Now, for most JETs, their predecessor will have left a week earlier than their arrival. However, that wasn’t the case for me and mine. She and her boyfriend were still living in the small apartment. I was not sure how well that would work out and if it would be awkward at all (for me it was, I am not sure about them). We pulled into the narrow parking lot for the apartment and we drug out my suitcases. I felt bad about having Sakuma lugging my suitcase up four flights of stairs; so, I had her take my small carry-on while I took one of my big ones up for the first trip. The stairs were concrete and slightly on the steep side. I was winded by the time I got to the top. Sakuma had entered before me, so I was able to go in through the open orange metal door and into my apartment. I said a quick hello to my predecessor and excused myself as I left again to get my second big suitcase. I entered the apartment again with my second suitcase and closed the door behind me. April, my predecessor, told me that the second bedroom was mine for the time being and to feel free to put my stuff in there. I did and then did a quick look around the room. It had tatami mat flooring and a real bed-which I was happy about because that meant I wouldn’t have to take out and put away a futon every day. The room was also furnished with a desk and some short black shelving units. The window for the room was nice and large and open to the slight breeze that was moving through the apartment.
Walking back into the kitchen/entryway area, I noticed that the floor was old hardwood and the cement whitish-grey walls were a bit scratched. The piping was exposed for the water, but it was covered and then wrapped in a white-cream tape. It was topped with a layer of dust that I knew I was going to have to wait until my pred was gone before I could start my cleaning spree to make the apartment feel like mine. The entryway (genkan) shared the wall with my current bedroom and was a step down from the kitchen area and also concrete. There was a shoe closet in the wall as well which was painted a frosty green color that was also on the wall by the sink for the bathroom. The bath area was next to the genkan and it was its own small concrete room that also housed the washing machine. In a mini closet of a room (if it can even be called that) was the toilet. Yes, it had its own room. Then the sink was outside of both of those rooms. It was nice enough, but I came to realize that it did not provide hot water. There was only cold water. Wonderful in the winter. The room behind the sink was the main bedroom that April used. The last room in the apartment was the living room, which was also tatami mat. That was where April and Sakuma were sitting with the air conditioner on. Once I entered, April closed the doors to the room and we sat drinking in the delicious cold air. They chatted for a bit and then Sakuma brought out papers—this time for April to sign and okay. It seemed to me that Sakuma was one to easily get stressed and when she did, she got out of breath. It was really strange and kind of concerning to me to know that the person who was basically in charge of me was a kind of person who seemed to have a weak disposition towards any kind of stress. It made me wonder if she was appointed this job or if she volunteered. According to April, Sakuma had changed to be her “handler” after her first year in Japan. So, that meant that Sakuma did not really know how everything worked and that this was her first time handling everything about us ALTs. Oh dear. I wasn’t worried because no matter what happened, it was not my job to know everything, but it was Sakuma’s to keep me informed as to what was going on so that I did things on time. Which was nice for me because that meant less stress. After a while, Sakuma left to grab one more piece of paperwork that she forgot at her apartment that she needed April to sign, and it was just April and me. So, I asked her what it was like as an ALT. She had four schools that she visited and Sakuragaoka was the main school that she went to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesdays, she went to Taira Technical High School (Heiko for short) and it was pretty much an all-boys school that focused on engineering and the like. On Thursdays, she traveled to a school that was “in the mountains” and she had to take a train and a bus to get there, and it took a good hour. It was a lower level school where some of the students had mental disabilities. Lastly, once a month, she visited a school that was an untraditional high school. It was a high school for those who did not fit into regular high school whether it was because of behavioral issues, time issues (family were farmers and they had to help with the crops), or something else. These students came to school later than their peers at regular high school and left at a different time than most schools released for the day so that the two groups did not meet. This school also had a night school and allowed the students to complete high school on their own terms—meaning the students could take up to five or six years to complete high school. Her main method on getting to Sakuragaoka was to take the bus, although she also had a bike and the school was actually close enough to walk to (it took about twenty to thirty minutes depending on how quickly you walked). The school repaid her for her travel schools (Tuesday and Thursday and the once a month school) but not if she took the bus to Sakuragaoka. But, of course, she told me that I would have to fill out paperwork every week for my travel schools to let my school know I was traveling, for what reason, and when I was going to be back (it got old quick). That night was their rock climbing night. They did it every Thursday night at