In Japan - Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu-machi
I've arrived successfully and had a few days to settle into my new apartment here in Anamizu. It's deathly humid and hot here, but I'm surviving.
The JET orientation in Tokyo was a joke, for the most part. There were a few useful seminars, but in all honesty, I think orientation should take place almost entirely at the prefectural level, instead of in Tokyo. That way, the information would be far more relevant, because, as we were told a thousand times before and during orientation, "ESID" (Every Situation Is Different).
I'll be teaching at three schools here (two elementary, one middle), and supposedly doing odd translation/interpretation work as well, although I have no idea what that will entail. I feel incredibly humbled regarding my ability to speak Japanese... while I can understand people for the most part, I just can't seem to formulate my own speech, and it's incredibly frustrating.
The flight from Haneda/Tokyo to the Noto Airport wasn't even an hour long, although while riding the bus to the plane, we got caught in a 20-minute long traffic jam on the tarmac(!?). After arriving, I was quickly shown my apartment and my workplace at the town hall. Over the past few days, I've been introduced to my three schools, met with the mayor of Anamizu, and done a ton of necessary shopping (I have a Japanese cell phone already, and internet service should start at my apartment in approximately a week, if all goes well!).
I also met up with some fellow JETs a couple of times so far, one night we went to the beach and lit some fireworks, another night we went to a festival in a town to the south called Nanao. The festival had these giant floats with lanterns on them called "kiriko", which are insanely tall and carried by an insane number of people. After I get net access at home, I plan on posting a few pics of these, they're incredibly difficult to describe properly.
So anyway... life is being lived. Posting this from work. Hopefully they don't mind.
The JET orientation in Tokyo was a joke, for the most part. There were a few useful seminars, but in all honesty, I think orientation should take place almost entirely at the prefectural level, instead of in Tokyo. That way, the information would be far more relevant, because, as we were told a thousand times before and during orientation, "ESID" (Every Situation Is Different).
I'll be teaching at three schools here (two elementary, one middle), and supposedly doing odd translation/interpretation work as well, although I have no idea what that will entail. I feel incredibly humbled regarding my ability to speak Japanese... while I can understand people for the most part, I just can't seem to formulate my own speech, and it's incredibly frustrating.
The flight from Haneda/Tokyo to the Noto Airport wasn't even an hour long, although while riding the bus to the plane, we got caught in a 20-minute long traffic jam on the tarmac(!?). After arriving, I was quickly shown my apartment and my workplace at the town hall. Over the past few days, I've been introduced to my three schools, met with the mayor of Anamizu, and done a ton of necessary shopping (I have a Japanese cell phone already, and internet service should start at my apartment in approximately a week, if all goes well!).
I also met up with some fellow JETs a couple of times so far, one night we went to the beach and lit some fireworks, another night we went to a festival in a town to the south called Nanao. The festival had these giant floats with lanterns on them called "kiriko", which are insanely tall and carried by an insane number of people. After I get net access at home, I plan on posting a few pics of these, they're incredibly difficult to describe properly.
So anyway... life is being lived. Posting this from work. Hopefully they don't mind.