It's cold

You know it's cold inside your school when your pee makes the urinal steam.

Oh, how I long for central heating.

Earl Boykins: NBA International Ambassador?

The other day I was teaching one of my third grade (senior) classes and struck up a conversation with one of the funnier students in class, who of course, had no intention of working on the sheet I had given him. He's the point guard on our school's basketball team, so I asked:
"Hidei, who's your favorite basketball player?"
He paused for a few seconds, then shocked me with his response.
"Boykeen. Earl Boykeen. You know? Boykeen"
"Earl Boykins? Really? Really???"

Earl Boykins. NBA legend and fan favorite halfway across the world.

Could he be updating... already???

Yup. 4 days suckers. I think I'm getting better at this. At least for now.

This week has been a little bit rough, (and its only Wednesday!!!) mostly because I've been feeling pretty crummy for the last few days. I'm about ready to get rid of whatever it is I have because its really sapping my energy. I feel kinda like Garth Algar when the Suck-Kut is sucking his will to live. I think in my case, however, the sinus infection is really just SUCKING MY WILL TO WORKKKKKKK!!!!!

Though last few days haven't been so swell, today was most excellent.
Why, you ask?
Well, two really awesome things happened that I would love to tell you about.

1st awesome occurrence of the day:
A group of eight students from Glenunga High School in Adelaide, Australia came to visit my school today! Kita Otsu High School and Glenunga established a sister school contract back in 2006 and Kita Otsu has been sending students to study abroad there for the last twelve years or so. How do I know such things??? I had the honor and distinction of translating our principal's welcome speech for the visiting students and teachers in my "funny" voice (as my student's say). It was jam packed with bits of historical information that I absolutely relished.

So, all afternoon, I just hung out with the visiting students and got to speak English with native English speakers!!! You have no idea how excited I was when people finally understood my Simpsons and Flight of the Concords references! The students were all really awesome and excited to be there, and it really made my day all the more fun to hang out with them. It's kinda crazy, because when talking with them, I realized that I actually do know quite a bit about this country. I feel like a grizzled veteran of two whole months. I made sure to impart my infinite wisdom to the new adventurers. You know, things like "don't, under any circumstance, eat natto" and so on. (I was planning on giving a few more examples of what I told the students, but I realized that "don't eat natto" is about the only worthwhile thing I told them. So much for imparting wisdom.)

I feel like I should give Maddy's mom a shoutout from Japan, since she stumbled upon my blog the other day. Thanks for your comment and your daughter is having a wonderful trip! (So i assume...)

the 2nd totally stupendous event of the day?
The group of ladies that I teach every other Wednesday night threw me a welcome to Japan party tonight! It was tha bombbbbbb! Essentially two hours of eating deliciously scrumptious Japanese food and playing bingo and scattergories. They really went all out on the dinner and I can't thank them enough for feeding me tonight and probably for the next twelve nights too! I seriously came home tonight with about a dozen meals' worth of food! Anybody want sushi??? Better come over quick, while its fresh!

So, that's all I really have to tell you, Internet world.
Maybe the key to blogging is shorter, more frequent updates. I'll take this method for a spin around the block. Be back in a few days, perhaps.

Much love
John

Yes, Yes. It has been a VERY long time since I have written anything here. I suppose I've lacked whatever motivation I've needed to conjure up a few paragraphs to update you guys. I'm sorry for that, but maybe now I'll start doing it a little bit more regularly. Maybe...

I was just doing some laundry out on my balcony and I stopped and thought... Man, I really do live in a really beautiful place. I could post a picture right here to let you guys try and feel what it's like to be here, but it wouldn't do it justice. Gorgeous fall weather, crickets chirping, moon bright up above and the long, empty train passing by my apartment. It was really one of those, "Jesus, I live in Japan" moments. They don't come as often as they used to, but when they do, it's pretty surreal.

I highly suggest you come visit me. It's the only way you'll understand what I mean.

Anyway, I guess I'll write a bit to let you guys know what's been goin' on. I won't by any means try and catch you up on the last, oh, five or six weeks (already???), but I'll give you a little bit to chew on.

This week was "Silver Week" in Japan, meaning Japanese state employees and students got Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off of work/school. So, on Saturday I headed out to Osaka where I started a five day mini-tour of the Kansai region. It was really great to get out of the usual routine and hit up some of the more notable touristy spots in the area.
Quick outline of the trip:

Saturday: met up with some friends in Osaka, which is about an hour south of where I live by train. (I'm soooooo lucky to be place where I am. It is so easy to get just about anywhere in the area from my city.) We checked into our capsule hotel and hit up the aquarium, which has the largest tank in the entire world! Complete with two whale sharks and a few manta rays!!! It was really cool, despite the large throngs of Japanese school children. It's a good thing they're so damn cute! Afterwards, we took a sunset spin on the Osaka ferris wheel which overlooks the entire city. I hear a lot of things about how ugly Osaka is, and yes, I've seen some drab places, but it looks pretty damn good from up there at sunset!

