In a few hours, Kris' plane will be landing in Narita International Airport. From there, it'll take him about 3 hours to make his way to the shin-osaka station where we'll finally be reunited after two weeks.
I'm really excited to see him again. I'm also really excited to stop living like a bachelor.
That's right, I said bachelor.
I think I'm considering myself more of a bachelor, instead of it's hard to spell female counterpart, because of how I've been living these last two weeks, but this week especially. Single girls have nice apartments filled with the basic needs for day to day living. Guys drink milk out of the carton and get by on what few things they have. Which is exactly how I've been living. Right now I own a small selection of cleaning supplies, an iron, a handful of disposable chopsticks, one spoon, one fork, and a small selection of towels that my mom bought for me for the move.
Did you know you can butter bread with a spoon? Or that toilet paper is a perfectly fine substitute for kleenex and paper towels? Yep, this has been my life. Dinners bought from the convenience store, and juice drunken straight out of the carton.
I hope Kris is ready for all the shopping we're going to have to do when he gets here so we can finish making this place an actual home. Somehow I don't think he'll mind.
At least we'll be together.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Culture Shock
I don't think culture shock is a good title, but it's better than the "differences between Japan and North America." I'm not going to bother with the obvious differences, like bowing and school uniforms, but the real differences that will take foreigners by surprise.
1. The kids are kids: The Jr High girls are sweet and innocent, complete with ponytails. If they're trying to be anything, they're just trying to be cute, unlike their North American counterparts, who are busy trying to be dirty be-autches.
2. Shopping: You pack your own stuff. Yeah, not too different from some places in Canada, but how they go about it is different. You bring your basket to the cashier, who takes an empty basket and puts it on the counter. They then take items out of your basket, scan them and stick them in the new basket. Once they're done that, they hand you a bag or two, you pay, and then you move down to the packing station. The packing station even comes with those little bags you use to wrap your veggies and fruit in. Also, when you're in a grocery store, if you buy anything that needs to stay frozen and cold, you're directed to a dry ice machine and you use to fill the bag with your frozen goods in it. It's so cool!
3. Taxi: Small fact, the taxi's have doors that automatically open and close. They look and work like a regular door, in the fact that they swing open, but the driver has a button he presses to open and close the door.
4. Bikes: Bikes seem to be the major mode of transportation here in the land of the rising sun, and man, do they have it down to a science. The kick-stand on my bike back home was not a sturdy or reliable device. In fact, I spent many weekends tightening it. Here though, the kick stand is not just a thin piece of metal that has to rely on physics to keep your bike from falling over. It's a larger piece of metal that goes under your back wheel and keeps the whole thing from tipping over. Then there's the bike lock. It's a little half circle that's attached to the back wheel that comes with a key that needs to be in the lock while the bike is in use. This is extra helpful to those of us who are prone to losing things. Like keys. Sorry if these wordy descriptions are not enough to paint a proper picture. I'll try and take photos of my bike tomorrow.
5. The blind: I have yet to see a blind person, but
Japan is very helpful to the blind. They don't seem to have brail in odd places (like on the keys of a drive-though atm) but they do have it on the most interesting on places. For one, all the sidewalks have slight groves on them to help a blind person follow the path, and each street corner has small bumps on it. I'm not sure if all the merchandise has it, but shampoo has bumps on the side of the bottle so blind people can tell the difference between it and conditioner. Such a neat idea.
That's all for today, but as I explore this vast land, there will be more tales and other comparisons.
1. The kids are kids: The Jr High girls are sweet and innocent, complete with ponytails. If they're trying to be anything, they're just trying to be cute, unlike their North American counterparts, who are busy trying to be dirty be-autches.
