The swelling on my eye finally went down. I spent yesterday marathoning Supernatural with a cool washcloth over my eye. M drove down from Nanmoku and I showed her my place. We went to the second hand store together and I got a vacuum! I was also rather tempted by the ovens they had there. It may be a future purchase. I miss baking and making casseroles! Though Ichigo-sensei told me I could ask the home ec teacher if I could use the school’s ovens. The second hand store was very clean and organized. Things were in really good shape.

We then went to Beisa and thoroughly impressed M. I bought a couple things for the house including a bread knife, yay. Got my hands on this week’s groceries. It was fun shopping with someone again finally. We stopped by a bakery on the way back, but it was closed. Then we hung out and drank tea!  A lovely afternoon. Spent a lot of money. All that cash and now I have to go to the atm again…

Attacked again in the middle of the night. 2:30 am wakeup call this time.  Two mosquitoes were vanquished. I think my screen was slightly cracked open this morning when I checked. I’d fixed that before and the attacks stopped so I think it’s the same culprit. But since it was the middle of the night, I just ended up closing my windows and doors. It was already cool inside. The one bit me on my eyelid. It had already swollen a bit so I applied some Benadryl. In the morning though, my whole eye was almost swollen shut. It looked like I had been punched. Perfect for the first day.

First day of classes for me! Managed to print/copy everything in time. But we were slightly late to the first class because we also had to carry a projector and screen. Then I ran out of paper for nametags and we also needed the extension cord so Ichigo-sensei went back to the staffroom and got it. Otherwise class went smoothly. I’ve already adjusted the lesson. No nervousness, yay. Beat that in Czech Republic I guess. The second years are quite enjoyable. I felt they understood more and laughed a lot at my jokes. The first years were quiet. I hope they open up soon! There was one girl in the second year class who spoke English smoothly. Wow.

I met up with K for dinner by the silk mill gate. We wondered around a bit, but not many places were open. We ended up at a place called Mirai. It seemed rather popular as many people came in and out as we were there. K asked if we could sit anywhere, but they wanted us at the bar. We were served something in a small dish. No idea what it was except the wasabi, maybe a bit of tuna? It was in some frothy white stuff. Very hard to eat with chopsticks! We tried to decipher the menu, but K only recognized the words for French fries and google translate was only sorta working. He ended up just asking for some meat things for himself, yakitori and sashimi for me. The waitress worked with our minimal words.

We got asked some questions about where we working/living. Nice conversation. The waitress had an old classmate there at the same time who had done a homestay in America. We talked briefly with her too. The sashimi was amazing. Melted in my mouth. Salmon was the best, but I also had tuna and some other white fish. He even gave us some extra on the house. Despite being quite expensive (the norm for sashimi), I’d definitely go back! I wish I had understood more of the menu though. Must work hard on my Japanese!

Fog in the mountains this morning

Last night, I had an evil visit from a mosquito. I don’t understand how I’ve gone really long without letting one in and then that changed so suddenly. I woke up at 3:30 am to the whine of a mosquito. Luckily I kept my mosquito killing wits about me: promptly leaped out of bed, grabbed my glasses, turned on the light and shut my door. It was sitting there on the wall where I smashed it…and got blood smears all over. Clearly it had feasted well. Three vampiric bites on my neck, one on my forehead and hand.

Still haven’t gotten computer access at school…so I wasn’t able to print stuff for my classes yet. I keep forgetting to remind Ichigo-sensei. I’ll just have to come in early tomorrow to get stuff settled before my four classes in a row.

I used my card at the JP post atm, testing it out. It worked just fine and wham I have the first bits of my self-earned yen in my hand. That evening I had to bike about 2.5 km away to get to my Japanese classes. They are held at the learning center by the library for two hours and are free. It’s all run by volunteers some of which are from Tomioka International Exchange and some are my students! I forgot to bring my textbook but we covered a lot of useful vocab. Seems like a very sweet group. K and I are the only Westerners but there are some others from Philippines and SE Asia I think. We even got tea/juice and snacks at the end.

Ichigo-sensei brought me a cheese edamame bun from her favorite bakery yesterday. It was delicious. I really need to go there and buy some bread! So sweet of her. I also found out today that she is the disciplinary head at the moment as the usual teacher is currently hospitalized. That means she’s the scary teacher that yells at the girls when they do something wrong, ha. Good thing our school is calm and well-behaved.

First day of school selfie

Today was the first day of school which means I had to wear my suit again as I’m introducing myself to the whole student body. I got so many stares, giggles, and woahhh sounds followed with height gestures haha. Plenty of good mornings as well. We had the teacher’s meeting where I had to introduce myself in Japanese to the full staffroom this time. Lots of announcements plus some positive things where we clapped. Club achievements maybe for some of them? Then it was cleaning time. Every morning 40 minutes is allotted for students to clean their assigned area. I accompanied Ichigo-sensei to the entrance hall where she was assigned. The students took these small brooms and swept the hall, as well as a mop to grab extra dirt and dust. They cleaned on top of the shoe lockers as well.

At the entrance, you have umbrella racks. Most places have these, i.e. when I go to the convenience store I leave mine there. It’s polite not to carry a dripping umbrella through a building. When they were done cleaning, they had a log/attendance book that had to be signed to prove each student did their share. No janitors here, they clean everything. Afterward, we headed to the gym for the opening ceremony. The inside of the gym requires different indoor shoes, your indoor sneakers. I had to switch into guest slippers there. The students just walked around in their socks. There are about 400 hundred students. They lined up in neat rows and then sat down.

We all stood and bowed as the ceremony begun. Our principal handed out some awards first. All the girls were so quiet and serious. No whispering! The quietest assembly I’ve ever been to. A lot of bowing was involved and speeches by the principal and Ichigo-sensei. Kocho-sensei  introduced me and finally we got some reactions when he mentioned my family’s height. Dustin being 2 m, and Sophia almost the same really got some responses. I then gave my speech slowly and clearly (I hope!) in English. A tough crowd, no laughs at my jokes, but some smiles. It was rough.

No backpacks or school bags carried inside school, but also no lockers. I think everything might be kept in the classroom, but I’ll see soon. After school, all the students poured into the staff room, many carrying stacks of exam books and summer homework for the teachers.

Students start walking to school by themselves as first graders. Much more independence like Germany than USA in that sense. They all wear identifying yellow caps so that everyone knows they are first graders. So cute.

A much cooler day! A high of 80. Today, Ichigo-sensei drove me up to my visit school in Shimonita. It was a pretty drive. We passed this hill covered with lots of pink flowering trees (crepe myrtle?). There were plenty of hydrangeas as well. Apparently it’s famous earlier in the summer, the blue hill. I want to see it next year!

I got to wear the slip sliding guest slippers again. Stairs are such a challenge. I met one of my JTEs there, E-sensei. She’s my age and so friendly. She actually lives in Tomioka too, so I hope we can do some things together. The atmosphere was very relaxed there. The school building is actually newer than my base school. They even had white boards! I met some of my students as well. Almost no English spoken, but they seemed eager and nice. E-sensei took me to meet some of the basketball team as well. One of the guys there was taller than me, haha. She definitely helped me feel at ease. I also briefly met the principal who seemed kind and friendly. She then showed me how to get to the train station from school and I rode back to Tomioka. Apparently, I was supposed to spend the whole day there, but I didn’t know that ahead of time so I hadn’t brought my laptop.