Sunday: We took off fairly early in the morning to get to Himeji Castle, which is about an hour west of Osaka by train. Himeji Castle is Japan's largest (I believe...) and arguably most beautiful castle. I heard rumblings around my school about it being shut down for renovations in the near future so I wanted to make absolutely sure we made it there beforehand. It was a really beautiful day, and, unfortunately, about 10,000 other people had the same idea as we did. We spent the majority of the day standing in line to enter the main tower of the castle, which was probably not really worth the wait. However, I got some pretty great snapshots, which I will post up on my picasa ASAP. You should check 'em out. They're swell.
After that we headed back to Osaka where we took naps, cleaned up and hit the town for the night. Osaka is known as a nightlife city so we were out looking for a little bit of fun. Unfortunately (or fortunately, perhaps) our hotel closed its doors from midnight 'til 4:30 AM, meaning a night out would likely turn into a night and following morning out. After dropping into a few small bars we made our way to a karaoke joint where we sang and sang and sang. ALL NIGHT LONG... ALL NIGHT LONNNNGGGG!!!
Next, 6 AM McGriddles stop on the walk back to the hotel. Then sweet, sweet sleep.

Monday: We had to check out of the hotel at 10AM, which was a little rough, but not nearly as difficult as I had expected. The gang headed out to Kobe which is only about a half an hour west of Osaka on the way to Himeji. Kobe is a really stunning harbor city which was almost entirely leveled in 1995 by the Great Hanshin Earthquake. Since then, it has been rebuilt and is extremely impressive. We spent lunch being beaten and bruised by throngs of eaters in Kobe's Chinatown, which evidently, is an extremely popular dining destination. Being moderately claustrophobic, I was slightly unnerved by all the elderly Japanese ladies pushing and pulling me about, but fortunately the lunch rush did not last long, and we were able to breathe after an hour or so. After lunch, we walked in the harbor and stumbled upon a yosakoi (a type of Japanese dance) festival. It was supremely badass! I had heard about how much people loved watching yosakoi, but I remained skeptical... Not anymore! It was heart-pumpingly-exciting. I grabbed a few videos of some dance groups that I may or may not post. They take up valuable upload space, and I don't know if I can afford it.
Sunset harbor cruise: $10
All-you-can-eat seafood buffet complete with chocolate fondue: $25
Watching Diku practice his Yosakoi moves all evening: not quite priceless, but worth at least $150

Tuesday: Our group split up. Diku (my buddy I met in Tokyo) and I went to Nara, the ancient capital of Japan, while the rest of the crew went to Universal Studios Japan. As cool as USJ (what the kids call it these days) sounds, I thought feeding deer and taking pictures of the world's largest wooden building sounded a lot cooler. I think I was right. Nara was amazing! I wish I could say that I had a lot of pictures for you to see, but of course, my camera died like 5 minutes after I got to Nara. So yes, I did manage to sneak one of the giant buddha inside of Todai-ji (the big-ass wooden building) bud not much else. I'll have the few on Picasa as well.

I'd love to elaborate on Nara for you guys but my head is absolutely killing me. I came down with something the last day of my trip and I've been feeling pretty awful for the past few days. I think it's just a sinus infection or something similar, but it's really quite the pain in the ass. Since Japan is so strict about drug usage, they don't sell cough medicine or NyQuil or anything that works, so I'm just toughing it out. Fortunately, my wonderful, thoughtful Lindsey is shipping me some of the good stuff. (Thanks my sweet Mary Hawley). Until then, I'll just have to sack up and tough it out. Hey, at least I don't have the swine flu! I hope...

Much love everybody! I miss you and want to know what's happening on the other side of the world. Keep me in the loop, kudasai!

Week 3

Yes folks, it is time again for another post. Please hold any applause, cheers, jeers and rotten vegetable tossing 'til the end of the update. It won't be long, don't worry...

So, another week in Japan and much more to write about. I feel like I'm kind of getting settled here in my apartment, although it still doesn't really feel like "home". I've been getting a better feel for the area in which I am staying by riding my bike around town every day. An added benefit to my newfound routine is the ample exercise I've been getting. I feel like if Lance Armstrong and I were to trade bikes right now, I'd have a fairly good shot at beating him half a mile down a very steep hill. Impressive huh?

