I am writing this as both an update and a means to pass the time as I sit on the bus that will take me to Fukui city for another 2 and a half days of orientation. How much time do i need to pass? 9 hours. That’s right, a bus… in Japan… 9 hours. Some of you are probably thinking “Why not take the much talked about bullet train which will get you there in 4 hours?” That my friends is what I’ve been asking since I found out that we would be taking this long long bus ride. Still no answers on that one. I think this is something that I will have to get used to when asking the unpopular questions.
BRIGHT SIDE: The Japanese countryside is amazingly beautiful and seeing all the different landscapes is helping to soothe my frustrations.
So Tokyo… huge metropolis – check, skyscrapers galore – check, never-ending buildings as far as the eyes can see – check. You get the idea. For those of you that know me, not my ideal place to live. That being said it was great to be a tourist. The orientation was held in the Keio Plaza hotel in Shinjuku, which I must admit is an amazingly beautiful hotel with all the comforts of home. I was very very impressed with the accommodations, even if we did have to room with 2 others.
I managed to explore some of the hotel’s surroundings in Shinjuku and take a quick trip to Shibuya with a few other JETs. Sadly, I think jet lag got the better of me for most of the orientation which meant that when i wasn’t in training, I was likely sleeping and trying to adjust to the 13 hour time change. Not an easy thing to do and I am still trying adjust.
Orientation consisted of several workshops per day on topics including life as a rural JET, driving in Japan, teaching Senior High school, and pop culture in the classroom. For the most part, many of the sessions were redundant and boring or we previously covered in the Toronto pre-departure orientation. This was probably a mixed blessing since I was not paying much attention in a few of them since I was still struggling with jet lag. I am sad to be leaving Tokyo because it means that the good group of friends I made from the JETs in Toronto are now going our separate ways and in all likeliness we will never all be together again in Japan. On the other hand, I am also excited to be heading to my home prefecture and to discover what my life in Japan for the next year will be like. Most of the details of my placement have been a mystery to me as I received my final placement details fairly late in the summer and have not had much in the way of information from my predecessor.
More to come as i get the details in Fukui!
Hope everyone at home is doing well and that you are and will keep in touch.
- O
Ouch, 9 hours =\
I totally agree with you about Tokyo: crazy, fun place but I wouldn’t want to live there. I was also super impressed with the Keio Plaza. I couldn’t believe how HUGE it was! I also agree that alot of the seminars were super lame, but it was fun to meet people and share that nervous, excited energy with everyone! I wish we could have been at the same orientation!
I’m excited to read how Fukui is!