Japan adventure part 1
Japan life so far,
So this is a real update on my travels so far in Japan.
October 18th, I arrived in Okinawa Japan. After being at the airport in Taiwan for two hours after my 13 hour flight, I had made it. So far my trip here had been okay. I ended up getting seated next to an old guy who was coming from America to visit his family in the Philippines. He was a huge help since for most of the flight the stewardess tended to ignore me. However I was happy just to make it to Okinawa. Okinawa was very hot, but it was also very beautiful. Passing over the ocean to get there was amazing. The waters were so blue and crystal clear. However my trip on airplanes was not over yet, and I boarded my last plane to go to my final destination, Ishigaki. On the plane to Ishigaki I ended up getting to sit by the window. I then finally realized that I was now officially off to the beginning of my new life. To be honest I was scared, I had started to miss my friends and family when I had gotten on the first plane, an as I looked out that window I had begun to think of all the fun memories, all the hard times, and all of the people who I was going to miss dearly. The flight to Ishigaki was only 50 minutes. The plane finally touched down at its final destination, and mine for the time being. When I first stepped off the plane I was greeted by a gust of warm air. I had no clue that it was going to be that hot, however I was glad that I had brought my summer clothes with me. After the plane landed and I got off I went directly to get the rest of my luggage. It was interesting; I honestly did not have to do much. The people down in the Yaeyma prefecture are really helpful. Some random girls saw my carry on and went and got the rest of my luggage for me. I really did not notice since I was jet lagged and tired. I was in shock when they brought it over to me. I said that you very much about three times and in turn helped them with their luggage. As I exited the luggage area I found Matt waiting for me. I cried for a bit because it was good to see friendly face. We left the airport and went to the hotel that we stayed at for two days. In those two days I met some of his friends and I quickly clicked with all of them. We went out to bars, restaurants for the first few days. After the first few days matt and I went to stay at his house. It was this amazing old style Japanese traditional log cabin house. His landlord’s house is just beside it, and it was also nice, a much larger version of Matt’s house. After we got settled in there the next few days were filled with traveling around Ishigaki, to going to other islands. I went to Taketomi and saw a festival for the harvest called “Tanedori-sai”, it was a amazing festival and I took a lot of pictures. I am going to included only a few of them though. We then on my last weekend went to Iriomote Is. This is where the famed Yama-neko live, or wild cats. We went with Suzy and John, two other people in the Jet program, Suzy’s two friends Amy and Peterri (who was visiting from Finland), and Veronica, and another Jet program participant. We all canoed and explored various beaches; we actually may have seen a Yama-neko flee as we approached a beach. The beaches in this Island are known for their star sand. I guess a creature that lives in the sea when it dies its shell floats to the shore. The shell happens to be star shaped. We got to see a amazing waterfall and go hike up to it also during our canoe trip. After we came back to Ishigaki it was people going back to work and me getting ready to depart.
I left Ishigaki on the 3rd of November. It was a hard thing to do since I had gotten use to being there and had made friends. However it was not where I was working so I sadly said my goodbyes and got onto the plane. I landed in Nagoya at 8:30 in the evening. I got my luggage and went to find Mr. Hayashi. After meeting up with him I was on my way to my new home for a year. So far I have taught two weeks worth of classes. I am teaching mostly adults with two lesson being kids of jr. high age, and a set of twins who are in the 3rd grade here. Most of the people I teach are friendly; however I think that they are more frightened of me still. It was hard being here the first few days, the woman who got me the job here introduced me to some people, however I have mostly been at home watching television and sleeping. I am also taking a Japanese class here, it is on Sundays. Oddly enough though, the next main population of Nishio is Brazilian. The reason is because Nishio is not far from Toyota city, where the Toyota car factories is, and are working. So Spanish and Portuguese are just as popular as English is here. However besides that it is a nice quiet sleepy town. Not much to do, but nice to be here and work. It is starting to get cold here, and soon it may snow. However I am doing well overall. Things can only get better form here and with the support talks that I get from Matt and the emails and messages that I receive from home are keeping me going. I got Skype, which is a phone service for computers so that I can call people now, if you add it’s free service I can call you for no charge at your computer I guess. I also have a cell phone here, but it is expensive to call so I am going to try and find a calling card that works for me to also call home. I miss everyone a lot and I do hope that all is well with you. I hope to hear form all of you soon either by snail mail or email okay. I know that I can make it through this and I do thank everyone for their support so far. I am going to end this update here on that note, if anyone wants to mail me anything email me and I will give you my address okay. Miss you all and much love
Sincerely
Tanyisha
So this is a real update on my travels so far in Japan.