I've also been doing some cooking, which, somewhat surprisingly, has turned out rather well so far. The last two dinners I whipped up were rather spontaneous and not exactly by the books, but were quite scrumptious. Occasionally I'll forget that I'm only cooking for one, and I end up making about 8 servings worth of chicken curry (two nights ago). Aside from the searing heartburn, a meal of curry, orange juice and ritz crackers is a great way to start the day!

I promised a few things on my last post which seemed pertinent and interesting at the time, that now seem like they took place months ago. However, I'll do my best to briefly touch on them in case you'd been eagerly anticipating my take on the matters.

Train suicides: (people jumping in front of trains, not trains throwing themselves off the rails)
Happen alllll the time in Japan. I know, its rather grim, but its quite a serious problem around these parts. Here's my first-hand (fortunately not to close-up) experience dealing with the repercussions of train-jumping.

Last week (two weeks ago now), I was headed from the train station by my hotel to school, where I was to go though my usual routine of absolutely nothing. Oddly, the 8:27 train was about 10 minutes late, meaning one of two things have occurred: high winds had caused the trains to be delayed, or somebody had taken the plunge somewhere up the line. Not being a particularly blustery day, I figured that the latter had, unfortunately, taken place. However, not understanding Japanese, I could not understand what the constant updates were from the PA system, and figured the train would run a few minutes late and I would get to school slightly later than usual. OHHHHH BOY WAS I WRONG...
I'll give you the abbreviated version of what went down.
-Train finally arrives at the station, I board and we proceed to the next station... nothing out of the ordinary
-At the next station, train stops... and waits... and waits... and waits. Finally the conductor comes over the intercom, says something in Japanese and about half of the people on the train get off. I figure, OK, maybe we'll be delayed for 10 to 15 minutes. I'm in no rush to get to school to piddle away 8 hours, I'll just piddle here on this air conditioned train. I piddle, and piddle. No departure.
- About 45 minutes later we're still parked at the station, and people are still just sitting around on the train. I muster up the courage to go around to every person on my train, asking if they speak English. Of course, the only responses I get are a few head shakes and about 15 giggles and blushes. Sooooo, I bust out my Lonely Planet phrasebook and figure out the sentence "Why train here" in Japanese and lay that one on them. More laughter, no answer.
- I make a critical decision. I exit the train in order to find a phone to call my predecessor, who was to meet me at school. I find a payphone, call him up... no answer. At this time, I've left the train station, and would need to buy another ticket to get back on the train that wasn't moving. So I figure, let's try walking
- Not a good idea. In fact, a painfully hot and sweaty idea. I ended up walking from that train station to the next one, approximately 5-6 km away in dress clothes, uncomfortable shoes and in 100% humidity. I was soaked when 10 minutes later I saw the very train I had piddled around on whizzing right past me. That was a real, "awwww shit" moment.
- I stumble into the next station, buy another $3 ticket (which doesn't seem like much, but I'm on a budget here people!) and drag my sweaty ass up the stairs to the platform. What I came to find out later is that this station was the very one where the unfortunate soul took the plunge two hours earlier. I didn't care at that point. I was pissed.
- I drag myself into the teachers' room at school, drenched, stinky and hacked off just in time to leave for lunch. On the bright side, I suppose I got some exercise while I piddled that morning.

Moral of the story: Don't jump in front of a train. It tends to have adverse effects on EVERYONE, not just you (sorry for the cynicism. It's probably insensitive).

Someone mail me a box of Zoloft. I could make a killing in this country! (I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Too hard to resist.)

On a lighter note...
Japanese Fireworks
Are AWESOME!!! People love their explosives here, I'm tellin' ya. What's the one thing you'd all kind of expect Japanese fireworks shows to have, but would still be really amazed if they really had them???

EXACTLY!!! Hello Kitty shaped fireworks!!!
Not only do they have Hello Kitty, but also this little cat creature named Doraemon and everybody's favorite Mario bad guys, Goombas!

Basically, the Otsu Fireworks Festival, which I attended last Friday evening, was hands down the best fireworks experience of my 22 year old American life. Sorry fellow Americans, but the Fourth of July ain't got nothin' on Japanese hanabi festivals. I took some sweet pictures and even sweeter videos from the display. I've posted them on my picasa account, which can be reached riiiiiiiight here. Bookmark the link. I will post many more pictures and videos for your viewing pleasure.
Essentially, it was awesome and watching little Japanese kids watching fireworks is probably the cutest most hilarious thing I can imagine. I'd have taken videos of the kids, but I didn't want to look like a big, creepy, white pedophile.

