Dr. Strangeland or: how I learned to stop worrying and just がんばります

Japanese Word of the Day:
English: I'm leaving (when leaving home)
Japanese: Ittekimasu （いってきます）

Christ. I don’t even know where to start, ya’ll. That is also possibly the most southern sounding sentence I’ve ever typed.

Ok, I’m going to try to go chronologically through my orientations and up until now as best I can remember. Buckle up!

As some of you may know, I applied through the Atlanta consulate so I had to go to Atlanta for a pre-departure orientation before flying out. It was relatively uneventful except for a few things like that I won the room lottery and got a single room whereas the others staying had doubles. This was especially nice since I had to be checked out and on an airport shuttle by 3:30A.M. which actually left more like at 3:20A.M. So on about 2 hours of sleep I crawled into a bus, grabbed the last seat, and ended up next to a fellow UNCA grad. Like we knew all the same people, professors, happenings… It’s a crazy small world.

Several hours later we got on our first flight to Dallas for a short layover before boarding the flying tomb airplane to Japan. From Dallas to Tokyo was a 13 hour flight and I can’t really put into words how long a time 13 hours is to sit in a small seat with no leg room. The event went something like this:

• Hours 1-2: Initial excitement and snacks. My meal came with a mint from Boone, North Carolina.
• Hours 3-5: Watch half of Divergent before the crappy media system cuts off. Wonder why Kermit is going to a Russian prison named “Gulags” written in English. What was in that food?
• Hours 6-7: Regulation naptime; all the lights go off and the windows close. I tried to nap, succeed on and off.
• Hours 8-9: Screenwatch a Thor movie from another passenger and- holy hell, did he gel and style his hair for a 13 hour plane ride?! Dedication, man.
• Hours 10-11: Contemplate life and death. Maybe all there really is is this plane ride.
• Hours 12-13: Oh thank God, I see land. I hope I never have to sit in a small seat again. What do you mean I have to ride a bus from the airport for an hour and a half?!

Upon finally fleeing the capsule plane we traversed to Japanese immigration. There a man pulled all the JETs aside and asked us to follow him to another area. The good thing about having an anxiety disorder is that when everyone is scared I’m usually the calmest person since I’m used to being scared. I followed the man into the room saying “Quarantine” first. And that’s how I ended up with swine flu. Just kidding, of course. It was just another area for immigration to handle so many of us at once.

So we passed immigration, collected our luggage, passed customs, dropped a bag off to be shipped, and boarded a bus for that aforementioned hour and a half ride into Tokyo proper.

Man, I never sit on the Tokyo Disney side of the bus. Apologies for quality.

We stayed at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shibuya, Tokyo. If you’re curious it has an English website! The place was super fancy and had really nice chandeliers and even a fancy wedding area. The first time I got on an elevator I saw a man in a full tux and thought he might be an elevator attendant – nope, just a dapper guest.

I’d like to take a moment to say that jet lag is a very real thing. At this point in time it was about 5:00 P.M. Japan time, (4:00 A.M. US time) and I had gotten about 7 hours of sleep in the last 2 days or so. The evening consisted of my roommates and I getting a shower, finding a place to eat, being confused about menu details involving rotisserie chicken, and collapsing into bed around 9P.M.

So you know how Japan is called the “Land of the Rising Sun”? That’s because the sun starts coming up at freaking 3A.M. Sleep deprivation be damned, I woke up at least 3 times before I finally got up at 6:30A.M. People who know my sleeping habits know I sometimes go to bed around then. Japan is going to take adjusting.

There are flags for each country represented at this orientation. In order, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Jamaica, South Africa, and the US.

Orientation was a 2 day affair consisting of a variety of speeches, panels, and classes about being a JET, teacher, and general Japan survival. Meals were somewhat strange. Breakfast seemed to be more American with things like cereal, cooked potato slices (hashbrowns distant cousin?), fruit, and yogurt. But there were also things like a vegetable soup and French fries, so your guess is as good as mine.

Also the "bacon" was a cruel lie >:[

After mostly recovering from extreme exhaustion from the first night I spent the second night with some other Atlanta JETs traversing Tokyo to the Sky Tree which is neither a tree nor is it in the sky ok well it totally is. The Sky Tree is the tallest tower in Tokyo and the 2^nd tallest structure in the world. It was a fun trip there despite the tower closing at 10 and us arriving at 10:01 and thus being denied entry.

The blue thing is the Sky Tree. None of the pictures really do its size justice. The gold thing is a... potato? I think?

Tokyo at night

On our way back to the hotel we dropped by Shibuya and visited the famous cross walk which was as always packed with people. Shibuya station is also the home of the famous Hachiko statue.

The loyal Hachiko. That movie will make you cry.

Shibuya's famous crosswalk. This was reasonably late (close to 10PM?)

During orientation we were introduced to our neighbors through a banquet arranged by location and a short meeting on Tuesday, day 2 of orientation. My prefecture (Kyoto) is full of cool people like our PA (prefectural advisor) and he invited us to meet up to get dinner later. 4 of us took him up on his offer and went to a nearby izakaya, which is a restaurant designed for drinking and food shared among the group. Of the 5, 3 of us were light drinkers so it was a very casual and relaxed chance to talk and meet some neighbors.