October 18th, I arrived in Okinawa Japan. After being at the airport in Taiwan for two hours after my 13 hour flight, I had made it. So far my trip here had been okay. I ended up getting seated next to an old guy who was coming from America to visit his family in the Philippines. He was a huge help since for most of the flight the stewardess tended to ignore me. However I was happy just to make it to Okinawa. Okinawa was very hot, but it was also very beautiful. Passing over the ocean to get there was amazing. The waters were so blue and crystal clear. However my trip on airplanes was not over yet, and I boarded my last plane to go to my final destination, Ishigaki. On the plane to Ishigaki I ended up getting to sit by the window. I then finally realized that I was now officially off to the beginning of my new life. To be honest I was scared, I had started to miss my friends and family when I had gotten on the first plane, an as I looked out that window I had begun to think of all the fun memories, all the hard times, and all of the people who I was going to miss dearly. The flight to Ishigaki was only 50 minutes. The plane finally touched down at its final destination, and mine for the time being. When I first stepped off the plane I was greeted by a gust of warm air. I had no clue that it was going to be that hot, however I was glad that I had brought my summer clothes with me. After the plane landed and I got off I went directly to get the rest of my luggage. It was interesting; I honestly did not have to do much. The people down in the Yaeyma prefecture are really helpful. Some random girls saw my carry on and went and got the rest of my luggage for me. I really did not notice since I was jet lagged and tired. I was in shock when they brought it over to me. I said that you very much about three times and in turn helped them with their luggage. As I exited the luggage area I found Matt waiting for me. I cried for a bit because it was good to see friendly face. We left the airport and went to the hotel that we stayed at for two days. In those two days I met some of his friends and I quickly clicked with all of them. We went out to bars, restaurants for the first few days. After the first few days matt and I went to stay at his house. It was this amazing old style Japanese traditional log cabin house. His landlord’s house is just beside it, and it was also nice, a much larger version of Matt’s house. After we got settled in there the next few days were filled with traveling around Ishigaki, to going to other islands. I went to Taketomi and saw a festival for the harvest called “Tanedori-sai”, it was a amazing festival and I took a lot of pictures. I am going to included only a few of them though. We then on my last weekend went to Iriomote Is. This is where the famed Yama-neko live, or wild cats. We went with Suzy and John, two other people in the Jet program, Suzy’s two friends Amy and Peterri (who was visiting from Finland), and Veronica, and another Jet program participant. We all canoed and explored various beaches; we actually may have seen a Yama-neko flee as we approached a beach. The beaches in this Island are known for their star sand. I guess a creature that lives in the sea when it dies its shell floats to the shore. The shell happens to be star shaped. We got to see a amazing waterfall and go hike up to it also during our canoe trip. After we came back to Ishigaki it was people going back to work and me getting ready to depart.
I left Ishigaki on the 3rd of November. It was a hard thing to do since I had gotten use to being there and had made friends. However it was not where I was working so I sadly said my goodbyes and got onto the plane. I landed in Nagoya at 8:30 in the evening. I got my luggage and went to find Mr. Hayashi. After meeting up with him I was on my way to my new home for a year. So far I have taught two weeks worth of classes. I am teaching mostly adults with two lesson being kids of jr. high age, and a set of twins who are in the 3rd grade here. Most of the people I teach are friendly; however I think that they are more frightened of me still. It was hard being here the first few days, the woman who got me the job here introduced me to some people, however I have mostly been at home watching television and sleeping. I am also taking a Japanese class here, it is on Sundays. Oddly enough though, the next main population of Nishio is Brazilian. The reason is because Nishio is not far from Toyota city, where the Toyota car factories is, and are working. So Spanish and Portuguese are just as popular as English is here. However besides that it is a nice quiet sleepy town. Not much to do, but nice to be here and work. It is starting to get cold here, and soon it may snow. However I am doing well overall. Things can only get better form here and with the support talks that I get from Matt and the emails and messages that I receive from home are keeping me going. I got Skype, which is a phone service for computers so that I can call people now, if you add it’s free service I can call you for no charge at your computer I guess. I also have a cell phone here, but it is expensive to call so I am going to try and find a calling card that works for me to also call home. I miss everyone a lot and I do hope that all is well with you. I hope to hear form all of you soon either by snail mail or email okay. I know that I can make it through this and I do thank everyone for their support so far. I am going to end this update here on that note, if anyone wants to mail me anything email me and I will give you my address okay. Miss you all and much love
Sincerely
Tanyisha