I forgot what else I was going to tell you about... mmmmm... aha! My cell phone!

I now am a proud owner of the second shittiest cell phone in all of Japan! Basically, I went to Softbank (a cell phone company), bought the cheapest plan, and bought the second cheapest phone and I was out. I guess I'm supposed to call it a keitai now. I realized two things shortly after walking out with my phone, I mean keitai:
1) I don't have any idea how to use it
2) Even if i did, I don't have anybody to call

Fortunately, my sixty-five year old male supervisor gave me his cell phone number right afterwards (which i didn't know how to program into the phone) in case I needed a buddy to chat with.
You'll be happy to know that I now have 7 contacts in my phone, only 4 of which are co-workers that felt sorry for me. HA! I sort of have friends!

What else is new???? Hmmmm....

Saturday, after the fireworks festival I met two of my buddies from Tokyo orientation, Adam and Diku, in Osaka to go see the city. I only live about an hour and a half from Osaka, which is totally great considering they both took about 5-7 hours to get there. We had originally planned on going to SummerSonic, a music festival that takes place in Tokyo and Osaka simultaneously. However, at $140 a day, we decided the price tag was a little steep. Instead we walked around Den Den Town, electronics capital of Japan, and took lots of ridiculously touristy pictures. That night, Adam's friend Katherine flew in from Hawaii and we hit a club in Amerikamura. I suggest googling Amerikamura and reading what pops up. I haven't done it yet, but I'm sure it's hilarious.
Anyway, the club was great, we had a blast and went back to our pod hotel for a good night's sleep. The next day, we trucked back to Kyoto where we rented bikes and cruised around the city all afternoon. Again, I've posted pictures on my Picasa, so I'll let them do the talking.

This week, I've been doing some serious bumming around in my apartment. Aside from cooking and watching movies, I've been doing some exploring around Otsu but nothing too spectacularly magical. I have some homesickness setting in and I can feel some of the things I used to really find cool and interesting getting on my nerves a bit, but hey, that happens. I'm trying to stay upbeat about things, despite constantly wishing I had more English-speaking people to have conversations with. I'm sorry, with whom to have conversations... or something. Is that right? I really hope my students don't ask me about who vs whom. I have no fucking clue.

So, thats my news. I assume you've already read this, so make sure to check out my pictures next. You're all fabulous. I love you all, but will love you more if you leave a comment. Even if you just write "word".
Much love
John

PS: I have my first real "lesson" on Tuesday! Our high school is having an open school for graduating middle schoolers to come check out the campus. They're basically using me as a recruiting tool, telling me "just tell them why they should come to school here." I honestly have no idea why they should, since I've only been there two weeks but I made up some crap about how its a great place to grow and learn. I'll let you know how it goes. It could get ugly... stay tuned

Otsu glad I made another post?

HELLLOOOOOO again

Sorry, it has been quite a while since I've updated and so much has happened since then. I'll try to do my best to catch up without writing a novel.

Last time I wrote I was still in Tokyo for our Post-Arrival Orientation. Honestly, that feels like it was three months ago. Since that post, I've moved to my home city, Otsu, met my predecessor, met all the teachers at my school, opened a bank account, registered as a certified gaijin (foreigner), moved into my apartment, gotten a cell phone and done about 10,000 other new things. During my first week in Otsu, I stayed in a business hotel, because my predecessor Zach was still hanging around. Despite not being able to move into my apartment for a week, I am soooooo glad Zach hung around. He helped me adjust to life here so much and honestly, I'd probably be completely lost if he hadn't. Plus, he showed me the greatest three days of gluttony in my entire life. So Zach, if you're reading this, thanks a million man.

Here's a quick summary of stuff. yeah stuff:

Last Wednesday: I arrived in Otsu, where we made the "hell walk" from the train station to the government office. Considering its name, "hell walk" didn't really live up to my expectations. Though it 85 degrees with 149% humidity, I managed not to pass out or croak before arriving for our welcome ceremony. After cooling off in the building, we got into our formal wear and nervously filed into a room to endure a awkward, sweaty exchange of words with our new supervisors. We, of course, had to address them in butchered Japanese, which most of us had copied directly from our JET handbook. You could easily pick out those who hadn't taken a lick of Japanese, since all of our speeches were absoultely identical. Whoever wrote that outline in the handbook should have patented it... he or she would be making some serious royalty bank.