I got off at a new stop, the one that leads to the silk mill. Such a nice station. Everything brand new and full of tourist stuff. Plus some signs in English! After I returned, Ichigo-sensei helped me a lot with all my Japanese trouble. So thankful! I asked her about my internet info where she said my service didn’t start till the 23^rd. She also said the bank info was about setting up online banking. It was a complicated process, all that extra security precautions. But, I have internet banking! Which also means I can send money aka rent via online instead of visiting an ATM every time. She called about my delivery too, and ensured they had the right address and would deliver it when I was home today.

I attempted to make it further in the wifi installation process. I found another guide on the internet and figured out what I was missing was ‘user’ was the username… I managed to get to the settings page in which I click some random buttons and changed my wifi name and password. My internet still wasn’t connecting through, cries. I think I’ve figured out I still need one more piece of paper from my ISP provider. The internet is so close I can taste it.

Meanwhile, my package came with my manga! Got my special 07-Ghost and Battle Rabbits crossover card too. Such pretty color pages. I added the card to my wall o’things. Anything to get this place more decorated.

I decided to stay home and wait for my package to be delivered. Nice lazy Sunday. When I later checked the tracking number, it said they tried to deliver, but no response! They never rang my doorbell… Shortly before 4 pm, I headed off to my pizza making party in the next town over, Kanra. Google maps gave a scenic route option. I went behind my apartment into some paths among so many fields and farmland. I had to frequent check my gps, which is not accurate and jumps all over the place. The compass arrow always faces in the wrong direction. Somehow I managed. It led me down this steep path by a river dam. The path was overgrown and narrow, and then promptly disappeared into a field. I cut across back onto a road, and then over the bridge. The river is quite pretty. I saw some more white egrets/cranes. I’ve seen so many of them since coming here! Especially when passing rice fields, there were six of them!

Eventually I ended back up on a main road and found my destination. There are not a lot of sidewalks so I drove on the really narrow roads. People gave me plenty of passing space though. I really want to get a helmet because it makes me nervous. The ALT had a whole house, very traditionally Japanese. We made pizzas in her oven/microwave. It was a good, filling night. So much delicious food. We had cookies, chips, and even vegan chocolate cake!

It was already quite dark when I left so I decided to stick with the main roads. Better lit and less confusing ha. My bike light in the front works automatically, but I need to get batteries for the back light. The first part of the journey was kinda harrowing because the sidewalk was covered with plants growing up through the cracks. A bit of dodging was required. I made it home well enough and much more quickly than the ride there.

I hung around just in case something else was going to be delivered, and yes, apparently I had another thing from the bank that I had to sign for. So much mail, hah. I couldn’t make head or tails of the bank letter so I’ll leave it for Ichigo-sensei. I also ordered a manga and it accepted my foreign credit card. I didn’t want to figure out how to do pay on delivery or convinced store payment yet. I tried using Yahoo! Wallet but it also need a Japanese credit card, or you could link your bank account with some forms. I may try this later.

I did some more laundry and had to wash my backpack since it had really started smelling like sweat, ew. Then I wanted to go shopping, but my backpack was still wet. I decided to take my bike since it has two baskets although I know the ride back is all uphill. I headed into my first Japanese drugstore, woah. I managed to find the brand of what I wanted. I gave up on finding lotion though because they all looked too fancy and expensive. I don’t know if I was looking in the wrong section. Overwhelmingly a lot of labeled things I couldn’t understand. I briefly checked the hair section too, and nothing for curly locks even though they have Pantene. It seems like I’ll be ordering conditioner and shampoo online.

Next I went to Daiso, the hundred yen shop aka dollar store. But so much better than a lot of the junk you can find at dollar stores. I ended up getting a plate, a candle, a knife, a bamboo spatula, an oven mitt, a placemat, some letter décor tape, and some brushes and canvas. They carry household items from cleaning to decoration, gardening things, art supplies. I almost got some wall decals, but I think I’d rather paint things to put on the wall. Need to track down some ink and rice paper too. Everything was written in English as well as Japanese. I greatly appreciated it.

After stuffing all my stuff into the bags I brought, I left them on my bike (the safety of Japan) and went into the supermarket, Fressay. I promptly cried at the sight of my bill at the end, haha. I will easily spend $50 a week on groceries here. I gave up on my hunt for fruit chunk less yogurt and just bought vanilla. I did buy more eggplant from the local produce section, so cheap ($1.30 for three small ones) and yummy. Apples are four for $7 on the other hand. I actually bought some fish (salmon, the only one I recognized). I’m kinda tempted to try the mussels or clams they sell as well. I also found brown rice which was exciting! It had “germinated brown rice” written on it in English so I felt pretty confident in buying it. I somehow managed to fit it all on my bike and make it home. Bringing back the old skills from bike grocery shopping in Germany.

Around 3 pm, I headed to the train station to catch a train into Takasaki. I had plans to go with K and some other ALTs and Japanese people to a candle festival called Kannonyama Mandoue. K and I sat apart on the train, as it was so full. This time, there was no station attendant to buy a ticket from. I had to take a ticket from a dispenser on the train with my stop number written on it. There’s a screen overhead that counts up how much you owe if you get off at the current stop. After arriving in Takasaki, we had to pay one of two attendants there. K and I had about 30 minutes to kill so we checked out the station. Saw Starbucks again, got a free sample, yum! Went by the mall inside with Uniqulo. So many cute Japanese clothes shops. All with English names and looking quite expensive. We also saw the food court, a bookstore, and a Gunma-chan shop, plus an area where they sell traditional Gunma meals and food. A beautiful cake bakery was there too! (Need to find a local ones.) Not that cheap though, about $3 for a slice. 

We were generously picked up by a Japanese Facebook acquaintance. He was nice and very informative. We met up with the two other ALTs, one of which I knew, and carpooled with him to a grocery store parking lot. Some more of his Japanese friends joined us and off we went. We walked for a bit till we got to a huge amount of stone steps leading up to a temple. There were candles lining both sides of the stairs and many people! I believe we climbed 500 steps. At the temple, there was a shamisen group playing. We picked up a map and got our first station stamp. There was free water, and other drinks and food being sold. We headed off along the path, following the candles. The next area was open with candles laid in many different shapes on the ground. Some special dances were performed with music. Very interesting! There were many more food stands here. I tried yakiniku which is a meat kabob. The meat can be a mystery, but this one was all chicken. They were even selling Döner.

I got my second stamp and we headed off on a longer walk to the next station at Kannonyama, a huge statue that you can see looking over Takasaki. We passed all these old shops selling things like shaved ice, daruyama dolls, and other traditional figurines and items. Such cool light decorations, candles, and people everywhere! At the temple by the statue, there was another stage set up and music was performed by some Hawaiian shirted men later. More food and drink stands. I bought a glow in the dark bracelet as entrance to the statue and climbed another 176 stairs to the top. It was so hot inside! I could get my next stamp at the top! You had an impressive view of Takasaki as well through tiny peephole windows.

As we headed off to station four, it started to rain. This time, I was prepared! I wasn’t going to repeat the fire festival mistake again. I checked the weather beforehand and brought a raincoat. J, one of the other ALTs, and I made it to the end to get the final stamp. We got to choose between two prizes, cereal or a little robot toy. I got the robot. The small cereal box would be a little hard to carry back ha. We then headed back down the mountain. A couple of the others bought some umbrellas and I kindly had an umbrella shared with me although I didn’t need one. Most of the candles were extinguished by the rain so the climb back down those stairs was a bit risky. I ended up using my phone’s flashlight. Much too slippery.

After we were dropped off at the train station, K and I got some udon from the food court. He did a solid job of ordering for us both. So cheap, $2.90. It was yummy and warming. He went off to the arcade as I ended back to Tomioka on the 9:50 pm train. This time when disembarking, I had to show my ticket to the driver as there was no station attendant.

