Konichiwa!

It’s been one week since my arrival in Japan. I am grinning as I write this since “one week” means nothing to me right now. I have very little concept of time and I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I am in Japan. The only way possible is to imagine a world map. See the red dot on the west coast of Japan where Toyama City is located? Voila, me. Now zoom out and throw pins on familiar places. These locations - The North East, Oregon, California, even places that once seemed far away like Switzerland and Ecuador - are all VERY far from that red dot. Not to say that I am shaking in my booties over on this side of Earth. After all, I’m here with Peter while Lindsay & Sune live just an hour away!

It’s been a whirlwind first week! I spent 5 days at a hotel outside of Tokyo for my training with Interac Inc. An educational corporation, their philosophy is “fostering global communication,” as well as a “zest for living!” Their words, not mine. Basically, my role as an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) is to create a fun atmosphere in the classroom. My goal is not to TEACH English, but rather, to inspire kids to learn it. I am there to ooze creativity, positive energy and to praise and encourage the students. From this, the hope is that Japanese students will feel less daunted by English and have at least one class during the day that’s FUN! I was surprised (and quite relieved) to learn the details of my position here. Grammar instructor? Nope. Disciplinarian? Not at all. The ALT gets to be the teacher that all the kids actually like! Overall, training was extremely thorough and informative. However, Peter and I were dying to leave behind the stale air of the hotel and see some REAL Japan! Sune, Lindsay, Peter and I did have a nice dinner in Narita Village on our last evening together. Laughing about all the memorable moments of training, we sipped gingerale and munched on rice, miso soup, radishes, carrots and greens covered in various sauces. I spied on an American ALT (fresh off the plane) attempting to have a dinner date with an attractive Japanese woman who looked absolutely confused by all his ramblings, although probably happy with her free meal. : )

The only disappointing thing Peter and I have faced is our housing arrangements.

Apparently, Interac did not get the message that we planned to live together so they assigned us separate places, even though we clearly stated “joint housing” several times before leaving the States. So we are living in what would have been my apartment if I had done this alone. It is small but cute and in a really peaceful neighborhood with rice paddies and mini daikon radish gardens scattered about randomly. We'll probably be moving to a place closer to downtown, which will put us in between Peter's schools (he is teaching at two) and my one. We will both be teaching Junior High school. I am at the largest one in the prefecture and my Vice President (here, the head of school) is also the head of Toyama’s Board of Education! So guess who's gonna be OOBER nervous her first day?!

Otherwise, things are funny here. Quirky in a good way. The doctor’s masks will take some getting used to. People where them driving, at the post office, riding their bike, everywhere! For me, white masks over the mouth signal “surgery, serious, ER” so it’s alarming to see someone stepping off an elevator at a hotel wearing one as to not spread their cold! I do enjoy removing my shoes whenever entering the apartment and the efficiency of the architecture here. I imagine making friends will be challenging since the people are extremely reserved. That said, I can't imagine doing this alone! Peter and I just keep thanking our lucky stars that we are in this together. The sum total of his Japanese skills and mine is so meager that any encounter is just painful. But I am excited to study and learn, proceeding one day at a time. Example? I walked into a grocery store today, greeted the clerk, paid for my snack and said in Japanese "hai hyaku go ju en des" (here is 150 yen) and then and then and then... she repeated what I had said and nodded yes!!! Then I thanked her and she mumbled a huge amount of thank you's and have a good day's in my direction and I left. Nothing groundbreaking but the simple exchange had me skipping out of the store! This transition is simply a humungous puzzle; daunting at first, I just have to keep adding to it piece by piece and maybe (4 months from now? 8 months? 12?) the image will take shape. Haha though in the meantime, I just wander around cluelessly.

Peter and I have now made two great dinners for ourselves after standing in awe among the grocery aisles at all the new products! It's funny not being able to read the labels of anything you buy. I feel like a tiny child just focusing on the colors and textures of things. This is the “soft” tofu (poke) and here is the “firm” tofu (poke poke). We just finished slurping down a miso soup with udon noodles, tofu, cabbage, mushrooms, onion & garlic. Delicious! This type of cooking is ultimately my favorite, plus the healthiest, so it's nice to walk into the supermarket and see nothing but rice, noodles, fish, veggies, fruits, bean pastes and soy sauces galore just beckoning to be whipped up into something simple and oishii (delicious).

Alright then, big meeting with the BOE (Board of Education) tomorrow. Sayoonara!