After the ceremony I met my supervisor, Ito-sensei, my vice principal, Umemura-sensei and Zach. I'll give you a more detailed description of these people later, when I'm not so focused on writing two weeks worth of information in one blog post. They're awesome... I'll leave it at that for now. We went to the business hotel, where I would be staying, I changed out of my formal attire and we hit Kyoto for dinner and some drinks. We went to an Asahi brewhouse in downtown(ish) Kyoto. There we ate, drank and got merry and had a grand ol' time then I went back "home" and hit the sack.

My cozy little hotel room

View from my hotel balcony

Thursday: I went to school in the morning with Zach and met a lot of the teachers that I'll be working with this year. They all seem very nice and extremely interested in what Oklahoma is like. I told one teacher about prarie dogs and for the last week she hasn't stopped asking me questions about what she understands to be oversized moles. Will one of you please just ship me one, because I'm getting tired of describing the bastards.

My early-morning-squinty (because of the sun... im not making fun of asians)-first day-of-school-face

After we piddled around for a while, we went out and did a bunch of tiresome errands, like registering with the prefectural office, opening a bank account, blah blah blah... It ended up being a really long day, and I was beat once we started discussing cell phone contracts in Japanese. As if they aren't confusing enough in English. Too tired to do anything at night, I hit the nearby mcdonalds for a delicious "bacon lettuce burger" and crashed. hard.

mmmmmmm... oishiiii (delicious!)

Friday: All the new Shiga JETs spent friday at the government office going through "survival orientation". Essentially, all the veteran JETs from the area told us how to do shit we had already done the day before. I suppose a lot of the information was somewhat useful, but a lot of it could have been skipped, or covered in 1/5 of the time that was taken. I really did enjoy meeting a lot of the older JETs though and asking questions about, well, everything. Ohhh, how young and naive i once was...

Afterwards we all went out to Kyoto (obviously the place to be) to an Engrish pub. It was Engrish to the max! A lot of people made it out, and we all had a ball eating our fish 'n chips and drinking gin and tonics and just having a good ol' Engrish time. We proceeded to hit the nearby karaoke bar, where we all rocked out to some awful renditions of assorted Michael Jackson, Queen and Rod Stewart mega hits. I'm not afraid to admit that I salvaged any intergrity we had at the beginning of the night with my table top Billie Jean closer. Terrible dance moves always make up for any vocal deficiencies.

Kyoto

More Kyoto

Saturday: Woke up with an uneasy stomach, totally not from drinking too much, to bloody monsoon season in Japan. Flash floods, however, cannot deter me, so I slogged my way around Otsu looking for anything picture worthy. I found ppleeeeentyyyy, let me tell ya. This is just one I found particularly hilarious. I apologize for my middle school sense of humor
But, come on... how is that not worth a chuckle?

OK now lets get serious. During a break in the cloud cover I stumbled across Midera Temple which is hands down the most beautiful, peaceful place I have ever been. Words can't really do it justice to I'll have to let my pictures and videos do the describing. (Warning: video contains explicit language... I apologize, but I had just climbed like 500 stairs. At least I dropped the f-bomb in a positive way, right???)

^ Lindsey, I thought of you when I saw this. ^

So serene...

spiritual and soggy.

Well, I had intended to upload about 15 more pictures but it takes FOREVER to upload pictures and videos to this thing. I'm thinking I'll have to start up a photobucket account or something for all of my pictures, because I have tons and tons and tons more. I'll look into it and let you guys know what happens.

I had also intended on catching you up to the present, however, I am getting extremely sleepy and intend on waking up early tomorrow to catch the train to Osaka for a quick one-day trip. I am meeting two of my friends, Adam and Diku-nut, from Tokyo orientation in the other big city tomorrow, crashing in a cheap hostel then coming back on Sunday...

So... coming up in the next blog post:
-Train suicides: Tragedies that make everyone else late for work
- John gets a Japanese cell phone, and realizes he has nobody to call :(
- Japanese fireworks shows... way better than any others (sorry fellow Americans)
and much much more...

I love you guys and miss everyone at home (especially my main man marley and his beautiful roommate lindsey). Keep reading and commenting, and I'll do my best to keep posting.
With love from Japan,
John

PS: I apologize, but I just realized that I posted a bunch of really lame pictures. I have about 100 that are better than these. I shall redeem myself, I promise. Give me another chance

quick update

whats up guys?
just wanted to update you on whats been going on. i havent had internet access for the past five or six days, so sorry for the lack of updates. ive been writing some stuff on my computer that ill post when i move into my apartment. i should post something by thursday of this week. i miss you guys and will tell you all about my first week or so in my new home.
much love
john

Tokyo Orientation: Day 1

Boooyakashahh!
I've been in Tokyo for about 28 hours now, and STILL haven't left the hotel. It's kind of depressing when I think about it, but I've been so caught up meeting people, running around to lectures and taking cat naps to really do anything around the city. Actually, I should be at a mind-blowing Basement Jaxx aftershow RIGHT NOW, but I decided to hit the snooze button on my alarm clock about 10 times too many and woke up at 1:30 AM, instead of 9 PM, like I had intended. This jet lag is really messing with my bucket list. OHHHH WELLLLL... (I probably wouldn't be so apathetic if I wasn't so tired).