Arrived home to another packaged missed notice. I finally went and downloaded a QR code reader as the codes are everywhere here! I could then follow the code on my delivery slip to the JP website so that I could reschedule the delivery for the next morning. Success. Just had to put in my phone number.

At 8 pm, my doorbell rang. It was the mailman! They come multiple times per day and up to 10 pm in the evening too! So dedicated. They zoom around on their motorbikes with a giant mail box crate on the back. He delivered my router! So I guess I didn’t need to reschedule my mail delivery after all. They just tried again on their own.

Then I attempted to figure out my mail from NTT which was about my internet. A lot of google image translating was involved. Something about Sunday and Sept 1^st was important, but I figured I’d just ask my JTE on Monday. I think they were going to install it Sunday? But I just went ahead and connected all my fiber optic cables to the router. It’s rather interesting, I have a disk that plugs in the top of the router. Soooo many long cables (which I thought decreases your speed?). Anyway, the internet showed up and I spent time trying to decipher the instructions with my best buddy, Google, and the helpfully included pictures. I finally got to another log in page asking for some random user name…Tried many things and nothing worked so I’ll have to wait. It might be the ISP provider’s side? I didn’t get anything from them in the mail.

Played some interesting language games today. One of the office workers from the “gim” (front office) needed me to come downstairs. They don’t speak any English ha. She was asking me about my certificate of residency for the tax paperwork she was filling out. The paperwork was in English and Japanese and super confusing as per usual with tax things. I guess I should have only given her one residency paper for 2014, and kept the 2015 one for next year. Had to sign some stuff as well. I think with few words and gestures, we understood each other. The head of the office kept laughing next to me. I guess it was pretty entertaining, ha.

Then I had to go to the post office after school. I got a notice in my mail box saying that I missed something. The post office is close to my school. Apparently the post services window is one small box right after you enter next to the atm. I went into the wrong section that probably deals with their banking service? It took the guy a good chunk of time to find my tiny envelope. He then asked me for something, but I have no idea what! I thought he might be asking for ID so I showed him my residence card. He seemed surprised (?), but used it to check my name and address on the envelope. I signed my receipt to the second oooo sound of the day. My signature seems to be impressive, ha.

While making dinner, I realized that instead of buying regular beans, I bought sweetened bean paste… My corn was very salty as well. Shopping is such a guessing game. I’ve been attempting to find a thicker yogurt, they are all so runny, and ones without any chunks! Also failing at this. Deliberated on how to place out my paper trash for tomorrow and gave up. I think I will have to ask tomorrow at school. I don’t know if you separate the paper into different piles like in the pictures on my trash guide or not. I have never thought about trash as much as I do here.

Finally managed to call home before I went to bed, yay! Line barely takes any data at all even for calling. It’s so nice.

Lazy day for me. It was raining when I woke up. I ended up dozing around, and no sun actually helped me sleep in! So cool and refreshing! First cooler day here. I actually did the dishes, whee, and figured out how to clean out my nasty sink drain. It was smelly, rusted, and old. I found a shiny, new replacement under the sink and I switched them out in a heartbeat. I cooked a proper meal for dinner, moussaka (eggplants are in season), using my tiny toaster oven and a small ovenware dish. It actually worked decently well. I hate cooking with gas though because it is so hot! Plus, I always have to remember to turn the gas off in the end, whoops. One of my hot plate sides didn’t seem to work, but I finally got it with some jiggling. Tried cheesecake kit-kats. Not bad. They remind me of the lemon white chocolate Ritter Sport. I have the dark chocolate ones to try next. Before I went to sleep, I had some fireworks again! These were much closer and clearer. So nice. I could hear some neighbor kids enjoying them as well.

Today was the day my IIJmio sim card was to arrive! (Or at least according to tracking.) I woke up at a lovely hour of 6 am and read for several hours. After my shower I was using a 15 min free wifi trial (twice per day is okay!) when at 10 am the doorbell rang. Kuroneko Yamoto delivery service was here! I signed for the package, and he had me confirm it was the right thing. Okay is one word I can say. I guess a signature was okay as well although there is no Japanese equivalent. I had to print out my name at city hall.

I ripped that sucker open and popped the sim card in my phone. Sadly the instructions were all in Japanese. NTT Docomo showed up in the corner, confirming service. I tried turning on the mobile data, but nothing happened, boo. So I had to use google translate with chrome to locate a web version of the instructions. Apparently the IIJmio mobile network did not show up in my list so I had to manually add the APN. Not too difficult. Then I got internet for a minute before it stopped working, cries. Two hours later I get the brilliant idea to restart my phone…and bam, everything works. 4G LTE speed too! Take that all those people who said it’s quite likely your US phone won’t work in Japan or work more slowly.

Now that my phone was here, the day stretched in front of me. I desperately needed to go grocery shopping so I headed off on foot with my backpack and extra bags. The nearest store, Fressay, was about a 15 minute walk. There was a drug store and a 100 yen shop in the same complex, but I didn’t go in on this trip. Next time! I need some house décor. I took a hand basket and place it on top of a little cart and began wandering. Most is a lot of random guessing. For example, I wanted to buy real butter, so you can guess by prices and pictures as to what you really want. There’s a lot of food sections that I don’t even know how to cook with. So much fish too! The bread makes me cry though, only white or sweet stuff. At the checkout, you just place your basket on the counter and the cashier transfers everything to the next basket.

For a country that is so obsessed with sorting trash, they are incredibly wasteful. Everything is wrapped in plastic or individually wrapped. The eggplants I bought? Wrapped in plastic. The bananas? Also wrapped in plastic. I had just placed an onion in my cart, like I did in Czech Republic. I almost never plastic bagged my individual items there. The cashier said something and pulled out an extra plastic baggie to put my onion in. Sigh. I did spot another Westerner there, while checking out. I wondered if she’s another ALT. The walk back was hot, per usual. I bought some melon bread to try, and nope, it’s not for me. The bun part was good, but the melon paste too sweet. So much stuff in Japan has sugar in it. The salad dressing I bought? Also sweet!

Nanmoku Village

At about 4 pm, I caught the train with K up to Shimonita. We were planning on meeting M at the train station and she would drive us back to her village for the fire festival that night. The train ride up into the mountains was amazing. We were moving along a huge ravine where the river flowed through. Such a narrow track as well, bushes and trees on both sides. We exited at Shimonita only to feel raindrops! Noooo, neither of us had brought an umbrella. Hopefully, it’d only drizzle. We walked a little bit around the train station before M arrived. Beautiful views of the mountain, mist, and river. I’ll have to check it out further once I start teaching at their high school.

The drive to Nanmoku Village didn’t take more than 15-20 minutes. M’s village stretched out quite long, snuggly nestled amongst the mountains. She drove us to her house so that we could walk from there to the festival. She has a lovely location on the side of a mountain and across a river. She can fall asleep to its rushing. We got a grand tour of her place, but luckily didn’t spot Malcom, her mukade. She has a really big place, but definitely a little older than mine. It was super cute and homey. We headed off to walk over to the festival. We ended up following a small group of people. It had stopped raining at this point. The walk took about 15 minutes. There were lots of people with umbrellas set up. Several down in the river bed. Apparently the display would take place on a bridge. There were some food stands selling cold udon, drinks, and some type of chilled tomato?? We saw lots of M’s students and teachers.