So that brings us to Wednesday when we departed Tokyo in our prefectural groups to go to our new homes. And that is where I have to stop for now so I can go to bed early and wake up early like a normal functioning adult. Boo.

Did I mention the Olympics are coming to Tokyo in 2020? No? Well they are.

Part 2: Sometime soon?

Is this thing on? We're back!

Japanese Phrase of the Day:
English: I’m home (when returning home)
Japanese: Tadaima (ただいま or 只今)

Welcome Back!

               For anyone unfamiliar with this blog it’s my way of sharing my experiences while living and traveling abroad. With any luck I also hope to have some articles discussing cultural differences as well as being a 外国人 (foreigner) in a country where that is the first word you learn.

Heeey, why'd you change the name of your blog? I liked it!

Me too. But I'm not a student this time I'm a working professional so a certain level of professionalism was required. Gomen!~

What is JET?

JET stands for the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme (yes it uses the British spelling). JET is run by the Japanese government as a means of hiring post graduate native English speakers to come and be assistant language teachers (ALT) in Japan. This gives the students a native speaker to learn from and practice with as well as exposing the students to another culture. From the ALT perspective, you get a chance to live in Japan with a stable job, a massive JET community, and other bonuses like a free flight to Japan and back and pre-arranged housing.

Ok, so how long is this JET program?

When you agree to accept your position you sign a one year contract. At the end of that one year you can recontract to stay for up to a total of 5 years. After year 3 returning ALTs get a slight raise for sticking with the program. When you do decide to not recontract JET gets you a plane ticket and finds a replacement for your position.

Right, but how long are YOU staying?

Good question. Plenty of you know this has been my dream for a few years based on how much I loved living in Japan when I was a student. That said, this is an entirely different situation and it’s important to recognize that. The most common phrase among JETs is “ESID” or “every situation is different”. I could be somewhere I completely love with amazing students or I could end up in a place that just doesn’t work for me. Think about the stress of a new job with new responsibilities and coworkers you might or might not get along with and then imagine all that in another country where you barely speak the language. In short, the answer is for now I’m staying one year and we’ll go from there.

So if you’re working as a teacher you must be fluent in Japanese right?

Hahaha, you must be one of the people who didn’t know the old title of the blog. My Japanese is very minimal (in my defense, it was never offered at my university). That’s one of the big challenges is how little I know. For the record, you don’t need to know any Japanese to get into the JET Programme, though you do need a willingness to learn. Necessity makes the best teacher, anyways.

So what was the JET Process like?

First let me say I have to be intentionally vague about parts of this because of a nondisclosure agreement I signed.

The first step is you get the application in October and complete 3 copies of it with letters of recommendation. Then around January the first cut is made and if you pass you get to set up an interview at your local consulate (Atlanta is the nearest, if you were curious). In February the interviews happen and notifications are sent out around April to tell you if you were selected, wait listed, or cut.  If you get in then you try to stop dancing with joy long enough to begin the copious amounts of paperwork you have to start. The process from start to finish takes from about October to April, which is about 7 months. If you don’t get in the first time you apply (like me) then you have to wait until next October to try again. It’s a long process that puts the rest of your life and goals on hold but in my opinion it’s worth it.

That was boring. Tell me where you’re going!

I lucked out, hardcore. I cannot emphasize how incredibly amazing my placement is. I was placed in the Kyoto prefecture in a small town called Ujitawara (pop. 10,000). I am about 45 minutes away from where I studied abroad in Japan before and about an hour and a half from both Kyoto and Osaka but I am still in a small town. Seriously, this was a dream placement. Japan is quite large though and sadly my friend who also got into the program is a solid 7 hours away.

This is a scaled comparison of how big Japan is. Maybe it's the proximity to China but people seem to think it's a lot smaller than it is.

The red balloon is where I will be. Hirakata is where I studied abroad and Osaka and Kyoto are major cities and awesome.

Osaka is the second biggest city in Japan and full of amazing things like an aquarium that has whale sharks(!) and famous shopping areas like Shinsaibashi and Ame-mura. Kyoto is the former capital of Japan (back in imperial times) and is a center of history and culture. The city and its outskirts contain numerous shrines and, national treasures, and 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites. The banner from my facebook page comes from a temple in Kyoto.

Kyomizu-dera (Pure water temple) in Kyoto

But you’re going to work, right?

Yes, but I don’t have much to say about that yet. My town has a junior high school, two elementary schools, a kindergarten, and a nursery. After talking to my amazing predecessor I think I will be traveling between the schools a lot but primarily doing elementary school. Right now there's not a lot to say about that but I'll talk about it more later when my experience has been first hand.

That's about it for now. As a heads up, once I get to Japan it'll probably take me a bit to set up internet so don't expect to hear anything for a little while. Once I'm established I'll update though, don't worry. Thanks for taking the time to check my blog out and I hope you stick around, it'll be a fun ride!

Ja ne!~

Bonus! Rejected blog names

"Japan? Let me tell you about China"
Living Abroad 2: Electric Boogaloo
Oh Crap, I need to learn the metric system
Katsu and Crying