So, since I really haven't been out in real Japan yet, I can't tell you much about my first impressions. From what I was able to see out the bus windows from the airport and out my hotel room window now, Tokyo is a very big, asian city. Insightful, eh? Fear not, however, because I haven't completely wasted my first day in Japan. Here's a rundown of what's been happening:

-Arrived at Narita Airport at around 5pm, where we slogged through the customs procedure.
After we'd gathered our bags we were greeted by a line of purple-clad Tokyo Orientation Assistants showing us to our buses. There was literally one assistant every five feet halfway through Narita, ensuring that nobody, NOBODY, could ever possibly get lost.

-Took a hour and a half bus ride to the Keio Plaza Hotel in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo, where we're having orientation activities. It's really, really nice and there are JETs everywhere. I think there are about 800 new JETs at this orientation, which will be followed by another orientation next week with a smaller number of participants. Bought some noodles of some sort and pizza chips, my first totally blind Japanese purchase! I had no idea what the lady was saying to me, but I said my "arigato's" and chowed down. They were actually pretty good, and when I finished I packed it in for the night. I woke up at 5AM sharp, which seems to be pretty common among people from the states. I guess I'm used to sleeping in until 3PM at home... (not all the time, right Lindsey?) Had a busy day and here's about how it went down.

Timeline of today's orientation activities:
7-8:30 - Breakfast: Delicious, mostly because they served french fries with our eggs and bacon. Just what Americans expect to start out a day in Japan!
9-10 - Prefectural Introduction: We met with an adviser and all the new JETs going to live in our respective prefectures. I met some very cool people, many of whom I will be spending lots of time with over the next year. From what I can tell, I feel pretty lucky about the people I'll be forced to be friends with.
10-11 - Opening Ceremony: Lots of pomp and circumstance, which I guess is pretty typical in Japan, with very little actually said or done. I guess we got a few good pointers about bowing, etc., but I'm pretty sure I could have picked up on the nuiances myself.
11-12 Keynote Address about Culture Shock: Surprisingly hilarious. The guy from the JET intro DVD, Steve, gave the address and really livened up a pretty stuffy room. He kind of creeped me out when he narrated the video (mom, i think you watched it with me), but he did a really great job of giving some quality information while making a lot of people feel a lot more comfortable. I've had the culture shock lecture a few times already, but this was definitely the most entertaining and least likely to induce napping.
12-1:15 Lunch: Again, delicious. This time some vegetarian chickpea curry and soup. The food hasn't really been Japanese yet... maybe they're trying to ease us into this new culture thing
Afternoon: Spent going to various lectures about education and teaching methods, food and cooking information and travel tips for domestic and international travel. I made sure to attend the food and cooking presentation, because eating is probably my favorite thing to do, and here I have absolutely no idea what I'm eating. It was kind of disappointing, unfortunately. All I really learned was that natto (slimy, fermented soy bean strings) is disgusting (noooo, really???) and that Japan has 7-11's, AM/PM's and Circle K's. The teaching methods and travel lectures were a lot more informative, though, so I don't feel too bad about wasting my afternoon inside. We got to look at a typical day in a Japanese high school, which was pretty interesting and pertinent since I'll be going there every day in a short time. I also gleaned alot of travel tips on how to get the best deals on airfare, busfare, ferryfare, etc. I'm going to do as much travelling as I possibly can, hopefully without spending all of my money. I'm working on a list of places to go, which I'll share with you at some point so maybe I can get some feedback.

Evening - Welcome Reception: Pretty much just dinner with no chairs. I think they made us stand up so that we wouldn't fall asleep while eating. We were organized by prefecture, so I got to meet a lot more people from around my area and have some more very tasty food. I didn't stay for long, though, because I was feeling loopy and completely beat and wanted to be rested up for the face-melting show I was planning to go see. I came back to my room, conked out and woke up about 20 minutes ago, pretty disappointed to miss the show but $65 richer and feeling slightly human again. I kinda wish the show had started at 2 AM, because I'm wide awake now.