We crossed the bridge and heading down towards the river. We ended up meeting the other ALTs that had planned to visit. As we stood there, the drizzle recommenced. We moved under some branches to seek shelter. It didn’t help though, because the sky got super gray and it really started raining on us. I stuck my camera under shirts and bent over to try to protect it and my purse. M and I felt pretty stupid that we had forgotten to grab her raincoat and umbrella when we had stopped at her house. It was wet. Really wet. I got quite soaked through, my second shower of the day. Eventually M and I decided to seek shelter somewhere because it didn’t look like the rain was giving up. All the bug spray I had applied earlier, washed off.

We crossed the bridge and headed for the shrine’s gateway. The people there shifted around and made space for us. Thus we passed a good chunk of time. It was at least pretty to look at. Not being in the rain felt better too as we slowly started to dry off. Finally, we heard some drums. The festival was starting. We emerged and headed back out into the rain. Luckily it had slowed down. People started lighting giant hay bales on fire and swinging them in circles. Such strength! There were even little kids doing it down by the river. As the night progressed, the rain stopped. The fire looked cooler and cooler with darkness. It was kind of cold though in our soaked clothes. There were even lanterns that some kids had drawn.

Finally M and I decided we were too cold and that we would head back to her place. I bought some udon for dinner from her middle school students. They even spoke to me in English! “How may I help you?” and told me the price. Cute :3 Back at her place, M lent me a fleece and I took off all my wet tops. SO much better being dry-ish. My shorts were luckily my hiking quick dry kind. I settled down at her kotasu to eat dinner while she kindly made tea. K and two of ALTs from the festival made their way to her place too. We hung out for a bit. S said that he could drive us all back to Shimonita since that’s where he lived.

The four of us piled into his car and made our way back on the curvy, dark roads. We stopped at 7-11 so that they could grab some dinner and we could hit up the ATM. I was starting to run low on cash. Then it was back to the train station. The ticket machine had all the station names in kanji so I accidently over paid for my ticket because I selected the wrong stop. It was only about 100 yen though. There was one other person on the train back down, ha, at 9:45 pm. Because my station attendant was already gone, I had to exit the train from the first car and give my ticket to the driver. I made it home easily in the cooler weather.

I woke up early and used the wifi again. Breakfast, mmm. A nice buffet spread with traditional Japanese stuff and Western things. Stuffed myself again, but surprisingly enough I’ve lost weight since coming here. All the walking?? After checking out, I headed off from the hotel back to the Kencho building. One of the first days I left my hair down. It was cooler out from all the rain.

A guy biking rather quickly passes me on the sidewalk. Then I heard a large crash. I spin around to see two guys and their bikes completely tangled up on the ground. The fast guy must have driven into someone! Another ALT is walking behind and saw it as well. He told me that after passing me, the guy turned back around to check me out and then drove into the other guy! I knew I should have put my hair up this morning. Seriously?? We had a good laugh about it. We both stopped at 7-11 before heading to the Kencho. I had gotten horrible blisters yesterday that were just getting worse and needed band-aids ASAP.

We had some really useful workshops this morning, i.e. what to do in case of a natural disaster and how to keep your apartment clean (all the mold and bugs). Lunch today was easy as well because they had pre-prepared some things. I ended up getting salad and a hamburger and potato wedges. The afternoon workshops were culture classes! I had signed up for koto, shodo, and buyo.

Koto is a thirteen stringed instrument. We got to listen to a concert first and then play a song ourselves! It was rough. They had the strings labeled, but it was in Japanese of course, just like the sheet music. Shodo was calligraphy. We got to practice. I ended up drawing some random kanji from the newspaper covering the table. It was hard to make any type of pretty stroke. Buyo was a dance class! We had to remove our shoes when we entered and then pick out a yukata! I picked a dark blue one with red butterflies and gold ribbons. My obi was red as well. It does pretty amazing things for your posture when it’s tied off so tight. My lower back was kept very straight. We also got to pick a fan to dance with. We then got to follow the experts and try different songs. The first song was very fun, a Gunma-chan song! I think that my past Zumba experience definitely helped with following moves on the fly. This was much slower paced. My favorite workshop!

After closing remarks, I accompanied M to her supervisor so she could ask about the fire festival in Namoku Village tomorrow. K and I planned to ride up to Shimonita were she would pick us up. Then I ended up splitting a cab with two other ALTs back to the station. Anything to save my poor feet. One of ALTs spoke decent enough Japanese to tell the driver where to go and made conversation with her on the ride over. Buying my ticket was easy enough at the station. I had some time to kill so I decided to visit the McD’s there. Got my hands on some fries for dinner! My weakness. Quite expensive, 270 yen for a medium. There were two other ALTs eating there so I asked about ordering. Apparently all I had to say was potato, M, and then point for here or to go. Success. They were delish.

I ended up finding more ALTs while waiting for my train so I sat with them. Back in Takasaki, I tracked down the Starbucks for my last chance at wifi. I almost bought a drink but the prices were also more expensive as per usual abroad. Once again I had to exit the station and re-enter for the private line. It was easy enough with all the signs for Tomioka Silk Mill haha. I accidently bought the wrong ticket from the machine there, but it was okay since it was one stop further on the line and the same price. I got home shortly after 7 pm and scrounged up some more food. That night, there were some fireworks I could see over a nearby house. I later saw a message that said there was a festival in Kanra (nearby place). Can’t wait till I get my phone and stop missing things.

I left my apartment earlier than usual to catch my first Japanese train to prefectural orientation! My nearest train stop is about a 10 minute walk from my place. I pass the shrine right by my house. I got there early (left time to buy ticket and get lost). It was drizzling a little so I took my umbrella. Everyone uses proper umbrellas with a handle here and puts them in umbrella stands. I felt like Mycroft, heh. Buying a ticket was easy enough, just said the name of my destination. I had to take two trains, one first to Takasaki and the second to Maebashi. The second leg was JR Rail whereas my first train was a private line.

Meeting Gunma-chan!

Nicely enough even my tiny little station had a toilet. Public toilet access everywhere is quite nice. The train was two cars long and definitely was more of a slower ride. It was pretty full, a commuter train. I saw K who was riding the same train, but there were no spots together. The people were all rather quiet, sleeping, reading, or on their phones. The journey took about 50 minutes and I stared out the window. It was rather pretty with the rice fields and people biking on the paths between them. I need to see what biking trails are in my area. Since my train has the silk mill, there were English announcements as well announcing each stop and from which car you could exit.

At Takasaki, we had to exit the station and re-enter for the JR rail side. Now this was a proper sized train station. This is where I’d catch the shinkaisen too if I wanted to go somewhere. We found the ticket machines and the English option, whew. But then neither of us could remember which line we had to take. I knew the price and location of Maebashi so we guessed and confirmed with a station worker. Then it was through some proper automated gates and off to the tracks. Maebashi was only about another 15 minutes away. K and I elected to walk to the Kencho rather than splitting a taxi. It wasn’t too far, about a 20 minute walk. We arrived there promptly on time.

We received more papers and sat sweating in our suits. The ceremony began with more officials and their introductions. After they left, we peeled off our jackets, and Gunma-chan came to visit! We got to take pictures with it. Then it was a long day filled with rather useful workshops. For lunch, we ate in the cafeteria again. Much better experience this time. I got curry, yum! Afterward, I visited the Gunma-chan shop and bought some cute stationary! I haven’t seen any postcards yet, but I’ll have to check the touristy area. After the rest of the workshops, we walked our luggage and things to the hotel to check in. There was wifi in the lobby, yay! We all had single rooms to ourselves.

After returning my key to the front desk, which we had to do every time we left since they were actual keys, I used the rest of my time for internet. We had to go back to the Kencho for a dinner reception with our suits once more. The basement was rather hot, the fans barely helping. The servers started bringing out all the food. So beautiful and delicious looking. We listened to some speeches including an excellent one by a fellow ALT. Everything was translated into both languages. Then it was kanpai time! They had plenty of non-alcoholic drinks this time so I took ginger ale. The food tasted as good as it looked. And the sushi! Ahhhh. I ate so much.

