Long time no write
Well it's been a while since I've posted here. I had been waffling as to what to do, and realized that I missed being in Japan, so I applied for and got a job teaching English in the school system (I know most of you already know this, but this is for those who are reading this who I don't talk to as much).
I arrived in Japan on March 21st, after a 12 hr plane ride. I arrived and got to Omiya(where the office is) and found a hotel room. Turns out someone (I suspect my nephew, cause he's always the one) got me sick, and it kicked in full blast that night. The next day I headed to the office and got my paperwork sorted out, then went to the area office to get my gaijin card (foreign registration card). When I got there I realized that I didn't have the office number. Thankfully another teacher, Lynn, showed up and I borrowed some of her information. In my defence, I hadn't slept well, as i was waking up coughing constantly, and had had that 12 hr plane ride the previous day. I waited for her and we headed back to the office. We had some time to kill, so we did a bit of walking around, and finally headed back to the office to get our stuff and head to the training facility.
We found our way to the training facility and got settled. That night there were a few people who arrive and we all hung out talking, then got a short briefing about the do's and don'ts of the facility. The next day most of the other teachers had to head into Omiya but Lynn and I stayed and tried to do some studying and greeted people as they arrived.
Between the earthquake and the fact that the school boards don't decide until the last minute if they're going with our company, there was a bit of anxiety about placements. It also resulted in some training being done without our lead trainer. Sometimes the speaker would speak Japanese, and while they did their best for translations, occasionally there was some confusion. My favourite translation for the 3 days was "if you're not here tomorrow, it's okay, since we have video" (it should have been, if you weren't here this morning, we have video to see what you missed).
Once training was done there was a short party, but man, did we squeeze alot into 2 hrs. The boss was pouring our drinks, there was tons of food, and lots of laughing. The next day we mostly headed our own ways. A large group headed to a hostel, while I was still sick so I chose to go to a hotel. There was a few others who chose the privacy over money, so we travelled together.
Monday I headed back to Omiya (from Saitama shintoshin) to get a copy of my certificate of registration so I could get my phone working. I also decided to get my paperwork for my apartment sorted out, so I headed over there. When I got there there was 6 other teachers waiting. There's another teacher in my building, and one nearby, and somehow we lucked out and our paperwork was printed out first, so we got sorted out. I left about 2.5 hrs after arriving, and I was the first one out.
Yesterday, I tried to find the cell phone company so I could get my phone active. That didn't happen, but I did find a mall, and a black suit jacket (the one thing I couldn't find before I left). I wandered around for at least 3 hrs finding my way back to the hotel. I spent the rest of the day catching up on American TV (House, Castle, NCIS, etc).
Today I headed out to where I'll be living. I found my apartment and the 3 schools I'll be working at. The one that I'll be at most is far enough away that I think I really want to get a bike rather than having to walk. I stopped by the office to arrange my medical, which will be tomorrow at 9:30, which means I may have to actually set an alarm, since I need to get to Omiya, then to the hospital.
What's going to make that interesting is that I actually have no voice right now. I'm still coughing, occasionally, so we'll see what the docs say.
I can't move in until Saturday, so that leaves me one day with nothing planned. Depending on how things go tomorrow I may head into Tokyo and do some sightseeing, or I may just head back to the hotel and take the day off and head into Tokyo on Friday.
So that's my update. Sorry there's no pictures, but I haven't really been taking pictures. Maybe once I get settled down I'll start taking some pictures of the area where I be living, etc.
My new address as of Saturday is:
344-0055
Japan
Saitama-Ken
Kasukabe-Shi
Yagisaki-Cho 1-30
Leopalace Hibiki Apt 304
Michelle McGarrity
344-0055 Japan
埼玉県春日部市八木崎町１-３０
レオパレスひびき Apt 304
McGarrity Michelle
I arrived in Japan on March 21st, after a 12 hr plane ride. I arrived and got to Omiya(where the office is) and found a hotel room. Turns out someone (I suspect my nephew, cause he's always the one) got me sick, and it kicked in full blast that night. The next day I headed to the office and got my paperwork sorted out, then went to the area office to get my gaijin card (foreign registration card). When I got there I realized that I didn't have the office number. Thankfully another teacher, Lynn, showed up and I borrowed some of her information. In my defence, I hadn't slept well, as i was waking up coughing constantly, and had had that 12 hr plane ride the previous day. I waited for her and we headed back to the office. We had some time to kill, so we did a bit of walking around, and finally headed back to the office to get our stuff and head to the training facility.
We found our way to the training facility and got settled. That night there were a few people who arrive and we all hung out talking, then got a short briefing about the do's and don'ts of the facility. The next day most of the other teachers had to head into Omiya but Lynn and I stayed and tried to do some studying and greeted people as they arrived.
Between the earthquake and the fact that the school boards don't decide until the last minute if they're going with our company, there was a bit of anxiety about placements. It also resulted in some training being done without our lead trainer. Sometimes the speaker would speak Japanese, and while they did their best for translations, occasionally there was some confusion. My favourite translation for the 3 days was "if you're not here tomorrow, it's okay, since we have video" (it should have been, if you weren't here this morning, we have video to see what you missed).
Once training was done there was a short party, but man, did we squeeze alot into 2 hrs. The boss was pouring our drinks, there was tons of food, and lots of laughing. The next day we mostly headed our own ways. A large group headed to a hostel, while I was still sick so I chose to go to a hotel. There was a few others who chose the privacy over money, so we travelled together.
Monday I headed back to Omiya (from Saitama shintoshin) to get a copy of my certificate of registration so I could get my phone working. I also decided to get my paperwork for my apartment sorted out, so I headed over there. When I got there there was 6 other teachers waiting. There's another teacher in my building, and one nearby, and somehow we lucked out and our paperwork was printed out first, so we got sorted out. I left about 2.5 hrs after arriving, and I was the first one out.
Yesterday, I tried to find the cell phone company so I could get my phone active. That didn't happen, but I did find a mall, and a black suit jacket (the one thing I couldn't find before I left). I wandered around for at least 3 hrs finding my way back to the hotel. I spent the rest of the day catching up on American TV (House, Castle, NCIS, etc).
Today I headed out to where I'll be living. I found my apartment and the 3 schools I'll be working at. The one that I'll be at most is far enough away that I think I really want to get a bike rather than having to walk. I stopped by the office to arrange my medical, which will be tomorrow at 9:30, which means I may have to actually set an alarm, since I need to get to Omiya, then to the hospital.
What's going to make that interesting is that I actually have no voice right now. I'm still coughing, occasionally, so we'll see what the docs say.
I can't move in until Saturday, so that leaves me one day with nothing planned. Depending on how things go tomorrow I may head into Tokyo and do some sightseeing, or I may just head back to the hotel and take the day off and head into Tokyo on Friday.
So that's my update. Sorry there's no pictures, but I haven't really been taking pictures. Maybe once I get settled down I'll start taking some pictures of the area where I be living, etc.
My new address as of Saturday is:
344-0055
Japan
Saitama-Ken
Kasukabe-Shi
Yagisaki-Cho 1-30
Leopalace Hibiki Apt 304
Michelle McGarrity
344-0055 Japan
埼玉県春日部市八木崎町１-３０
レオパレスひびき Apt 304
McGarrity Michelle