Okay, it’s about 5 am and I can’t sleep because so much is on my mind, so I figure I’d take the time to post.
Leaving yesterday was hard. But my family and Leo were wonderful. I really felt blessed that Chris and Marnie were there, going too. I’m not sure I would have been so . . . composed if they hadn’t been there.
Before the flight I hung out with Curi and Marnie, and I also met Leslie (who I call Lindsey in my head, because she looks more like one) and Rana (who was behind us in line and left her husband) and they were awesome to talk to. Rana is going to . . . Nagano? And Leslie is going to . . . Gunma. Before I left I had my last Crown Royal at a nice eatery. It was a good choice, I think.
The first flight I sat next to some girl who will be working in the same prefecture as Marnie. I need to get her name, and I’m sure I will before the orientation is over, I mean, she is working in the same prefecture as Marnie. The first flight took over a hour to get off the ground because we were over weight. Towards the end of the hour they were offering 2 free domestic plane tickets for anyone who wanted to take a later flight. Too bad we couldn’t volunteer.
The second flight was actually delayed because we (the 63 of us) were running late, so we had time to grab a water bottle and a small snack (Butterfingers and a Reese’s Big Cup, I ate half of the Butterfinger, and I’m saving the Big Cup). The second flight was not as pleasant as the first. Mostly because it was long and boring. I finished my first book about 2 hours in, and the only reason I didn’t finish my 2nd was because I was determinately trying to sleep. I shut my eyes for about 6 hours total, I probably slept about an hour of that. The turbulence wasn’t very bad, but the stuardess was . . . unpleasant. And the landing took forever. Not the coming down part, that only took an extra ten minutes, I mean when we sent down the plane just refused to stop. Nothing was wrong, it was just harrowing.
The Narita airport is wonderful. They have these wonderful luggage carts that can go up escalators! There were tons of teal shirts to meet us and (so far as I know) no one got lost. We sent our luggage ahead to our host institutions, and I remembered enough Japanese to ask for a girl who didn’t speak any, if that was all of the luggage coming off the plane and that her bags weren’t there. She was told (at the desk that spoke English) that they should arrive by Tuesday. I really hope it all works out for her.
The bus was pleasant, and they gave us water :) and it had a bathroom! It took around 2 hours to get to Tokyo, and we drove past Tokyo Disney. All of the cars on the road seemed to have GPS in them :P. Rebecca was our “tour guide,” the current JET who went over the orientation schedule with us and answered our questions.
At the Keio Plaza hotel, they were all really nice and gave us more material than we can possibly fit into our bags, but whatever. It’s full of some teaching materials, a US map, calendars, postcards, etc. All in all really nice. I took a shower :D
We Leslie, Curi and I went out to find curry and only had to walk about 2 and a half blocks to find it. Spicer than I usually like, and a HUGE portion for only 350Y (I didn’t eat it all), but it was great. Later I walked Marnie to the same curry place, as she was the one who put it in my head, and she was positively loopy with all of the issues that happened before she left.
When I got back I found out that an organization called AJET had set up free Skype calls to home (5 min per), so I called home and no one picked up, but Mom picked up her cell.
And then bed. We have a full plate today, so I guess I should try to get some more sleep. I’ll talk again when I can.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Okay, so it's been a minute
But I've been productive. I've gone through all of my clothing and come up with 3 bags to try to sell. I've pulled out 5 boxes of books from my shelves and sold about half of them. I've pulled out about 2 boxes of manga and sold 15 of them. My mom is going to help me put the rest online and try to sell them, even if some of them don't sell until after I leave, I'm going to get something for them. I figure since I theoretically have "enough" money for that first month, whatever I make from these sales can go towards my scooter or my electronic dictionary I want. The fact that both are about the same cost should tell you something. Really good dictionary, really cheap scooter.
I've also been cleaning and packing more. Yesterday I spent the whole day packing and unpacking (from when I moved here in the first place). I found a dream catcher that I was half-finished with and finished it while watching The Devil Wears Prada and Minority Report on TV. So I can give it to the person that I intended it for in the first place. I feel really bad that it took me this long to finish it. While I was cleaning I was listening to Harry Potter 6 on cd. To get me ready for book 7. I have no idea how I'm going to have a motorcycle class, and read a book at the same time, but I really want to eat this one. I'm so worried someone is going to say something. I will drop off the face of the earth from the time I get that book in my hands and the time I finish it.
Oooo, I'm watching Nothing But Trailers on HD Net, there's a new movie by the crators of Ongbak coming out called Dynamite Warrior. Ongbak is only one of the best asian action films of the decade. Happiness.
We went to see Transformers, and I liked it so much that I took my sister to it about a week later. And I want to take my dad to it when he gets back from New Jersey. Mom had a reading recovery conferance in Baltimore and they decided to make a vaction out if it and spend an extra few days with Grandma and Grandpa. Hopefully they'll bring me pictures. It has meant that I've been spending some time with Natalie which is cool. The plan for spending even more time with her is that we'll be staying up til midnight the day the Harry Potter book comes out and getting one copy, then we'll be reading together that morning until the other book we've ordered in the mail comes at which point we'll race to see who finishes first. Depending on how much time I have to study for my motorcycle class, and how long the class itself is, I may not win. If it was straight reading, I know I read faster, but as it is with that weekend being booked . . .
Other than that, I've just been trying to get everything in order for the time I leave. And spending loads of time with those I love. Not nearly enough time with my friends, but everyone has busy schedules, so.
Gods, there is still so much to do.