After dinner, karaoke had been planned. I didn’t sign up because I thought it would run too late for my early bedtime self. (They got back around 2 am!) Instead, I met up with some people at the hotel (5 other girls) and we went to a sentou! A sentou is an indoor public bath. You have to pay extra to rent towels so I took the hotel one with. It was a short walk from the hotel. When we entered, you had to remove and lock up your shoes right away for 100 yen. I ended up splitting a locker with another girl. Then at the front desk, we gave them the locker key and they put our receipts in a little plastic envelope with a number on it. A couple of us spoke Japanese so that wasn’t too rough. Entrance cost 730 yen.

We then headed upstairs to the baths. There was a large restaurant and a food and gift shop as part of the building. We approached the two curtains, red for women and blue for men. There were more lockers here where you could lock your valuables for 100 yen. We all shared one. Past the curtain…all the naked women. Good thing, nudity is not a problem for me, ha. There were baskets where you could place your clothes and things, a long mirror with blow dryers and chairs, and more lockers. After stripping down, another girl and I realized we forgot to bring small towels with so we had to get dressed again and go to the main counter. It was 80 yen to rent one. Luckily she had some money on her because all my stuff was locked up!

I headed in past the sliding door and promptly realized I forgot to take off my glasses. So much steam. I dropped those back off and went to find a stool and washing spot for my pre-wash. They had shampoo, conditioner, and body soap to use. You had to put your hair up though before you went in the water. I put my little towel on my head (which really did help with the heat) and made sure it didn’t accidently slide off my face into the water.  We soaked first in the indoor bath and then headed outside. We definitely got stares and laughs especially when it came to A! She clutched her little towel to herself and shimmied around to avoid showing anything. I’m glad she wasn’t too uncomfortable to even try it out though. I hope we weren’t too obnoxious.

There was also a sauna and a cold tub for post-sauna. That water was rather cold, but maybe it was just the temperature difference from the super-hot water in the other areas. We didn’t stay in that long. I started getting very tingly toes so I bowed out. Then it was time for a post-bath rinse and back to getting dressed again. I felt amazing afterward. My skin tingled softly and I felt warm and comfortable all over. Falling asleep was no problem! I definitely want to go to an actual onsen now.

I feel a bit stupid. I finally attempted to use the free wifi trial today after being so frustrated that I couldn’t apply for internet or my sim card, and it worked! Apparently you get two 15 minutes periods a day. Arg, I should have tried this earlier! I managed to complete my IIJmio sim card application and send an email to the internet setup folk, bbapply. I think I shall do an in-depth post about the IIJmio setup because I was rather lost without instructions and I’d like to help out other people who’d like to just get a sim card in Japan, not a whole new phone. Hopefully I will have internet soon! (Thank goodness for what I have stored on my hard drive.)

 Today, the office need my IRS documents which I had forgotten at home, dur. Ichigo-sensei drove me to my place to pick them up and give them to the main office. She then said we could go set up some automatic withdrawal at the bank so we headed there next. Every time I’m there, they use the suffix “sama” and it makes me feel super important, haha. We stopped at a bakery on the way back to school so she could grab some lunch. Super small and cute coffee shop. They sold actual bread! Very tempted to buy some. Also had a cute hedgehog dessert. I definitely need to go back, I don’t think it’s too far from my place.

Tomioka Silk Mill

At 11 am, Kocho-sensei was going to pick me up and take me out around town. We first walked over to the world heritage site, the Tomioka Silk Mill, to visit my students who volunteer there. We stopped in at the newspaper shop where I met one of the school’s former students. Kocho-sensei knows a lot of people and likes to talk with them. We passed by many businesses. It has really revitalized that area. I tried some of their famous soap. It was so soft and very expensive. They wear the town’s mascot costume, Otome-chan. We couldn’t find them, but we walked around the grounds and into some buildings. We got in for free though. As we were leaving, he stopped by the main office to give his thanks and I saw another Westerner! He’s apparently a French-Canadian CIR. Maybe someone to practice French with?

Nukisaki Shrine

We then got lunch right nearby. It was a clay pot filled with rice, some meat and veggies. Very yummy. Best of all, they had wifi there! I’d been searching in the wrong spots. Should have check the touristy area first. After lunch, we went back to school, and took his car to Nukisaki shrine. It’s apparently the only shrine in Japan that you walk downstairs too. Normally, they are all on higher ground and you walk up stairs. The shrine was so beautiful. The detailed painting with gold on the building, wow. He showed me how to clean your hands first and then pray. Throw a coin in and clap your hands twice, bow twice, and clap your hands twice again before praying. We’ll see if my wish comes true, heh.

Next we went to the Tomioka City Museum up in the mountains. What a stately, modern building. Really nice and super air conditioned! We met with the director and got in free. She used to be a student.  We looked at some of exhibits and my artsy side promptly started itching. Need to get some supplies! She gave me a pin commemorating the 20^th anniversary of the museum and a bookmark. As we left, she gave us both a free folder with a drawing on it, so sweet! We then went across the street to the Natural History museum that also has the concert hall on one side. Our school’s students were practicing and having their songs recorded there. Of course, we went past all the authorized personnel signs and into the hall. He greeted the students and introduce me. As we were leaving, they began to sing again. Wow, just wow. I don’t remember going to choir stuff in high school, but they were seriously talented. So beautiful.

Nukisaki Shrine

When I returned to school, 3 hours or so later, the teacher’s room welcomed me back. They told me good job for working hard, and I heard poor thing, haha. My principal has quite a reputation all throughout Gunma.

I had to take my first PTO day for tomorrow as the school closed today at 5 pm. It’s Obon time. Luckily I have prefectural orientation on Thursday and Friday so I only had to take one day off.

On the way to school

Boring day. Was at school. It’s summer vacation right now so many teachers are absent and there’s not much to do. I’m enjoying the calm before the storm.

I did have some students come talk to me while they were waiting on another teacher. My principal helped them out at first and then he left. After he left, the convo got a bit better because they couldn’t rely on him. As a group they formulated and answer several questions about Disney, my fav artist, whether I was married, and if my hair was dyed. Lots of cute giggles.

My sleep schedule is pretty wacked due to the early sunrise and sunsets here.  I finally cleaned and unpacked all my stuff. I thoroughly searched through everything to see what my pred had left. It included some knitting supplies, and arts n’crafts things. I really need to buy a vacuum though. There’s dust everywhere and I feel like the broom isn’t cutting it. Maybe need to check at the second hand store?

Shrine by my apartment

I also made a longer trip over to the library in search of computer access. I passed through the touristy Silk Mill area. So many people on a weekend! Huge tour buses as well. I need to learn bike etiquette here really quick. I was able to use a computer at the library, but many sites were blocked. I almost completely my whole sim card application, when it needed an email verification so I had to quit. One of the librarians approached me with a sheet of paper once I stood up. I think I was supposed to fill out some type of computer request first. I apologized and gave her a super confused face. 

The building next door, I think is a learning center, is supposed to have Japanese classes, but I don’t know how I’ll go about figuring this out. I know K is also interested so I’ll have to check in with him.

Buckwheat tea

Friday, Friday! Today I finally met Ichigo-sensei, my actual supervisor. She’s in charge of the handball team so she was away in Osaka on a tournament trip. We headed off to the bank in the morning. We discussed the pros and cons of Gunma Bank and I mentioned to her that I’d like internet banking. She ended up getting me an account at a different bank, Ryokin. I think they have better access across Japan. Now I just have to wait for my atm card to come in the mail. As a foreigner, all we get is a cash card that you can use at ATMs. No debit or credit cards right from the get go.

