I made it to Japan!
Three suitcases and fifteen hours later, I made it to Japan with some pretty intense jet lag. Unfortunately, our plane was pretty ancient, so even with a little medicinal help, I was not able to sleep on the plane almost at all. Narita was a breeze, fortunately, since there was a line of purple-shirted JETs leading us throughout the airport, saving us from the most arduous task of independent thought.
For two days we have been at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo for orientation. I feel as though the main goal of this orientation is to give us a painfully firsthand view of what it means to be a Japanese businessman: fourteen hours days plus the expectation that you party afterward. Add 14 hour jet lag and you have the most physically exhausting conference you can imagine. We go to huge conference rooms in the hotel (there are 880 or so JETS here at the moment) and sit and listen to speeches for hours, then get up and move to a different conference room and listen to more speeches and advice. I found only the last few workshops useful, as they covered teaching and classroom management. Having no teaching experience myself, I am very nervous about the prospect.
Three suitcases and fifteen hours later, I made it to Japan with some pretty intense jet lag. Unfortunately, our plane was pretty ancient, so even with a little medicinal help, I was not able to sleep on the plane almost at all. Narita was a breeze, fortunately, since there was a line of purple-shirted JETs leading us throughout the airport, saving us from the most arduous task of independent thought.
For two days we have been at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo for orientation. I feel as though the main goal of this orientation is to give us a painfully firsthand view of what it means to be a Japanese businessman: fourteen hours days plus the expectation that you party afterward. Add 14 hour jet lag and you have the most physically exhausting conference you can imagine. We go to huge conference rooms in the hotel (there are 880 or so JETS here at the moment) and sit and listen to speeches for hours, then get up and move to a different conference room and listen to more speeches and advice. I found only the last few workshops useful, as they covered teaching and classroom management. Having no teaching experience myself, I am very nervous about the prospect.
One nice thing has been my roommate, Jennifer. We have gotten to know each other and feel comfortable with each other pretty well, so we go to many of the seminars together and laugh at some of the things they tell us. One time, we were sitting in the back, near the door (for a quick escape!) and one of the government ministers happened to be sitting in front of us. He was slumped down in his chair and texting "This is so boring!" on his phone. So funny.
I haven't gotten a chance to see much of Tokyo what with the whirlwind schedule they have us on. My roommate, Jennifer, and I snuck out for 45 minutes to take a peak of Shinjuku. However, we only made it a few blocks before we were lost and it started to rain. The fates were not with us. As far as I was able to see, we are in no part of Shinjuku that I recognize. I'd like to say we would make it out for more exploration, but extensive stress and a consistent lack of proper nourishment make everything except sleep more than slightly unappealing. I am comforted, instead, by the fact that, since I will be so close to Tokyo in my home prefecture, I will have plenty of opportunity to visit later.
We had a very nice view from our room. This is not a picture of that actually (XD) but my half of the room. The beds were real beds but still futon style and pretty damn hard. Once we were still in the room when the maid came to clean. They were so amazingly thorough, they even picked up and folded my jacket and socks! I thought it was so cute, I took a picture.Tomorrow I will be going to my prefecture (which is more or less like a state) and after some pomp and ceremony, will be brought to my city and my apartment. At the moment I am using free hotel internet, but after I arrive in my city, I am told that it may be a month before I have any internet again. I will likely find a computer at school to write on, but I think I will more or less be disappearing from civilization for a while.
There are quite a few JETs here have have significant others on the program. I am most envious. While I have had to the chance to talk to my parents several times, this abstract form of communication is not quite sufficient when all I crave is to curl up next to someone or disappear in a hug and steal a little comforting contact. I suppose it will get easier, but... it's tough.
Cheers,
lonely Baer
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