Hindsight

Having a final welcoming party by the BOE in a few hours in Kokura Station Hotel. I`m beat from all the parties, really. At least I`ve got some time to use here in the net cafe.

The last three days were with elementary school kids. Kominkan (community center?). Spent two days playing word games and a third day playing dodgeball. Oof!

Laptop a good possibility after the 12th. Was on the phone with my father the other night and we discussed financials, how I`d send money back, etcetera.

School begins on Monday. Nervous and excited. The others are considering an all nighter to Fukuoka, just an hour plus by JR (or cheaper by bus). But I dont know. I`ve already spent a load of money the first few weeks of being here on apartment stuff! Some junk needs to be thrown out, and thats a whole other process in itself. Thankfully, our supers at the BOE are down to earth and sane.

Most of the ALTs have bought keitai. I`ve got the usual silver J-Phone myself, which has proved invaluable as far as email goes.

Downtown Kokura has everything. Post office is close by to home (across the street). Convenience stores/vending machines everywhere. We`re lucky here. There is a bar scene, most of which are really small compared to U.S. standards (like Dublin`s or any other bar probably). I`ve gotten more buzzed and drunk in three weeks than I have back home. I`ve come to understand how, at least around here, part of being social is just drinking and shooting the breeze.

Transportation… usually taking the Nishitetsu buses everywhere, and managed to get myself a bus card. My first chugakkou is about 25 minutes away. A short drive but of course I wouldn`t be caught driving in this city yet. Cars seem cheap. Crazy?

Tokyo Game Show is Sept 20-22 in Chiba. How much am I willing to fork over to go there for one or two evenings? Kind of tempted to `just go` for the adventure of it all, but I know I`d get lost quite a bit. Still….. I won`t be going to E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) back in L.A. next year, so I need to compensate somehow. But then.. I need to get to a travel agency right away. I wonder if they`ll look at me funny if I ask `capsule hotel, cheap?`. Nevermind maybe.

So I have three junior high schools. After six weeks I move on to the next one. Ros has five! Good god. Sissie over in Miyagi-ken has one base school. Wish I had the same, but maybe the variety will keep things…. “interesting”.

Still alive, much to write, still no laptop. Having a good time as far as pre-work goes. School starts next week on Sep 2nd.

Once I get a laptop, Im set. Most likely a Toshiba, but drooling over a Powerbook. I have been taking a bit of video here and there and pics too. Just need my own time (or someone else`s DSL connection) to upload it. Gah.

More to come.

Intermediate Japanese class has been more or less a fast review, nothing more. On two occasions, though, we weren`t in the class.

Last week we went to Hiraodai into limestone caves. Cold with streams of water flowing and spaces so tight it would give any claustrophobe a heart attack. Stacey (one of the senior ALTs along) and I led the pack until we hit a pitch black point. Only the LCD glare from my camcorder or her digital still camera would light the way. Really frightening. I kept asking, `are we supposed to be able to go this far`? Apparently, the map says yes.

Today, with the same class, we went up Iwaishii Yama (little rock big rock mountain?). I`ve never hiked before, so this was the most exhaustive, sweaty day ever, but with great results… made it to the top. After that, first time going to an onsen. I was nervous, but no one else was (just me, Chris – senior ALT, and a Japanese sports teacher). Made things easier and made the experience cool.

Convenience seems to be the keyword living here. Close to game stores, supermarket downstairs, etc. I can`t complain. My washing machine is in my bathroom so I always fear of being electrocuted, so I have it unplugged when showering. Even the urban development guide for the building says `WARNING! Do not put your washing machine in the bathroom!`. Hmmm, but all us ALTs do. Someone trying to kill us?

Got my gaijin card yesterday so I managed to sign up with a small video store today and another place called “Whistle”, which rents music CDs in addition to the standard DVDs and Video.

Next week is Fukuoka Orientation and we should be getting our assignments soon. I have three schools to rotate between. Locations to come, according to Steve.

My apartment is looking better by the day, but still have to clean the floors, toilet room (again, if you`re a claustrophobe..) and bathroom. The bathroom is best described by Brian (another ALT) as “a prison”.

Homestay is next weekend, 24th and 25th. I really wanted to go to “Rock da-ze” because Quruli/Kururi is going to be there, but I`m doing homestay instead. Hopefully eeting the family (husband, wife, son, daughter) will be a treat.

We can pay bills at major convenience stores? Quite…. convenient.

More to come.

Passing through here to get on the internet:
I LOVE YOU internet cafe.

The BOE had us going to a 3 day seminar on teaching elem school kids, and tomorrow we go to the same daigaku (University of Kitakyushu) for Japanese language classes. Had to pay 170 dollars for the two week course out of our own wallets. Living in urbana is expensive, but very convenient.

Getting a bit annoyed by some of the JETs, want to kind of walk to random Japanese people to make friends. But like back home, they`d probably think I`m crazy.

These J Phones are amazing. They look and sound like Game Boy Advances, and they take stills and video if you pay enough for a higher end phone.

School starts in september. We are waiting for our gaijin cards and locations of the 64 junior high schools in Kitakyushu. Yes, that`s right.

Downtown Kokura is convenient. Screw what Lonely Planet says, I like it here.

Net cafe is 300 en for 30 minutes. Must find a new location. Still have to buy a big bookshelf to keep everything from being scattered on the floor. Got the washing machine to work and successfully hang dry clothes now.

More to come. I really need a laptop, as DSL is available in this area.

I am logged in at “I Love You”, the Internet Cafe here in downtown Kokura.

Yes, I`m in Japan. I have so much to write, but I am being charged by the half hour….

Today an assistant teacher, a really cool guy named Taka, took us arond Kokurakita ward, in the downtown area. Kokura station is pretty cool – I’ll be visiting it again to pan across the walkways. We can see the mountains surrounding us in Kitakyushu during the day, all green. Lonely Planet guide to Japan may seem to give a bad impression of KitaQ, but I like it here. It’s convenient.

Weather – hot and humid, as expected. I am sweating all the time, and am still having trouble sleeping because of the heat. Some of us do have air conditioning.

Cicadas (sp?) are everywhere here. So basically during the day until the evening you’ll hear them here at Kanada Kodan (the apt complex I’m at) and they are LOUD. It doesn’t annoy me at all though, I guess most of us have phased it out.

Tomorrow we’ll be getting our bank accounts setup. In a few days we’ll be having our first official orientation with the Board of Education (the Ward building where the BOE is located is really modern). In some cases Kitakyushu seems less of a city – it’s not really crowded at times. BUt watch me say different when I start working at schools, which is most likely to happen.

Electronics – just as cool, but just as expensive.

Once I have acquired a laptop I will be writing more. Will definitely need to get one ASAP….

I’m sure everything will start to (dare I say it) “get real” when we start subjecting ourselves to schools. Sounds to me like the kids are a wild bunch. “Be prepared to be poked in the butt”. Wonderful. It’s so going to happen, based on all the current ALTs experiences. Talk about cultural differences, but hey it comes with the territory.

At the grocery stores, you buy your stuff (which was a task in itself since I was trying to discern one thing from another) and after paying, you bag it yourself. Did it twice today.

Culture shock: at the supermarket right under building six, I was shopping along with a fellow ALT (tall, white fellow). Noticed one thing: we were the only guys (almost) in the entire market – everyone else is female (young and old). The store manager, or some official, was following us, observing. It was alienating, naturally. I am wondering how long until I can shut that out…

Am doing my best to adjust here. I miss home, but am living it here now. It begins now!

More to come.