We also went to fill out more paperwork to transfer gas and water for automatic withdrawal, and we visited my rental company. They served us tea while Ichigo-sensei kindly filled out forms for me all day, and I stamped my seal everywhere. Right near here was a gelato shop owned by the mother of one of my students. Must go! And next door, a local produce market. Supposedly fruits and veggies are a bit cheaper here.

Ichigo-sensei got me lunch!

We then headed off to go shopping at a large grocery store, Beisa. On the way, we stopped at Yamada Denki, an electronics shop, so that I could buy an adapter for my laptop. Beisa is like a slightly smaller Walmart. It carried the same diversity of products, and was definitely a large supermarket. I randomly picked some staple items and tried out edamame chips. I nearly had a heart attack at the fruit and veggie prices though. Gah! One avocado was $1.30. I later found out this was the cheapest grocery store too. All the packaging sizes were tiny as well. I’m used to European sizes, but this was even smaller! The tiniest little things. A bag of potatoes could hold 3-4 potatoes. I think I will be shopping all the time.

La Maison - French style resturant

After dropping my groceries off at home, we returned to school. After school, I took my bike out for a spin to McDonald’s in the search of wifi. I was trying to get my sim card ordered and my wifi application completed, both of which I needed internet for. McD’s was really close but over a steep bridge for my 6-speed bike. No wifi. I turned back home a desperate women. Still not feeling that well food wise, so dinner was small.

My apartment view

When I woke at 5 am, like my apparently usual wake-up time here due to the sun, I was ravenous. I read for a bit and then decided to just eat the white rice by itself. I managed a couple more forkfuls than the night before but I still didn’t feel well though. I left my building at 8 am to stop by the conbini to get some ready-made food for lunch. I picked up a noodle tomato soup and an onigiri. No idea what was inside the onigiri. Mystery food is always fun. I hoped I’d feel better later.

At school, I sorted through my desk and read through the material my pred left me. There was a lot of it, and she left some detailed notes. Thank you, pred! K-sensei came by and introduced himself at 11 am. He gave me my inkan (personal seal) and we were off to city hall to register my change in residence. I had prepared my address written in Japanese and my name in katakana. We had to fill out a bunch of forms and hand in my passport and residence card. He checked some boxes and translated for me and then I had to painstakingly fill them out. Copying kanji is the hardest! If you make a mistake, you have to cross it out and stamp it with your inkan. Not only on the original mistake but also on all the carbon copies underneath. Don’t make mistakes! My middle name also caused some confusion, whoops. Then we waited for quite some time.

Since we left city hall at 12:10 pm and we had to be back at school at noon to pick up K, the bank account had to be skipped. K-sensei told me that Ichigo-sensei would take me on Friday. K apparently had the morning off so he had gone a three hour walk! He got to see Nukisaki shrine, which is the most famous one in our town. K-sensei drove the back roads to Maebashi instead of the expressway. We stopped at a conbini to grab lunch, I just ate my onigiri, my stomach still not up to par.

The senior high school appointment ceremony was in the main building this time. Suited up in the heat once more…I need to find a dry cleaner ASAP, ha. We got to sign our contracts, it’s all official now. Some speeches were given by more important Gunma government people, some only in Japanese, some in English. Then all the SHS folks got to give their speeches. Mine was brief and said only the bare minimum. Hopefully my pronunciation wasn't too horrible. A 5^th year JET there had to give a long speech in Japanese on our behalf. The whole thing only took about 45 minutes before we were on the road again.

The walk to school

K-sensei offered to stop at Nitori on the way back, a furniture/home goods store like Ikea. K and I jumped at the chance. He needed towels and I needed sheets. With the help of K-sensei, I could figure out what was 100% cotton. The prices were steep though. A single sized duvet cover cost me $30. I picked a pillow case and futon cover out as well, purple themed. Also got a hand towel, shower towel, and pillow. I asked if I could also get a futon since we had room and I was going to be dropped off at my apartment. I got a better one that seemed quite comfortable. The plan was to put it on top of my bed frame. Yay for shopping success.

We dropped K off near his place and then returned to mine. K-sensei was going to help interpret some of the kanji in my apartment – how to turn hot water on, run the washer, use the gas stove, use the air con. Apparently the gas is controlled by panels on the wall. You can adjust the temperature as you’d like. There’s even a button to fill up the bathtub automatically with hot water. I have to use this button if I want hot water for the sinks as well. After he left, I put in a load of laundry with my new sheets! Sadly they weren’t dry by the time I went to bed, but I can confirm the machine works.

Both of my roommates had to leave much earlier than I so I was woken up quite early. Ended up packing all my things together and promptly forgetting the shampoo and conditioner I bought in the shower. I went down to breakfast in a different room than usual since everything was split up into smaller rooms this morning. I sat with a Nashville friend, and as breakfast went on, we managed to gather a whole table full. It was nice to see them all one last time before we were separated. After breakfast, I took my things downstairs and called my family with the lobby wifi. I wasn’t sure when I would have wifi again.

I met up with the rest of the Gunma group as we awaited our departure time. Once our bus had arrived, I followed the line out into the heat. The cicadas were quite active. I could still load my large bag under the bus, yay! I sat next to K, the other ALT going to my town. I stared out the window for most of the ride despite the haziness. Apparently the humidity here is so strong, it distorts your view. We stopped at a rest stop in Saitama. I bought a milk tea that had Fairy Tail on it, ha. Sadly I then had to carry the empty bottle around with me. Japan has no public trashcans. Your best bet is outside convenience stores or vending machines. You also have to remember to sort your trash. Take the bottle lid off and remove the plastic labeling because those go in a different bin than the bottle itself.

During the drive, all the SHS ALTs practiced our Japanese intro speeches for tomorrow. Ick! We arrived in Maebashi at the Kencho building (the prefectural government office) after about a 2 hour drive. The expressway is not so express-like. There was a lot of traffic and the speed limits are really low. We unloaded all our luggage and locked it up in a room. Then we went across the street to the main building, the tallest building in Maebashi so you can spot it easily. There was an adorable statue of Gunma-chan, our prefectural mascot, outside. It won first place in the mascot competition this past year. It’s a gender-less, 7 year old pony. On the basement floor of the kencho was a Gunma-chan shop. You could buy so many things with Gunma-chan on them.

We went to have lunch in the cafeteria there. Very overwhelming. Everything in Japanese only. I couldn’t even do the point and say kudasai (please) trick, because there were different stations that served many different things. Lots of side dishes as well. I wanted to have udon, but then I was asked questions in Japanese and wham the language barrier really hit me for the first time. I tried to express myself, but I had to ask the other ALTs around me to find one who spoke Japanese. Frustrating for the servers as well as me, I’m sure. I managed to get my food and an eggplant tempura. Check out was interesting, because they weigh your tray and that determines the cost. Free water and tea, yay, like every restaurant I have been to in Japan.

After lunch we had a bit of free time, so I wandered around with two other JETs. We stopped by a restroom where two toilets were bidets as per usual, but the other two stalls had the squat toilets! Last time I saw those was in France at a rest station. I’ll stick with the toilets, thanks. We went to the top floor to get a view of Maebashi. Very impressive. Japanese cities are quite large and clustered. Maebashi has a population of 2 million people, I think. The neighboring city, Takasaki, is actually larger at 3 million. We also stopped on another floor that had a diorama of Gunma. You could see where the cities were located and how relatively tall the mountains were. Luckily I had memorized my city’s kanji so I could identify where it was.

