Kyoto! This is long, but includes a video and pictures!!
So, I decided to see if I could use someone's internet for a little, and lo and behold, there was an unsecure connection. So, I'll be trying to use that until I get my internet in one or two weeks.
I wrote this entry about the trip to Kyoto and the first day there when I was bored one morning in the hotel (there are some pictures!):
This morning we all had to meet up with our prefectures and head out to our placements. With Kyoto, us prefectural JETs had to head to another hotel, but the municipals got to go home. (Lucky!) So, we walked to Shinjuku Station and took the subway to Tokyo Station. After that, we were instructed to go get ourselves some bento (Japanese boxed lunch) and then meet back up at 11. Jo, the Prefectural Advisor, helped me select vegetarian options. She's a pescatarian herself, so she knows how to ask questions about contents of food. I ended up getting edamame, an onigiri (I think she said it was a shiso onigiri) and some inarizushi. Edamame are soybeans in their pods boiled in salted water. You bite the beans out of their pods to eat them. Onigiri are rice balls, but unlike mine, they are traditionally triangle shaped. The one I had was wrapped in seaweed and had shredded up leaf (which tasted pickley) in it. Inarizushi is a kind of sushi. They're little fried tofu packets stuffed with rice (and sometimes vegetables or fish, so if you don't want fish, be careful. Mine had veggies.) Here are the pictures of my food:
Edamame:
Onigiri:
Inarizushi:
The shinkansen took about 2.5 hours. I ended up feeling motion sick, but once we were off, I was pretty great. We got to rest until 4 pm, at which point we had a quick meeting and discussed the orientation schedule, then we went out to dinner at a tempura restaurant. Before we went out, I took these pictures from my hotel room (I didn't have to share!!) and then of course I had to try on the hotel yukata and take a picture, which my JET coworker later told me everyone that she knows did.
Kyoto City:
Some rooftops:
Me in the hotel yukata:
I had edamame, pickled cabbage, grilled eggplant with miso, taro potatoes, vegetable tempura (eggplants, japanese pepper, taro and shiitake) and rice. I think that the grilled eggplant was the best. I also managed to drink some of the beer. The kind we had (Asahi Super Dry) was not as bad as the others I'd had, but I was thrilled once they brought out the sake cause it was really nice and kind of sweet.
Of course, all this drinking meant I had to go to the bathroom,. All they had were Japanese toilets. I was pretty horrified that I had to try this drunk, but it's extremely easy. It actually served my germ-phobia pretty well, cause you aren't touching anything with your skin.
Yesterday I met my coworker who is also a JET during a workshop. After that, I met my supervisor. Finally, orientation was over, so the three of us went to the school, where I met the principal, vice principal, some of the office ladies and some teachers. A few of the non-English department teachers were absolutely delighted I spoke Japanese... it seemed like they were a bit hesitant to use English. Some of the students were there for club activities. They are completely adorable!!!
After the school tour, we (my supervisor, fellow JET, one of the English teachers, one of the office girls) came to the apartment and I was taught how to use the stove, hot water, washing machine, etc. My predecessor left me a lot of stuff, and the school gave me some things too, so there's hardly anything I need - just one set of curtains, some potholders, a colander, a TV and a few other random small things.
After meeting a neighbor, we went to the supermarket. Then, my JET coworker (R-san from now on) helped me unpack and I made us some dinner. We had wine and sake as well, which R-san picked up for us. She got some ice cream too!! We spent a few hours talking about school and ourselves and then she went home and I finished unpacking. So, now my apartment looks nice and lived in!
I did a video of the house, and uploaded it to Google:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-845198773856239734&hl=en
Today I went to go meet a friend and got lost on the way there, so I headed for home to email him. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my map and have an amazingly terrible sense of direction. So, I got lost within about 2 or 3 blocks of my house for 40 minutes. The two school boys I asked didn't know my street, an old lady gave me incorrect directions, and then I asked a guy that looked to be in high school or college. He recognized the street name, but couldn't find it until I showed him a picture on my camera. All together, he spent about 20 minutes helping me look and eventually got me home. His name was Fukui-san. I was so pleased to be home.