2. Shopping: You pack your own stuff. Yeah, not too different from some places in Canada, but how they go about it is different. You bring your basket to the cashier, who takes an empty basket and puts it on the counter. They then take items out of your basket, scan them and stick them in the new basket. Once they're done that, they hand you a bag or two, you pay, and then you move down to the packing station. The packing station even comes with those little bags you use to wrap your veggies and fruit in. Also, when you're in a grocery store, if you buy anything that needs to stay frozen and cold, you're directed to a dry ice machine and you use to fill the bag with your frozen goods in it. It's so cool!
3. Taxi: Small fact, the taxi's have doors that automatically open and close. They look and work like a regular door, in the fact that they swing open, but the driver has a button he presses to open and close the door.
4. Bikes: Bikes seem to be the major mode of transportation here in the land of the rising sun, and man, do they have it down to a science. The kick-stand on my bike back home was not a sturdy or reliable device. In fact, I spent many weekends tightening it. Here though, the kick stand is not just a thin piece of metal that has to rely on physics to keep your bike from falling over. It's a larger piece of metal that goes under your back wheel and keeps the whole thing from tipping over. Then there's the bike lock. It's a little half circle that's attached to the back wheel that comes with a key that needs to be in the lock while the bike is in use. This is extra helpful to those of us who are prone to losing things. Like keys. Sorry if these wordy descriptions are not enough to paint a proper picture. I'll try and take photos of my bike tomorrow.
5. The blind: I have yet to see a blind person, but
Japan is very helpful to the blind. They don't seem to have brail in odd places (like on the keys of a drive-though atm) but they do have it on the most interesting on places. For one, all the sidewalks have slight groves on them to help a blind person follow the path, and each street corner has small bumps on it. I'm not sure if all the merchandise has it, but shampoo has bumps on the side of the bottle so blind people can tell the difference between it and conditioner. Such a neat idea.That's all for today, but as I explore this vast land, there will be more tales and other comparisons.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Hajimemashite, Koren-sensei!
Today was a busy, busy day.
While it was a great day of learning about my new home and how to live in Japan, it was mostly about meeting people. So many people that tomorrow I'm gonna have the fun job of apologizing and asking for people's names again.
First I was taken to my Board of Education to meet the people in charge. It was a weird kinda interview. It was like an interview in the sense that they were asking me questions about my previous experience with children and teaching, but it was extra weird cause they didn't speak English so I had to have a translator.
Then I was driven to the three schools that I'll be teaching at. Each school I went to had one teacher who spoke English, but their skill levels lessened at each school I went too. It will be interesting to see how well I can learn to communicate with adults who don't speak English. Good thing I rock at charades.
Everyone I met was very impressed with my Japanese, which was very nice of them since I really don't know all that much. Yeah, I know enough to get around and get things done, but for the most part, I have no idea what anyone is saying to me. Still, anytime I used a new word they were very impressed. It almost seems like they are just humoring me, but I know they are actually impressed that I know more than just "sayonara" and "arigato."
But tomorrow is my first day of work, so we'll see just how impressed they are with me then.
While it was a great day of learning about my new home and how to live in Japan, it was mostly about meeting people. So many people that tomorrow I'm gonna have the fun job of apologizing and asking for people's names again.
First I was taken to my Board of Education to meet the people in charge. It was a weird kinda interview. It was like an interview in the sense that they were asking me questions about my previous experience with children and teaching, but it was extra weird cause they didn't speak English so I had to have a translator.
Then I was driven to the three schools that I'll be teaching at. Each school I went to had one teacher who spoke English, but their skill levels lessened at each school I went too. It will be interesting to see how well I can learn to communicate with adults who don't speak English. Good thing I rock at charades.
Everyone I met was very impressed with my Japanese, which was very nice of them since I really don't know all that much. Yeah, I know enough to get around and get things done, but for the most part, I have no idea what anyone is saying to me. Still, anytime I used a new word they were very impressed. It almost seems like they are just humoring me, but I know they are actually impressed that I know more than just "sayonara" and "arigato."
