First Day on the Job

After my less-than-stellar introduction to the staff at the Board of Education, I was determined to make a splash on my first full day at the office. Since I arrived in Monbetsu on a Thursday, I was asked to come in the following Friday. I got up early and made sure I was dressed to the nines, despite the relaxed summer dress code, and went in about fifteen minutes early. Thanks to a tip the night before from my apartment's previous occupant, I had prepared a short introductory speech; I was fully prepared to make up for my lackluster and jet-lagged display from the day before.
Japanese offices are set up as clusters of desks in an open room. The entire Monbetsu Board of Education (BoE) staff resides in one room, with the exception of the superintendent, who has his own office. The three below him have their own desks along one edge of the room; everyone else has desks in clusters according to department, with the head of that department seated at the end of the cluster. My desk is next to that of the other JET, who hasn't arrived yet. Unlike in an American office, no cubicle walls or other dividers separate desks from each other; the idea is to foster open communication and group spirit.
Shortly after arrival, a few of the higher-ups talked for a while about current events. I couldn't understand what they were talking about, but it seemed pretty long considering that school is not currently in session and it wasn't about me. After this, everyone in the office talked briefly about what they were up to... and then it was my turn! I've never been more thankful to have prepared something in advance. After this, it was time to begin the workday.
My normal schedule, once school begins again, will be to show up at the BoE on mornings that I don't teach early classes, and stay there until I leave for classes. On some days, I won't go at all, and on some days when I don't have classes I'll stay there all day. Since school is currently out, I get to stay at the office all day long for the next two weeks. Terrific!
After lunch, I got taken out to see to some of the necessary paperwork I had to complete. I applied for my official Foreigner Card©, which proves to the police that I'm not a Russian gangster (in theory). I changed the name on my apartment from my predecessor's name to my own. We tried to open a bank account, but discovered that the Foreigner Card would have to go through first... not a huge deal, since I won't be getting paid for a month and a half. Most importantly, I got a cell phone! Not having had a functioning cell for the last week had been very uncomfortable to me, and now I get to puzzle out all the various bells and whistles ubiquitous to Japanese cell phones. So far, I know that my phone will track how many steps I've walked, and can be set to automatically broadcast my blood type (Japanese equivalent of horoscopes). The wonders of the modern age.
Tomorrow I'll go back into the office and start my first proper full week of work. At some point, I'll be taken out and shown how to drive a manual transmission, and later this week the other new ALT will be arriving. Exciting times in the city of Monbetsu! Next time, I'll talk about my introduction to the official Drinkin' Street here. Until then!

The Road to Monbetsu

Finally, thousands of miles and more than a week later, I've arrived at my new home in Monbetsu, Japan. No picture or description can ever truly communicate a place, but this is the view outside my window this morning:



But that's getting ahead of myself. When last I wrote I was in Shinjuku, in Tokyo. From there, the Hokkaido JETs flew out on Wednesday morning to Shin-Chitose airport, near Sapporo. Sapporo is the biggest city in Hokkaido, with a population of two million, it was here that I met my new boss and my predecessor. We stayed there for a night before heading out the next day for Monbetsu. Our hotel was the aptly-named "Swanky Hotel", which presents rooms that look like this:



Swanky indeed! We went out to a "Genghis Khan" restaurant, in which you grill strips of lamb over a fire at the countertop. The proprietor sticks a piece of fat on top of the grill to keep it greased up. Not knowing what this was, I was halfway through my second piece before she advised me not to eat it ("This is really chewy, whatever it is", I thought). We then hit the beer gardens, which is exactly what it sounds like.

The next day my supervisor and I got on a train for Asahikawa, where we changed over for a bus bound for Monbetsu. Although it took quite some time, this ride really allowed me to see some of the heart of Hokkaido, passing through gorgeous mountain roads and minuscule farming villages.



At this time, I finally felt I was getting somewhere - going deep through these isolated villages on the way to our eventual destination, my new home. We arrived in the afternoon, and I was given the harrowing experience of being introduced to the office right away upon arrival. I went to work the next morning, but this will have to be covered in my next update.