Here are a few pictures and a video tour of my hotel room I did for you this afternoon. I shot the video without placing any real thought into my approach, so excuse it's poor direction. I just really wanted to show you the toilet!

Welcome sign in the hotel lobby

Main entrance of the Keio Plaza Hotel

Slippers: Size 5. My feet: Size 13

Hotel Lobby

World clock in hotel lobby

Hotel art

Morning welcome/Opening ceremony

My "welcome to Shiga prefecture" package. Who doesnt love a welcome cookie every now and then?

Dinner reception layout. I was pretty delirious at this point and the shiny silver was beckoning.

We're so multicultural

View from my hotel room

Sadly, I still don't know what this building is. It's big though, and it's right outside my window.

Here's the video clip. Hope it works




I guess that's all for now. I have a pretty busy day tomorrow too, but I am determined to go explore Tokyo and take awesome pictures. After that, it's off to Shiga.

Also, I made sure to allow anonymous comments. Sorry if that was a problem for some of you guys. I didn't even realize they were disabled. I'd love some feedback if you get the chance.
I'll update you either tomorrow, or when I get to Shiga.
Much love,
John

Departure Tomorrow

Yeah, so I realize I haven't updated in a while, but what better time than... THE NIGHT BEFORE I LEAVE!?!?!?

I'm sitting in a hotel in Houston, eagerly awaiting tomorrow morning's flight to Minneapolis, followed the big one all the way to Tokyo. I have plenty of Dramamine, Tylenol PM and a hard drive full of e-books and movies, and some combination of those 4 should entertain me for 14 hours. I had horrible visions of chunky butt neighbors and screaming children on my flight from Dallas to Houston this afternoon, but I'm staying positive and hoping for a peaceful, relaxing trans-Pacific trip.

I really haven't dished out much (any) new information in the past two months or so, but not because I haven't been receiving it. I'll try to catch up gradually with a few facts about my new life in Japan:

-I will be teaching high school english classes to three different grades at Kita Otsu High School in Shiga Prefecture. I will have my own cozy apartment in the city and will ride my bike to and from school and around town. I hear the area has lots of really neat stuff to see, so I should be providing some stellar snapshots of the scintillating scenery.

-Also, to my surprise, I've been hired to teach two beginner level spanish classes at the school. I suppose that my multitalented nature has impressed a few individuals at the Houston Japanese Consulate. My predecessor, who has been a huggggeee help to me, told me that my spanish skills landed me my placement at Kita Otsu. I'm really excited to be teaching these classes and can't help but think about how hilarious some of the pronunciation attempts will be.

-Zach, my predecessor, won't be leaving Japan until a week after I get into town from Tokyo. This means two things. One, I will have, at my disposal, the very man I am expected to fill in for. He will be able to show me, in person, all the best restaurants, pachinko parlors and karaoke joints in the area as well as give me pointers on where to shop etc. This also means, however, that I will not be able to stay in my apartment for my first week in Shiga. Graciously, my supervisor at the high school has offered a place at his home for me to stay. On his property he has a log cabin guesthouse, which will belong to me for my first week here! It sounds rustic-chic... I'll be sure to snap some pics for everyone when the time comes.

So, now that I've dished out some knowledge, I'll tell you about my last few days in America. I spent last night with my family and dearest Lindsey in Edmond, getting everything together and proceeding to absolutely lose it all at the airport this morning (emotionally, not physically). I never really anticipated exactly how hard it would be to say temporary goodbyes to the people I love. But hey, Skype video conferencing definitely eases the pain! Also, mad shout out to my steller little brother Jeff. At 5 PM yesterday, as I was gathering my last few things to pack up, the computer I had just received from my dad decided to wrench my plans and melt down. Representing essentially my only connection to the Western world, a laptop is an essential material possession in my new Japanese existence. Fearing future mania, I freaked out for a while, wondering where the hell I was going to get a new computer in time to leave. In steps Jeff, offering me his pride and joy without hesitation. You da man Jeff! If that ain't love, then I don't know what is! You can direct thanks for this and all future posts to him. Jeff also happens to be the newest member of the Frontier City team! Everyone stop by and toss a few rings on those oversized coke bottles. The man's just trying to make a living...

