Well, after a little over a year back in the States, I’m now once again living in Japan. This time, I’m doing the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program, which I must say was a lot harder to get into than the study abroad program I did before. Never the less, I’m here, settled in, and having a good time so far. I’ve been here two months and a lot has happened–probably most of which I won’t be able to remember while I’m typing this, and I apologize for that–but from now on I’ll try to update this a least once a month, maybe every other week if I’ve got a lot of news.
So, it all started with a flight–a long, long flight. (Actually, three flights to be exact.) Only this time, I knew the flight would be long, so I deprived myself of sleep to the point of having only a few hours in as many days, and I managed to make the time seem more like a drive to Dallas than a flight across the world. I think, in all, I slept probably 12 or 13 hours of my 15 hour flight. The movies were horrible anyway. (I think they even played feature length version of Stomp–so that’s two hours I can’t be blamed for.)
Anyway, I finally arrived in Tokyo’s Narita Airport with the other JETs I met in Houston mid-afternoon, made it through immigration and customs with no hitches, sent my bags off to Tondabayashi (a suburb of Osaka), where I live and work, and boarded a bus to the hotel. We stayed at the Keio Plaza Hotel, which was pretty nice, although I must say the room was nearly identical to the Tokyo Holiday Inn Brent and I stayed at 2 years before. On the first day we were free to do whatever so two of the girls I met in Houston and I all went out for dinner. The next day was orientation, which was surprisingly interesting. One man, who was the head of the Ministry of Education, if I can remember, was pretty funny. I think he talked for 15 minutes or so about how nervous he was to give speeches, then gave a speech for about the other 15.
Home, sweet home
After orientation ended, I caught the shinkansen to Osaka with Joe, an American who’s my “prefectural advisor” and John, another JET from Australia. After arriving at the Osaka Prefectural Board of Education building, we met some of the staff from our respective schools, signed some contracts and other forms , and were on our way. I arrived at Tondabayashi pretty late in the evening; was shown my apartment, where I met another teacher who had gone through the trouble of setting everything up for me; met the owners of my apartment complex, who live next door; bought some food from the grocery store down the street; and crashed. (Pictures are from later, when I actually got stuff put in order.)
On Saturday I woke up early and went to my school, which is only about 10 minutes by bike from my apartment. The bike I was left was not the best, and I figured I’d be riding it for a year at least, so I bought a new one that day as well. At my school I met some of the other staff, was shown around, and was generally stared at by the students who happened to be there preparing for the bunkasai (culture festival) which was coming up. (More on that later.)
Anyway, over the next few days (and weeks) I finally got settled in. For the first month I didn’t do much as I didn’t really know anyone, had no computer with which to contact anyone, didn’t yet know my way around, and was basically just trying to get my bearings. By the middle of September, I’d met quite a few people through my new friend Matt, who happens to be another OU alum working for the JET Program in Osaka, who happened to spot me on Facebook and shoot me a message. About that time, Nahomi also arrived back in Japan and since she lives nearby, we can meet pretty often. (That in and of itself is a weird story, seeing as how I didn’t even request to be placed in Osaka and was even told not to ask for it because it’s where everyone asks to go and I’d just be wasting a choice of location.)
'The Spiders' dance team
Also in mid September (13th and 14th) was the school bunkasai I mentioned earlier. This is basically a huge festival that takes place over the weekend at the school grounds and is managed almost entirely by the students. Each class plans their own activity, such as a play, a food vendor, or some other attraction. The third year (senior) students all do plays with their respective homerooms that are performed at the city theatre down the street from the high school. These were by far my favorite part of the bunkasai. Two of the classes did American plays, the Lion King and West Side Story, both of which were exceptional. I couldn’t believe the amount of work the students put into everything–from the costumes to the choreography to the sets, everything looked so professional. There were quite a few other things going on too, such as a ‘haunted house’ one class put on, a planetarium another did, lots of food and musical performances by some student rock bands. I also managed to attend a traditional tea ceremony put on by some students in the traditional style tea room the school has (which I was surprised about.) Everything ended on Sunday evening with a big bonfire that all the students ran around–it reminded me a lot of that scene from Lord of the Flies where everyone runs all primal-like around the fire. I even managed to get ran into while I was trying to film it. (I’ll upload the video when I can.) I realized for the seniors at least, this was the last bit hurrah of their high school careers. After that, it’s preparing for the college entrance exams and then off to university.
So far I haven’t done much travelling, but have managed to see a few cool things, mostly thanks to Nahomi. Her mom got us both tickets to see a Hanshin Tigers game, which, despite my dislike of baseball, was a really good time. The Hanshin fans are unlike any other in baseball. I think they’re the only baseball fans I know who perform organized cheers throughout the entire–and I mean entire–game. Over and over and over. Not sure that it worked though, as we ended up with a 1-1 tie after 13 innings, which was just long enough for me to miss the last train. Luckily, Nahomi’s train ran longer and her mom was kind enough to drive me home.
Kushikatsu
Aside from that, I’ve been to quite a few parties and met a ton of people so far. I really like being so close to Namba and Shinsaibashi, the places to be in south Osaka. There’s just so much to do, yet because the district is laid out on a grid, it’s very easy to find your way around. Not to mention the subway. Not too far off, Nahomi and I went to Tsutenkaku, a large tower in the Shinsekai district, where you can get a nice view of Osaka and try some kushikatsu at the many little shops in the area. (We ate that the most famous place, Daruma.) I must say, it’s now one of my favorite foods here.
Update your blog already..or at least post some pics..
-Brent