I'm in my apartment now, but not quite moved in yet; I've explored the town a bit, but not yet made it my home. It's only been two days, however, and I'm looking forward to the weeks and months ahead greatly. My new coworker, the middle school ALT, will arrive next week; I'm looking forward to meeting him, and having someone around going through the same process I am. This is the biggest adjustment from Tokyo Orientation; I'm no longer part of a huge and aimless herd of folks in the same situation as me. I'm on my own now, which is scary and exhilarating. Of course, I've been getting a lot of help, but I'm not longer just a face in the crowd. Now I'm home.

Secrets of Shinjuku

Quick update from the lobby of the swaying tower of the Keio Plaza Hotel, the swanky palace in which we've been put up for the last three nights. I've arrived here in Tokyo and had my head stuffed full of facts, ideas, and advice, and received a literal eight pounds (three kilos?) of paperwork, guidebooks, and forms. I've met a whirlwind of other JETs departing for all ends of our new country, and met an old friend for dinner and some drinks (nothing better to get the rusted gears of language turning again). Today I'll leave for the city of Sapporo in Hokkaido, where I will be meeting my new supervisor. From there it's a 7 hour bus ride to my new town, Monbetsu. I'm not sure if we'll do that today or tomorrow. Updates will follow when I can. As a side note, I'd like it to be known that the Japanese think that the upper right side of the keyboard, where ' usually goes, is a good place to put the + key. The @ sign, usually on shift+2, is over by enter and has it's own key; shift+2 is ". Oh, Japan, you have much to learn.

Leavin on a JET plane

Ahahaha did you catch that pun in the title? Did you like it? I hope so because if you ever join the JET program you will hear it at least three dozen more times. My suffering is your suffering.

I am writing from the Holiday Inn Express outside of O'Hare in Chicago, where we had orientation and dinner today. I met a whole bunch of people who's names I don't remember, and learned that things to be afraid of on JET include:

- Spiders
- Children
- Food
- Coworkers
- Hitting Children with Cars

Fun! Tonight I get to sit around wondering what to do with myself - it's storming out and I don't really want to go get drunk since I have a 14 hour plane ride tomorrow. In the morning we get up, cart our luggage to the airport, and get ready to travel forwards in time. Until then, thanks for reading! This is Tony, signing out of the US.

More pictures!

I've finally gotten around to uploading the last three months worth of pictures off of my camera, just in time for departure. From now on, pictures I upload can be found at my Picasa page, located in the sidebar or here. I'll be adding more to this page as I go along. For now, there's just pictures from before departure, showing some slices of life from the States.

Going Away Cookout Tornado Extravaganza

So my friends and I had a cookout to celebrate their never having to deal with me again. We proceeded happily ahead despite warnings of "possible severe weather."

Here's Ryan starting our beautiful cookout:


Here's us enjoying some food about an hour and a half later:



Tornado warnings are for sissies.

Horrors of Packing

Tonight's unenviable task is to compact the contents of my material life into this:



I don't consider myself to be someone who maintains a particularly large wardrobe, but it sure is big enough to not fit in here. More importantly, my books, movies, and CDs are most definitely not getting in there. Tragic.

The day is fast approaching when I leave - nine days from today until I'm in Chicago. I almost miss the days of endless complaints about the endless length of June and July... almost. Most of the preparations are complete; tonight's packing is merely a mock-up so I know what I need to give away, donate, or store. I also have to go through my backlog of pictures to process; this will be done at some point before I leave. Also remaining is getting yen, and getting as much money as I can to convert into yen. Will there be a period of time of hilarious destitution after I move? Most likely!

Stay tuned for updates as the big day approaches. As a final note, as I am packing I have realized that I don't possess a pair of lucky underpants. I really feel that this is something I should have at this point in my life. Whatever I wore to the interview is probably a good bet, but I don't remember what that was. Any suggestions to remedy this situation would be welcome.