Sooooo, after the emotional "see ya laters" I zonked out for a few quick flights to DFW then Houston, where I met up with the rest of the JET group from the Houston Consulate. We're an eclectic and interesting bunch, to say the least. Once we all arrived and changed into our business attire, we herded onto a few shuttles and slogged through Houston traffic to the Consulate-General's residence for our pre-departure orientation. In reality it was more reception/dinner/drinking party than orientation, which was just fine with me. All 44 new JET's got to enjoy some delicious sushi and wine while hearing about how wonderful, hilarious and eye-opening our future experiences would be. I managed to tipsily fumble a piece of pie through my chop sticks, off of my clean dress shirt and onto the even cleaner, white carpet floor of the Consulate-General's lavish household. Fortunately, my quick reactions resulted in relatively few condemning glares, minor embarrassment and only slightly noticeable carpet stainage. Not to be outdone, my temporary roommate, Marcus, managed to spill his full glass of wine on the carpet as well, taking the cake for the most nervous, clumsy move of the night.

I love Skype. If you don't have it, get it. If you do have it, my user name is j_hildebrand. Skype me. You could get third priority in my Skype heirarchy. 1) Lindsey 2) family 3) youuuu???

It's getting late, I'm pooped and I have a flight to catch in about 7 hours. I hope this update appeases some of the haters out there in the blogosphere. Just keep in mind folks, those doubting my commitment to this blog are only giving me bulletin-board material for the locker room. I am Ray Lewis (circa 2005) and I will deliver bone-crushing, gut-wrenching blog post hitz.

I'll be hollering at you from the other side of the Pacific next. Peace easy western hemisphere.
Rots of rove,
John

T-minus 2 months

Since this is my first post, I'll start with a brief introduction.  For those of you who don't know, my name is John and I've been accepted to the JET Program starting in August.  JET (Japanese Exchange and Teaching) is a Japanese government-operated program that hires English speakers to work in Japan as language teachers and cultural ambassadors.  There are a few positions for which aspiring JET's can apply, and I've been offered a job as an Assistant English Language Teacher.  I just found out that I've been placed in Shiga Prefecture in central Honshu.  Although I'm sure all of you know exactly where that is, I've included a map for those who didn't take Japanese Geography in school.  Check it out.

Zoom in, shall we?

That large body of water is Lake Biwa, or Biwa-ko, Japaaaaaan's largest freshwater laaaaaaaaake!!!*  I know very little about Shiga aside from the big drink, but since it occupies the much of the prefecture, I can only assume that I already know most of what there is to know about the area.  All kidding aside, I'm looking forward to learning more about where I'm to live and work and will be sure to update you all with any neat factoids I stumble across.

This will be my first time visiting Japan, and while I'm thrilled for the opportunity to live and work somewhere completely foreign to me, I have a few apprehensions.  As of today, I can say the following 5 PG-rated** phrases in Japanese:

1) It's nice weather, isn't it?

2) It's nasty weather, isn't it?

3) I'm American

4) Excuse me, do you speak English?

5) I don't understand Japanese

Yes, they're all fairly useful phrases, but probably won't help me manage my finances and negotiate the conditions of my new cell phone contract.  Needless to say, I'll be spending some serious hours with Japanese for Dummies this summer, feeling very much like a dummy.  If any of you feel like helping or joining me in my struggle let me know.  I'm willing to trade Spanish, cash or booze for Japanese help.  Good deal, act now!

I'll also be pretty bummed to be leaving everyone here in Oklahoma.  A year is a long time to go without seeing a lot of you ladies and slugs.  Therefore, I recommend all of you pool some extra change, buy a boat and sail your slimy selves over to the land of the rising sun.  Just make sure Armon doesn't choose the voyage soundtrack, or you might be hearing "I'm On a Boat" about 10,000 times too many.  Seriously though, I'll miss a lot of my friends, family and other loved ones and can only hope that some of you come sleep on my tatami for a few weeks.  Hopefully at that point I'll be able to negotiate my way out of Japanese jail.  Just in case...

Upon my arrival I'll sign a contract for at least one year, ensuring ample opportunity to share the hilarity resulting from language barriers, cultural misunderstandings and various other factors.  I will also be sure to take many, many pictures which I will post for your viewing pleasure.  I have high hopes for this blog, and I'll try to do a better job updating than I have in my spotty blogging past.  Please, whether you like my blog or despise it, let me know.  Any feedback is better than no feedback, so please, please comment.  It'll earn you some mad karma points, I promise.

I depart for Japan on July 24th.  Until then, I'll update periodically regarding my preparation, or lack thereof.  Practice commenting on the boring posts, so by the time I post something interesting you'll be a seasoned veteran.  I'll leave you with that for now.

Ja mata, ("See you later!")***

John

*To be read aloud ala Michael Scott's description of Sandals Jamaica's pool*

** For those interested in the remainder of my vocabulary, buy a copy of Dirty Japanese or ask me in person.  This is a family-friendly environment (so far)**

***Japanese PG-Rated Phrase #6***