I finally emailed and met with my friend, but felt so bad that it took me so long!!
I wrote this entry about the trip to Kyoto and the first day there when I was bored one morning in the hotel (there are some pictures!):
This morning we all had to meet up with our prefectures and head out to our placements. With Kyoto, us prefectural JETs had to head to another hotel, but the municipals got to go home. (Lucky!) So, we walked to Shinjuku Station and took the subway to Tokyo Station. After that, we were instructed to go get ourselves some bento (Japanese boxed lunch) and then meet back up at 11. Jo, the Prefectural Advisor, helped me select vegetarian options. She's a pescatarian herself, so she knows how to ask questions about contents of food. I ended up getting edamame, an onigiri (I think she said it was a shiso onigiri) and some inarizushi. Edamame are soybeans in their pods boiled in salted water. You bite the beans out of their pods to eat them. Onigiri are rice balls, but unlike mine, they are traditionally triangle shaped. The one I had was wrapped in seaweed and had shredded up leaf (which tasted pickley) in it. Inarizushi is a kind of sushi. They're little fried tofu packets stuffed with rice (and sometimes vegetables or fish, so if you don't want fish, be careful. Mine had veggies.) Here are the pictures of my food:
Edamame:
Onigiri:
Inarizushi:
The shinkansen took about 2.5 hours. I ended up feeling motion sick, but once we were off, I was pretty great. We got to rest until 4 pm, at which point we had a quick meeting and discussed the orientation schedule, then we went out to dinner at a tempura restaurant. Before we went out, I took these pictures from my hotel room (I didn't have to share!!) and then of course I had to try on the hotel yukata and take a picture, which my JET coworker later told me everyone that she knows did.
Kyoto City:
Some rooftops:
Me in the hotel yukata:
I had edamame, pickled cabbage, grilled eggplant with miso, taro potatoes, vegetable tempura (eggplants, japanese pepper, taro and shiitake) and rice. I think that the grilled eggplant was the best. I also managed to drink some of the beer. The kind we had (Asahi Super Dry) was not as bad as the others I'd had, but I was thrilled once they brought out the sake cause it was really nice and kind of sweet.
Of course, all this drinking meant I had to go to the bathroom,. All they had were Japanese toilets. I was pretty horrified that I had to try this drunk, but it's extremely easy. It actually served my germ-phobia pretty well, cause you aren't touching anything with your skin.
Yesterday I met my coworker who is also a JET during a workshop. After that, I met my supervisor. Finally, orientation was over, so the three of us went to the school, where I met the principal, vice principal, some of the office ladies and some teachers. A few of the non-English department teachers were absolutely delighted I spoke Japanese... it seemed like they were a bit hesitant to use English. Some of the students were there for club activities. They are completely adorable!!!
After the school tour, we (my supervisor, fellow JET, one of the English teachers, one of the office girls) came to the apartment and I was taught how to use the stove, hot water, washing machine, etc. My predecessor left me a lot of stuff, and the school gave me some things too, so there's hardly anything I need - just one set of curtains, some potholders, a colander, a TV and a few other random small things.
After meeting a neighbor, we went to the supermarket. Then, my JET coworker (R-san from now on) helped me unpack and I made us some dinner. We had wine and sake as well, which R-san picked up for us. She got some ice cream too!! We spent a few hours talking about school and ourselves and then she went home and I finished unpacking. So, now my apartment looks nice and lived in!
I did a video of the house, and uploaded it to Google:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-845198773856239734&hl=en
Today I went to go meet a friend and got lost on the way there, so I headed for home to email him. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my map and have an amazingly terrible sense of direction. So, I got lost within about 2 or 3 blocks of my house for 40 minutes. The two school boys I asked didn't know my street, an old lady gave me incorrect directions, and then I asked a guy that looked to be in high school or college. He recognized the street name, but couldn't find it until I showed him a picture on my camera. All together, he spent about 20 minutes helping me look and eventually got me home. His name was Fukui-san. I was so pleased to be home.
I finally emailed and met with my friend, but felt so bad that it took me so long!!