But tomorrow is my first day of work, so we'll see just how impressed they are with me then.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
4 hours and 20 minutes to go
Yeah, it's 2:30 in the morning and I'm still awake. I'm fully packed, but I'm still awake. On purpose too! Since Japan has a 14 hour time difference I decided to stay up all night tonight, sleep on the flight over tomorrow and then hopefully it'll be easier to reschedule my sleeping pattern.
In other news: this week I got a phone call from the head office and I got a posting! Yay! I'll be working at a few elementary schools and jr high schools in the town of Nishiwaki in the Hyogo Prefecture.
Wow, Koren, that's a lot of words that don't really mean anything to me.
Yeah, well, I figured as much so here's a map. From what I understand, we're near Universal Studios Japan, the Imperial Capital of Japan, and the port where we would catch the ferry to South Korea and China. We're also around 6 hours away from Tokyo, and many hours away from the BFF, G-chan. Which makes me sad, but it's better than being an ocean away. We'll make it work.
Some people had voiced their concerns about us not getting an apartment quickly enough, and I'd like to take this time to let you know, that all is good. The same evening that I got the call about my placement, I got an email from a very nice person from my company who found me a semi-finished apartment near my schools. It comes with broadband internet, a TV and TV stand, a bed, and a washer AND DRYER! And it's more than one room! I'm pretty excited about that. It has a very authentic Japanese bathing area, so I need to do some research on how to to bathe Japanese style. That's gonna be a fun google search.
While I don't have any inside pics of my future apartment, I do have an external photo and a floor plan that you guys can take a gander at (see bottom) . My apartment in on the first floor, suite 104. When I move in on Friday I'll post some pics, or do a video blog and give you a grand tour of my new home.
Speaking of video blogs, expect to see my first one on Monday evening (which will probably be super early Monday morning North American time) which will show my hotel and a bit of Osaka, the town I'll be in for my training. Let's see if I can get final cut loaded onto my mac, and maybe it'll be a better quality of video.
If that's too long to wait to see how I'm doing, follow my twitter and see my instant updates. I will be updating as often as I can. It matters how many free wifi connections I can get. I wonder if there's an internet connection over the ocean...
In other news: this week I got a phone call from the head office and I got a posting! Yay! I'll be working at a few elementary schools and jr high schools in the town of Nishiwaki in the Hyogo Prefecture.
Wow, Koren, that's a lot of words that don't really mean anything to me.
Yeah, well, I figured as much so here's a map. From what I understand, we're near Universal Studios Japan, the Imperial Capital of Japan, and the port where we would catch the ferry to South Korea and China. We're also around 6 hours away from Tokyo, and many hours away from the BFF, G-chan. Which makes me sad, but it's better than being an ocean away. We'll make it work.
Some people had voiced their concerns about us not getting an apartment quickly enough, and I'd like to take this time to let you know, that all is good. The same evening that I got the call about my placement, I got an email from a very nice person from my company who found me a semi-finished apartment near my schools. It comes with broadband internet, a TV and TV stand, a bed, and a washer AND DRYER! And it's more than one room! I'm pretty excited about that. It has a very authentic Japanese bathing area, so I need to do some research on how to to bathe Japanese style. That's gonna be a fun google search.
While I don't have any inside pics of my future apartment, I do have an external photo and a floor plan that you guys can take a gander at (see bottom) . My apartment in on the first floor, suite 104. When I move in on Friday I'll post some pics, or do a video blog and give you a grand tour of my new home.
Speaking of video blogs, expect to see my first one on Monday evening (which will probably be super early Monday morning North American time) which will show my hotel and a bit of Osaka, the town I'll be in for my training. Let's see if I can get final cut loaded onto my mac, and maybe it'll be a better quality of video.
If that's too long to wait to see how I'm doing, follow my twitter and see my instant updates. I will be updating as often as I can. It matters how many free wifi connections I can get. I wonder if there's an internet connection over the ocean...
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