it's about time. . .

on monday, i spent an hour writing an entry about life in japan. . . because all the instructions on this computer are in japanese, i somehow managed to lose the entire entry!!! ugh!!!

i suppose it is now quite obvious that i arrived safely in japan last wednesday, august 17th. . . although i began my journey in tokyo, my main impressions came from its airports and the keio plaza hotel. . . toshi took me out on the town the first evening i was there, but all i really remember is falling asleep standing up on the train! sorry to disappoint those of you who were hoping to hear about the excitement of shopping and drunken karaoke. . . my first two days in japan went something like this. . . sleep, eat, sit through never-ending seminars on life as an alt in japan only to hear ESID (every situation is different), eat, want to sleep, more seminars, eat, sleep, get up at 5:30a.m. thanks to jetlag. . . by the time i left for kahoku on friday, i was finally beginning to adjust. . .

upon my arrival in kochi-ken, i discovered that essentially no one in my town speaks english! the good news is that more and more people in my office are trying to speak english . . . even when they speak to each other, which tends to keep everyone entertained. . . kazu and yoshi are especially funny. . .at my second enkai – after bowling – kazu answered his phone in english and thoroughly confused the person on the other end. . . oh, returning to my arrival in kochi. . . kaori and tatekun (my supervisor) took me out to lunch at a japanese restaurant. they insisted on requesting a fork, which was presented to me in a special little basket. . . everywhere i go, i am asked “can you eat japanese food? can you use chopsticks?” . . . “really?!?! sugoi desu ne!”. . . oh! the first item they showed me in kahoku was a vending machine! “do you know what this is? you have them in america?!?!” . . .

ugh, i have so much to say but doubt that you all have time to read three hundred pages on my first week in japan!

to sum up my first two days at the office. . . “let’s meet kahoku mayor.” “let’s meet elementary school principal.” “let’s meet town office workers.” “let’s meet junior high school teachers” . . . do you get the picture?? on friday, i visited five or more offices (which took at least three hours) before i even got to see my home!! after one hour of unpacking, tatekun returned to take me to my first enkai (office welcome party), where i shocked everyone by eating all kinds of raw fish with my chopsticks and meeting my first challenge. . . japanese style toilets. . . on monday i had to meet another five hundred people. . . and see the sports complex and soccer field, where i was told “green . . . friday brown. . .(hand gestures) ame (that means rain)”. . . i think that the stop at the sports field was more for the two guys to check out the team and condition of the field than it was to really show me anything. . . ah well. . . i am learning. . . learning names, learning japanese, learning to cook (without an oven or microwave even!), learning to drive on the opposite side of the road. . .oh! lots to tell about the roads. . .

at orientation, my roommate was telling me about japanese roads and how narrow they were. . .i really didn’t think much about what she was saying until we turned off of the highway to get to my office in kahoku. . . a road here would classify as an alley in the united states. . . no sidewalks, one car at a time. . . if two cars meet, one has to back up so the other may pass. . . what makes it worse is that there are drainage ditches on the sides (about a three foot drop usually leading to a rice field). . . as i walk or ride my bike to work each morning (you cannot drive anywhere within a one kilometer radius. . . a great idea i think!). . . oh, but as i go to work and have to pull to the side for cars to pass, i need to move as close to the edge as possible! i may end up in a rice field someday soon!

what else can i tell you??? haha. . . how about the bugs??? on saturday (my first full day in kahoku. . . alone. . . with no car), i set out to explore the town. . . of course the first thing i found was a ginormous spider . . . do you all know about my heart-wrenching fear of spiders??? i though i was going to die . . . the farther i walked, the more spiders i found. . . thankfully, i think the rain washed the spiders out because i have not seen the large ones for a while. . . anyway, when i returned home to organize my house, i discovered a dead cockroach under my bed (yes, thankfully dead or i would have died again). . . i was told later that the large spiders are good because they eat cockroaches. . . what a lovely thought. . . this is my favorite though. . .as i was about to leave for my first day at the office on monday, a “small” spider was waiting for me on my door handle. . . as i went to smash it with my restroom slipper, it started blinking its eyes at me!!! my heart was pounding so hard! i thought i was going to be late to work. . . i know, i know. . . it’s quite stupid, but it’s true!

ha. . . a lot of what i have written could be considered negative, but it honestly is not meant that way at all. . . things are mostly just different. . . i think the most difficult adjustment for me thus far is simply learning to live on my own (and therefore cook and clean and meet people and schedule my time). . . the main thing I miss is having people to visit at all hours of the day! it is especially hard because i am very young. . . only one other person in my office is in his twenties (27 and married) . . . most of the others are in their thirties or forties and have kids. . . i hope to get involved in some community activities soon, which should help . . .

oh! the kids i have met thus far are really cute. . . especially the elementary school boys are very curious to see an american. . . they come up and ask “amerika-jin desu?” and then begin to jump around saying “amerika-jin, amerika-jin”. . .september 1st will be the first day of classes. . . i was surprised to find that i will be teaching two preschool classes every wednesday, three elementary school classes on thursdays, and a community class on tuesday evenings (all of these are on my own. . . not team taught!). . . on mondays, tuesdays, and fridays, i team teach with the one and only person in this town that can carry on a fairly fluid conversation in english. . . my schedule is a bit intimidating at the moment, as i have never taught small children and i do not know what the level of the adult community class will be!! guess i wanted a challenge!!!

okay, i’m sure i have a million more stories to share but think i should end here as i am now approaching three pages! if you read all of this, you are most likely my mother. . . if you are not my mother, you have more patience than me. . . i will try to write more soon. . . oh, if you skipped to the end, know this. . . the people are very kind and energetic. the food is amazing! the roads are small. the bugs are large. life is good. . .think that summarizes it.

oh! for those of you waiting to see if i am alive. . . the typhoon changed its course late in the week and missed kochi-ken.