I've also been cleaning and packing more. Yesterday I spent the whole day packing and unpacking (from when I moved here in the first place). I found a dream catcher that I was half-finished with and finished it while watching The Devil Wears Prada and Minority Report on TV. So I can give it to the person that I intended it for in the first place. I feel really bad that it took me this long to finish it. While I was cleaning I was listening to Harry Potter 6 on cd. To get me ready for book 7. I have no idea how I'm going to have a motorcycle class, and read a book at the same time, but I really want to eat this one. I'm so worried someone is going to say something. I will drop off the face of the earth from the time I get that book in my hands and the time I finish it.
Oooo, I'm watching Nothing But Trailers on HD Net, there's a new movie by the crators of Ongbak coming out called Dynamite Warrior. Ongbak is only one of the best asian action films of the decade. Happiness.
We went to see Transformers, and I liked it so much that I took my sister to it about a week later. And I want to take my dad to it when he gets back from New Jersey. Mom had a reading recovery conferance in Baltimore and they decided to make a vaction out if it and spend an extra few days with Grandma and Grandpa. Hopefully they'll bring me pictures. It has meant that I've been spending some time with Natalie which is cool. The plan for spending even more time with her is that we'll be staying up til midnight the day the Harry Potter book comes out and getting one copy, then we'll be reading together that morning until the other book we've ordered in the mail comes at which point we'll race to see who finishes first. Depending on how much time I have to study for my motorcycle class, and how long the class itself is, I may not win. If it was straight reading, I know I read faster, but as it is with that weekend being booked . . .
Other than that, I've just been trying to get everything in order for the time I leave. And spending loads of time with those I love. Not nearly enough time with my friends, but everyone has busy schedules, so.
Gods, there is still so much to do.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
4th of July and the day after
Yesterday started with a trip with Chris to the mall to find her a few pairs of Niigata workpants. I found inadvertantly found some unmentionables, bathing suit bottoms, and a sundress. All on happily patriotic sales. I paid less for everything than the dress itself was worth by itself. :)
After the shopping spree, which lasted only 2 hours, we came home. I watched Matrix Revolutions on HBO or some movie channel, and tried to compose a letter to my supervisor. The english part took about 10 min. I just finished and sent off the bilingual email a few minutes ago. It took me 2 hours to get it to the point that I sent it to Chris and Marnie to look at. I hate being so sucky at Japanese, because all of the suggestions they gave me I understood, but they've been in language classes more recently than I have, so they remember the grammar better. And I only had to look up about 5 of the kanji they used. Not too bad. The reason I had trouble with this email was that I got my contract. Which is awesome. It said I would be working in 5 junior high schools, which if you've been paying attention, Nick, my pred. told me I'd be working in 5 elementary schools. Either way is groovy, (you know me), but I'd really like to know before I get there and different mental thought goes into the preparation of classes and whatnot. Ie: my wishlist would be different for stuff I need because of the different level of mental growth and english proficiency. Hopefully she or Nick will reply back soon.
After banging my head into the perverbial wall we went over to Kay and Charles's house for grilling and party-type atmosphere. There were only 7 of us there, and it was really nice and laid back. Charlie cooked the meat while Kay made a cobbler and taught me how to do it. I'm thinking it would be a great southern food to make for my kids in Miyako. It's really easy. 1 cup four, sugar, water, 1 stick of butter, however much fruit you want in it. All I would need to do is find someone with an oven. Which may be difficult.
We lit fireworks in the street (they live on a culdusac) after it got dark, I played with my favorite (sparklers). And I got some nice pictures of people and fireworks, which I should be able to show to my classes when we talk about holidays.
But on to today. Today is July 5th, which is my anniversery. So Leo and I have tickets to see Transformers, then he highered a driver to take us out to dinner. Our reservation is at 8:15, which is really late for dinner, but it's at this really, really, really nice place called Pano's and Paul's. It should be fun.
After the shopping spree, which lasted only 2 hours, we came home. I watched Matrix Revolutions on HBO or some movie channel, and tried to compose a letter to my supervisor. The english part took about 10 min. I just finished and sent off the bilingual email a few minutes ago. It took me 2 hours to get it to the point that I sent it to Chris and Marnie to look at. I hate being so sucky at Japanese, because all of the suggestions they gave me I understood, but they've been in language classes more recently than I have, so they remember the grammar better. And I only had to look up about 5 of the kanji they used. Not too bad. The reason I had trouble with this email was that I got my contract. Which is awesome. It said I would be working in 5 junior high schools, which if you've been paying attention, Nick, my pred. told me I'd be working in 5 elementary schools. Either way is groovy, (you know me), but I'd really like to know before I get there and different mental thought goes into the preparation of classes and whatnot. Ie: my wishlist would be different for stuff I need because of the different level of mental growth and english proficiency. Hopefully she or Nick will reply back soon.
After banging my head into the perverbial wall we went over to Kay and Charles's house for grilling and party-type atmosphere. There were only 7 of us there, and it was really nice and laid back. Charlie cooked the meat while Kay made a cobbler and taught me how to do it. I'm thinking it would be a great southern food to make for my kids in Miyako. It's really easy. 1 cup four, sugar, water, 1 stick of butter, however much fruit you want in it. All I would need to do is find someone with an oven. Which may be difficult.
We lit fireworks in the street (they live on a culdusac) after it got dark, I played with my favorite (sparklers). And I got some nice pictures of people and fireworks, which I should be able to show to my classes when we talk about holidays.
But on to today. Today is July 5th, which is my anniversery. So Leo and I have tickets to see Transformers, then he highered a driver to take us out to dinner. Our reservation is at 8:15, which is really late for dinner, but it's at this really, really, really nice place called Pano's and Paul's. It should be fun.
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