We went back to the building across the street for our ceremony. Suit jackets back on and the sweating begins. Air con is almost non-existent. The temperature indoors is usually around 30 C. We all sat in our chairs, suffocating, as a bunch of Gunma officials were introduced. My name was actually the first to be called, ha. I walked up to the front with my squeaky shoes (too much sweat!) and shook hands and bowed to my JTE, Iowa-sensei, from my school. We went through all thirty of the new JETs in this manner. As soon as it was over, jackets came off. I grabbed my luggage and headed with Iowa-sensei to his car, saying goodbye to some of my new friends along the way.

The car garage was an automatic one! The attendants had to call your car and it would be delivered from the depths of the garage. It was crazy. I’ve only seen one of these once before in Europe. Soon we were off in his Prius. It took about an hour to drive to Tomioka. We made some good polite conversation. I’m never much of a talker especially in cars, but hopefully I made a decent first impression. He drove me to my school first. The building is a decent size for a high school. The hallways are all outside with sliding doors leading to classrooms. The building looks relatively new, especially compared with some of ones I’ve seen.

I was given some indoor guest slippers that I promptly slid around in because I was wearing pantyhose and my feet were too big for them. Iowa-sensei introduced me to the office workers first, and then we went upstairs to the teacher’s room where I gave my brief self intro. Fooled them into thinking that I spoke Japanese, hehe. Then we went next door to Kocho-sensei’s office, the principal. He used to be an English teacher for 20 years so he speaks really well. We sat down on his sofa and chairs, and I was served green tea! Very strong and delicious. We talked a lot about Sabrina the movie, Audrey Hepburn, and Sabrina pants. And had a long discussion with Iowa-sensei about how to spell my last name in katakana with a non-negative sound.

He took me on a tour of the building. We popped into the room where several third years were studying even during the middle of summer break. Then he showed me the gym where students were doing their club sport. Clubs are very important and students practice every day even on weekends and vacation. We also stopped by the library where they had a small collection of English books. The art room had these huge sculptures. I hope I can join the art club. That at least requires no Japanese skill. He talked to me about the students and how well behaved this school was, about the handball team that went to Nationals last year. They even have one student who will be in the U-18 Japan team and is going to India.

After we returned to his office, Iowa-sensei met us there and took me downstairs to collect my heavy, huge suitcases. The zipper was broken off on one of the outer pockets, but otherwise they seemed in okay shape. I was glad they had already arrived, because I had heard that it could take longer and I didn’t have any extra clothes packed in my carry on. We then drove to my house where I unloaded myself. Iowa-sensei helped in lugging the suitcases along. I took off my shoes in the genkan as is only proper (especially since sensei was there watching!).

The apartment is quite nice! I have lots of space, a hallway, bedroom, bathroom, toilet, kitchen/dining room, and a living room that has a sliding door. Also a patio! All wood floors too. Much easier to clean than tatami. The air con unit is in the living room so that’ll probably become my bedroom, ha.

We then went on a drive. He drove me back and forth between school and my home so I would know the way for tomorrow. He pointed out the police station, a drug store, the post office, and drove by my closest grocery store. He then dropped me off at home and said that he was leaving on a trip, but K-sensei would take me around to places tomorrow and drive me to Maebashi with K (the other Tomioka SHS ALT) for the appointment ceremony.

First things, first, air con on! My pred had left an old futon out for me. I had no sheets though. I found the blanket for the kotatsu that had a lined side that felt less furry and hot. I draped that over the mattress and used another blanket as a pillow. She had also left a reading type pillow, a black cat, so I used that as well. I explored the house briefly, mostly checking all the cabinets in the kitchen and fridge to see what my pred had left behind. I ate a lychee flavored ice cream and unpacked my laptop. I managed to find a free 15 min wifi trial, thank goodness, and sent a message to my family to let them know I had arrived.

Then the tears came. Honestly, I was rather tired, felt a bit sick, and was massively overwhelmed by all the information that had been thrust my direction all day. Cue the panic, could I do this? In a place so far away and different, knowing no one nearby at all? After all trying to get food for lunch was such a disaster, did I have the skills to continue? So I had just finished my good cry when the doorbell rang. Oh no! Who would come back now? I tried to compose myself but I knew it was hopeless. Upon opening my door, who was it but my principal. *face palm* He said he had come by to ensure I was okay and had everything I needed, before he left on his vacation. He then promptly remarked on my teary face. I told him it was just a bit of homesickness and that I was fine, but he insisted on giving me his number at school and private one, as well as Ichigo-sensei, my supervisor. So kind, yet also a bit awkward to show your red-eyed face to your boss on the first day you met him.

After he left, I used a prepackaged container of rice and a can of tuna to “make” dinner. I didn’t feel like leaving the apartment or going to the convenience store around the corner. I ate two bites before I got really nauseous and decided it’d be a good idea to stop eating before I threw up. I think the water finally got to me. There’s always that adjustment period when you switch your usual habits. I laid down and ended up chewing a lot of tums as I tried not to vomit. At some point I must have drifted off to sleep.

Stuffed myself at breakfast this time as yesterday I got hungry so early! The yogurt with strawberry jam was super delish. I ate with some new folks from Boston and New Zealand this time. The day continued with many more workshops. This time, lunch was curry. This was a sweet version of what I had in the city the other day. I can definitely say I prefer the spicy over the sweet! At the end of the day, we finally had a prefecture meeting to get some more information. I was anxious about all the emails they had kept sending me and wanted some clarity. Apparently, at this stage they wanted us to drop off our big bags to get loaded on the bus that evening! A lot of us couldn’t do it. If I had known, I would have taken a smaller backpack as well for this part. My laptop, toiletries and clothes wouldn’t just fit in my purse. Gunma folks were told it was okay. We would have 30 people on the bus so they were trying to save space.

Our bus would leave at 9 am the next morning and drive us all to the capital city, Maebashi. I also learned that for us Senior High School ALTs we could practice our introduction speech on the bus, whew. That has to be completely in Japanese, eek! With zero Japanese knowledge, I definitely wanted to write that down. That evening I went to a US embassy meeting held at the hotel. Three people from the embassy attended including one guy who used for be a JET before joining the state department. He was interesting to listen to. Started pondering future career tracks again, ha.

Afterward, I met up with a large chunk of the Nashville group, thirteen of us, to go search for some dinner. One thing I had quickly realized from my first excursion out, Japanese restaurants are small! We’d never all fit. But we headed off into Shinjuku anyway. As we stood in the middle of street discussing our options, a Japanese man stopped to ask if he could help us in English. Bam, my first experience with the extreme kindness of these people. He then told his wife to come on, turned around and went back the direction he came from with our whole gang trailing him. He led us to a nice restaurant, but they could only seat six of us. Our group divided in two with one cell phone carrier in each group.

Night view of Tokyo

Our smaller group of seven went back around the corner to a gyudon (beef bowl) shop. We sent B inside to ask if there was enough space as he had a good chunk more Japanese ability and confidence. We managed to all fit upstairs after some customers left, taking up all the spaces, but four where a French family sat. It was rather nice to be able to eavesdrop and understand a conversation ha. L2 helped me order and understand what everything was, basically pointing and saying please. The food was yummy and cheap again, $4. Afterward, we walked back through Shinjuku, stopping at an arcade. I found a gatsupon (turn the handle and get a surprise) that had Natsume-sensei! What cost me $8-10 at conventions was $2 in Japan. Sigh, shipping mark ups. The inside of the arcade was filled with different types from of games from the claw machines featuring super cute stuffed animals and anime figurines. There was also some type of music note game, and tapping game where two pros hit so quickly their arms were a blur. They were even wearing gloves! I also watching a guy play a taiko game where he brought in his own drumsticks. He was getting perfect scores as well, such talent.

