Finally getting around to updating this blog! It's been about a month and a half since I got to Japan and so far it has been AWESOME. Maybe I'm still in the throes of euphoria, but I am so happy with my placement in Yasugi. I've always felt a little stressed out in big cities and I think coming here has made me realize that I'm more of a country girl for sure. The scenery is beautiful... like nothing I've ever seen and looking out my car window or going for a walk instantly improves my mood when I'm feeling a little down. Most of the people I have met here have been very kind and friendly, and eager to help me with any problems I've been having. Lately, a lot of my coworkers have been asking me もうなられましたか？ which roughly means "are you used to life here yet?" I usually say "kind of" :) It's been a crazy ride, so I might as well start at the beginning.
After months of anticipation, weeks of stress, and many teary goodbyes to my family, friends, and boyfriend, I finally made the 12-hour journey from Chicago to Tokyo. I had my first meal at a cheap restaurant that I paid for through a vending machine... and it was delicious!
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| Cold soba noodles and vegetable tempura
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| View from my hotel room |
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| The stage at orientation |
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| Shimane-ken! |
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| Found this view from a bathroom on one of the top floors |
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| Tokyo by night |
Tokyo Orientation lasted a couple days and I was in a jet-lagged haze for most of it I think. But, it was still really fun. I met people from all over the world (but also a couple of sweet and funny girls from my Midwest home who were my roommates), heard a lot of funny and interesting talks (as well as some that were not, at all), and got to meet the other new JETs who would be going to Shimane with me. We even got to enjoy some Mexican food on our last night in Tokyo, fully knowing that it would be the last time we saw it for a loooong time.
There were presentations on all sorts of subjects at orientation and lots of advice given my current and former JETs. But there were three things that stuck with me the most.
1) This one is kind of obvious, but a lot of speakers talked about living life to the fullest in Japan. Trying new things and learning as much about the culture as you can is a big reason for coming to Japan. But one thing people said a lot that I didn't realize was so important was accepting invitations. A lot of people said that if you turn down invitations from people the first time they ask you, they might not ask you a second time. So it's become my goal to say yes to people's invitations as much as I can, unless I'm really not feeling up to it. It's led to some pretty cool experiences!
2) One of the big phrases that was thrown out a lot at orientation was "cultural fatigue" It's kind of like culture shock except that instead of a shock, it's just a slow wearing-down of your patience and tolerance of this new culture. They said everyone will go through days where they feel that and I have definitely felt that way already. There are a lot of moments when life doesn't feel all that different than back home and it's easy for me to see the similarities between American and Japanese culture. But sometimes, they couldn't seem more different and I get frustrated. More on that in later posts!
3) The keynote speech was from a guy who had been on the JET Program several years earlier working in Tottori Prefecture, the prefecture right north of my town. Tottori is the least populated prefecture in Japan (Shimane is right behind it) and this guy talked about working in an extremely remote and rural area. One of the schools he worked at only had two students! In such a rural place, he said that sometimes he had a hard time getting the students excited about English. It's a really hard language to learn, so students anywhere sometimes aren't motivated to learn it. But especially in a place where foreigners never come to, like these rural prefectures. The speaker told a story of how he was teaching his students how to give directions in English and one of his kids said "Steve-sensei, you are the only foreigner who ever comes to this town. If someday a foreigner comes and needs to know where the post office is, I will take them by the hand and take them there myself." I've kept his anecdote in mind at my schools when some of the kids complain about English.. I think some of them think they'll never have to use it.
Tokyo was a great few days but I couldn't wait to see my new home in Shimane!
