuff to take...I just bought omiyage (gifts) for students. Since I don't know them yet I just bought candy, pencils and stickers. The candy is pretty heavy...and I have lots of books and shoes (also heavy) so I'm going to try to rearrange all my bags so I can fit the luggage requirements (two check-ins under 50 lbs., a carry on and a personal item). I'm also worried about exchanging money and carrying all cash.
In general one of my goals this year is to be more confident to speak Japanese and be willing to make mistakes (plus, then I would probably have lots of funny stories). I'm so hesitant to speak because I think that I may offend people by using the plain form of speech when I should use the polite form, or speaking too polite when I should use a more casual form or using the Tokyo dialect (which I learned about today - the one we are taught here) when I'm in a place that speaks another dialect (I guess it's viewed as sort of uppity).
Sorry I'm babbling on...I'll try not to do this in future blogs...but this is just how my brain has been working the past few weeks. I'll try to write in my blog once a week to record my thoughts and observation on my year in Japan. Please hold me accountable for this! Feel free to e-mail me anytime and if you would like my address just let me know and I'll send it to you.
Next time I'll write I'll be in Japan ;-)...Yikes
1 comment:
i have to say that's so weird how small a world it is...centralites are everywhere!
Post a Comment