Then we stopped at 7-11 for some drinks and ice cream and wandered back towards the hotel. I really wanted to go up in the Tokyo government building that lay across the street from our hotel. We ambled around a bit, ended up going in a circle to find the tucked away entrance. The building had a very impressive plaza. We went through a small security check and rode the elevator up to about the 40^th floor. There was a souvenir shop and a restaurant, as well as an almost 360 glass window view. You could see all the sparkling lights of Tokyo. It’s so huge! We ended up outside the hotel convenience store after that. This was our last night together so we chatted a bit before I gave my goodbye hugs.

I didn’t have to worry about waking up on time. I woke up once in the night to pee, but otherwise slept fantastically till 6 am. I ate breakfast with one of my roommates that awoke at the same time. Our stomachs were growling. Jet lag wreaking havoc on appetite. It was very busy, apparently all the JETs woke up early with jet lag. The display of food was fantastic. Buffet style breakfast with bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, potatoes, yogurt, cereal, salad, various fruit, breads and jam, and juices.

The day began with several speeches by important ministries in the Japanese government dealing with education. Our host was a German CIR! Then a long day of workshops punctuated by a pasta lunch commenced. I managed to find Nashville people around everywhere. For a small consulate, we sure were magnetically attracted. Also met plenty of new people from other consulates around the world (Canada, UK, and New Zealand). Dinner was served in a prefecture groups. We had a kanpai, but the only thing to toast with was beer, yuck. Had to take a tiny sip. Another amazing spread. Beautiful little cakes. I actually started with dessert, plus the lines were shorter! I met another ALT going to my city, K! He’s teaching at the all-boys school and I have the all-girls. I had made plans for after dinner, but instead I just went back to my room to sleep. Around 4 pm, the jet lag really started making itself known. I collapsed into bed at about 9 pm.

Hotel room view

We arrived! Japan! Ahhhhh! I was pretty hopped up and excited at this point but also still super tired.
It was something like 3 am at home. I plastered my special JET identifying sticker on my shirt and we joined the mass exodus of JETs from the plane and wham the heat hit us. The air conditioning barely made a dent. I stopped to help some people fill out their customs forms correctly (those who didn’t read the instructions…) as I was one of the few with a pen. We joined our special JET immigration line. No problems for me, had my fingerprints stored, photo taken, and they printed my residence card and attached some paperwork to the visa in my passport. I headed off to baggage claim where they had already pulled off our luggage. Stuck with a fellow Nashville JET and we watched each other’s suitcases while I made a bathroom break and switched to shorts. No more jeans from the plane for me. We ended up joining a couple other straggler JETs from Nashville and went to pass through customs. Quite easy. They ask if I had a yakken shomei or anything to declare, and then waved me on through. On the other side there were many green-shirted JET people guiding the way. We stopped to buy some drinks at a small store as the heat was really intense. We joined a huge winding line of JETs from all over the world waiting for the bus to the Keio Plaza Hotel. The line started inside the airport, and slowly winded outside, down an escalator, across some sidewalks, and into a parking lot.

Waiting outside was bad. I had my heavy pack on me and the heat felt like it was dragging me down. The humidity! It was insane. I finally made it to the luggage drop off point, and gave away my two large suitcases to be shipped to my school. My backpack went under the bus. Another couple Nashville JETs were also on the same bus. They passed out water, but as I was sitting in the back, the bottle ended up empty before it got to us. It was about a two hour bus trip from the airport to the hotel. We drove past Tokyo Disney which was awesome! The huge Disney castle, and amazing hotel could be seen from the interstate.  Also got to see the Tokyo Sky Tree; it was actually less large than what I was expecting haha.

First impressions: so hot and humid! The cars are a lot larger than what I was expecting too. A lot of box shaped cars and vans. 

By the time I arrived at the hotel in Shinjuku, it was about four and a half hours after our plane had landed. Bell boys unloaded our luggage from the bus and we had to follow more staff to a separate room for a brief hotel orientation and then to tables were we could pick up a bag full of information, name tags, and our room keys! The hotel had wifi in the lobby and rooms, whee~ I kept in touch via our Nashville group on Line and made some plans for dinner. I was sharing my room with two other girls from Nashville and was the last to arrive. One girl was on a pull out sofa, but we all fit. The view was amazing! You could see really far into Tokyo. Our group met for dinner and we headed out into the wilderness of Shinjuku.

We stopped by a 7-Eleven where I withdrew more cash, partly to test my card. No problems, thank goodness. We ended up in a little restaurant where you placed your order on an automat that even had English as an option. You even paid on it. I ended up with some cheap curry that came with miso soup for about $3. Free water, yes! We sat down on our little stools and the waiters came by to collect the sheets of paper from the machine. Food was served quickly and I hungrily devoured it. Quite a large portion too. I managed with chopsticks, nothing too complicated. Learned my first rule about eating soup. No using a spoon, just drink it from the bowl.

After dinner, we decided to walk the streets a bit and just absorb the atmosphere. We even stopped by another convenience store, Lawson. They’re everywhere! I also saw so many drink vending machines, they are literally on every corner. We decided to turn back, everyone was rather tired. Perfectly timed too, as it started to rain. Upon my return to the hotel, I crashed. A proper bedtime of about 10 pm.

We had two shuttles picking us up in the morning to drive us the short mile over to the airport. I drove with L’s dad again so I didn’t have to worry about leaving on their schedule. We were one of the first group there so I quickly popped into the check in kiosk line before things got too crazy. Delta was quite efficient in herding us around. I tested my luggage before getting into line. My bags were at 49 and 50 pounds! Damn, I’m an excellent packer. Sadly I had to leave two pairs of shoes behind, my Sperrys and my tennis shoes as well as several bits of clothing.

Check in went swiftly and I headed off with a fellow JET to kill almost three hours at our gate. I wanted to grab some breakfast and lunch items (a bagel and a banana). We only had a 45 min layover in Detroit during lunchtime so I didn’t want to be left hungry. Due to reduced space on the full flight, they were asking those with large carry-ons to gate check their baggage at no additional cost. I jumped at the chance because my pack was heavy and I really only need the things in my purse. The Dramamine knocked me out as usual so I managed to get about an hour of sleep on the short flight. Trying to gather up all the sleep I could!

In Detroit, our travel agent that had flown with us, led the way to the next gate. It was a long walk. We met up with the Detroit JETs there. Our gigantic, double decker airbus awaited us. We actually did have time to grab some McD’s from across the gate, but I just stood around with my fellow JETs and ate my bagel. Eventually we were all crammed into the plane. It was decently nice with individual usb chargers, a large selection of entertainment (all the Marvel movies but cap 2!) and wifi if you wanted to pay for it. The flight left after noon. We had to park on the side on the runway for some reason according to air traffic control although the runway was clear. We actually got much more food than I was expecting. Something at 2 pm? Only choice beef or chicken though. Should have registered as vegetarian. Then a bag with breakfast, Japan time? And then one more meal that felt more like breakfast (egg or chicken).

I was sitting next to one of my consulate JETs who woke me up every time for food. I wanted to sleep the first five or six hours of the flight to get on Japan time. It worked although it was more dozing and not very restful as per usual with planes. With the rest of my time I re-watched Iron Man 2 and Avengers 2, getting my Natasha fix, ha.

At some point we crossed the International Date Line and jumped into the future!