Thursday, August 02, 2007
Splashdown
Just wanted to pop my head up to let everyone know I haven't sunk yet.
Yesterday we all scurried out of the lovely Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo and rode a bus to Tokyo Station. Luckily, the JET Programme sprung for Shinkansen tickets (reserved at that) so our trip to Osaka took just under three hours. The weather was extremely hot and humid (made worse by my needing to wear a suit) but the train was relatively cool and the skies were clear enough for an awesome view of Fuji. As was previous suggested, I was met in Shin-Osaka by one of my supervisors, whom I will arbitrarily nickname Gary for the purposes of this blog.* Gary was accompanied by his predecessor, Earl, who has since retired. They drove me from the station out into the countryside to the Board of Education (BOE) office.
The town where I will be working is indeed an extremely rural area. Nestled in-between several mountains, accessible via tunnel, Hana Town (another nickname) is very pretty but very rustic. Still, I was surprised to learn that more people live there than where I grew up, and that the BOE is located next door to a puppet theater. Naturally, Gary was stunned that I even knew Japanese puppet theater existed (Japanese people, by default, assume foreigners know absolutely nothing about Japan, their language, food, customs, or culture) so he quickly arranged an introduction for me with the owner. Apparently I just missed their annual show in June (drat) but considering how they own and operate a dedicated, very modern building, I must assume they manage more than one performance a year. I met with one of the staff who escorted us backstage and showed us the puppets (J: ningyō). She even let me shove my hand inside to feel around! Gary snapped a quick picture with his phone (my camera was packed at this point) so the moment was preserved for posterity. I'll share it as soon as I'm able.
I also met the head of the BOE while I was there, whom I could barely understand at all but he seemed pretty friendly. As usual, my Japanese is good enough to elicit praise (see note above) but my conversational ability is quite poor. I know it will get better over time, so this isn't just me complaining. I'm not sure how my predecessor got by, since I got the impression from him that he didn't know much Japanese at all. He's left Japan by now, so we never got the chance to meet or really discuss much.
However, I had agreed to take over his apartment, and Gary drove me here after we were done with the introductions at the BOE. The good news is that my predecessor left me nearly everything I could need to live here (bed, furniture, cooking supplies, etc) and the apartment is much bigger than I imagined. I have electricity, water, gas, and even a TV which receives the standard broadcast channels. The bad news is that I have no Internet, no phone, and no idea what half of the things in my apartment are for. I also have no HOT water, which I discovered this morning when I took a shower. Granted, it is so incredibly hot and humid right now I wouldn't want much warmth in the shower right now, but even in summer it's tough to take a completely cold shower.
That's really all I can say for now. I'm going to meet my other supervisor today, so I've got to take my first trip on the train and bus to work. I've got the directions so I trust I'll make it. If only I had as much confidence in my ability to do this job as opposed to merely getting there.
*NOTE: In the interest of preventing any potential unpleasantness, I have decided to anonymize the names of people I work with as well as the places where I will be teaching. I just don't want anyone getting embarrassed about something I wrote on a website which is about me.
Yesterday we all scurried out of the lovely Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo and rode a bus to Tokyo Station. Luckily, the JET Programme sprung for Shinkansen tickets (reserved at that) so our trip to Osaka took just under three hours. The weather was extremely hot and humid (made worse by my needing to wear a suit) but the train was relatively cool and the skies were clear enough for an awesome view of Fuji. As was previous suggested, I was met in Shin-Osaka by one of my supervisors, whom I will arbitrarily nickname Gary for the purposes of this blog.* Gary was accompanied by his predecessor, Earl, who has since retired. They drove me from the station out into the countryside to the Board of Education (BOE) office.
The town where I will be working is indeed an extremely rural area. Nestled in-between several mountains, accessible via tunnel, Hana Town (another nickname) is very pretty but very rustic. Still, I was surprised to learn that more people live there than where I grew up, and that the BOE is located next door to a puppet theater. Naturally, Gary was stunned that I even knew Japanese puppet theater existed (Japanese people, by default, assume foreigners know absolutely nothing about Japan, their language, food, customs, or culture) so he quickly arranged an introduction for me with the owner. Apparently I just missed their annual show in June (drat) but considering how they own and operate a dedicated, very modern building, I must assume they manage more than one performance a year. I met with one of the staff who escorted us backstage and showed us the puppets (J: ningyō). She even let me shove my hand inside to feel around! Gary snapped a quick picture with his phone (my camera was packed at this point) so the moment was preserved for posterity. I'll share it as soon as I'm able.
I also met the head of the BOE while I was there, whom I could barely understand at all but he seemed pretty friendly. As usual, my Japanese is good enough to elicit praise (see note above) but my conversational ability is quite poor. I know it will get better over time, so this isn't just me complaining. I'm not sure how my predecessor got by, since I got the impression from him that he didn't know much Japanese at all. He's left Japan by now, so we never got the chance to meet or really discuss much.
However, I had agreed to take over his apartment, and Gary drove me here after we were done with the introductions at the BOE. The good news is that my predecessor left me nearly everything I could need to live here (bed, furniture, cooking supplies, etc) and the apartment is much bigger than I imagined. I have electricity, water, gas, and even a TV which receives the standard broadcast channels. The bad news is that I have no Internet, no phone, and no idea what half of the things in my apartment are for. I also have no HOT water, which I discovered this morning when I took a shower. Granted, it is so incredibly hot and humid right now I wouldn't want much warmth in the shower right now, but even in summer it's tough to take a completely cold shower.
That's really all I can say for now. I'm going to meet my other supervisor today, so I've got to take my first trip on the train and bus to work. I've got the directions so I trust I'll make it. If only I had as much confidence in my ability to do this job as opposed to merely getting there.
*NOTE: In the interest of preventing any potential unpleasantness, I have decided to anonymize the names of people I work with as well as the places where I will be teaching. I just don't want anyone getting embarrassed about something I wrote on a website which is about me.
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