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