a nearby indoor rock climbing gym. I changed out of my fancy clothes I had been wearing all day, and into some much more comfortable gym clothes. I made sure to wear some longer pants since I knew I was going to be climbing and I did not want people to see up my shorts. Sakuma returned and after April signed the paper, she drove us to the rock-climbing place. We thanked her and entered the building. It was a fairly decently sized building for rock-climbing and several people seemed to know April. Brian, her boyfriend, was already there and climbing. I signed up for a membership because if I came again it would be cheaper the next time, and tried on multiple pairs of shoes before finding one that sort of fit. Since Japan did sizes in centimeters, and I did not yet know my size (26), I had to do trial and error multiple times before finally deciding it was too embarrassing to ask yet again for a bigger size. I started on the beginner wall and followed the colored path to the top and then climbed down. I would not get a harness, but instead I would just “boulder”—meaning I would go without a harness and just either climb back down or carefully jump. It was fun, and I enjoyed the workout, but it was kind of lonely since the other people in the place were Japanese guys who, of course, only talked to each other. After about an hour, other ALTs showed up and I got introduced. They were all nice and seemed like they would be good people to hang around. After about two hours, we left and went to a yakiniku restaurant where we grilled our own meat at the table and it was delicious! That night I slept well, albeit I woke up really early the next day. So, it was the day that April would go to school with me and show me around. I wore black capri pants with a short-sleeved shirt and new black flats. That was a mistake. Note to self: NEVER WEAR NEW SHOES WHEN YOU HAVE TO WALK A LONG DISTANCE. Well, I wasn’t really aware as to how long the walk actually was, truth be told. But once we arrived, April took me to the nurses’ room and they were kind enough to clean my heals and put Band-Aids over my blisters and wounds. Needless to say, it took me several weeks to finally figure out that no one cares what type of shoes you wear to get to work because once you get there, you change into your indoor shoes (I eventually got tired of always putting Band-Aids on my feet and switched to flip flops). After spending the morning at school, we grabbed lunch from the downstairs lunch ladies that brought in bento boxes for the students and teachers to choose from and pay for. I got a kind of rice noodle salad that was delicious and only for 180 yen (about two dollars). Around one o’clock, Sakuma came up to our room and took us to the bank so that April could finish closing her account. I sat by, watching and listening to all the Japanese, trying to absorb at least some of it. Since I had been to Japan a few times before, I was not overwhelmed with the amount of things I did not know. I knew that I would have a hard time understanding everything, so I tried to focus on reading katakana (used for foreign words) and picking out the kanji I recognized. Around 2:30, we left and headed over to the inkan building to get my hanko that I would use instead of signing my signature on documents here in Japan. It was a personalized stamp that people in japan use instead of writing their signatures on documents. Mine would say “su-mi-su” (Smith) in katakana. It was small and white and each time I stamped, I had to use a specific kind of red ink. We then when up to the fourth floor of the mall where there was a kind of office that was used for governmental stuff. I never really understood what I was signing, but I guess I never really had to since it was all on Sakuma to take care of my residency and other official businessy stuff. All in all it took another hour and a half to get more paperwork signed and copies made. That night was April’s goodbye party and my welcome party. Sakuma left us to get changed and showered and came back for us at around 6:15. We arrived at the restaurant and went up the stairs to our own private room. I had never been to an enkai before, so I did not know what to expect. I had heard stories from other people who had been to them, that it was a time for everyone to relax and drink a lot. The party was limited to the English teachers at Sakuragaoka, so there was about ten of us total. The meal came out in stages—starting with a small ceramic boat-like dish with three smaller dishes on top, one of them containing a few tablespoon portions of whale meat! Other dishes included seafood pizza, sashimi, salad, and much much more. Drinks flowed aplenty, with everyone encouraging everyone to drink some more even if their glass was only half empty. It was a great, fun night of getting to know more about the other teachers and having them learn more about me. It was nice to be able to mingle Japanese and English together and have everyone understand. The night ended with April receiving gifts and giving a teary speech. I could tell that a lot of the teachers would miss her and that she would miss everyone a lot. We then retired back to the apartment for the evening and I went to bed. Saturday was a day where April’s friend Ayumi picked us up and we went to the lighthouse. It was great to get out of the apartment again and get active (well the car ride wasn’t active, but once we got there it was a climb to the top). The breeze was nice after there hardly being any in town and at the apartment. We got out of the car and started the climb to the top. There were stairs up to the top, so it was an easy climb. Looking over the view at the top, we could see the reconstruction efforts still in effect on the beach. Onohama was one of the beach towns that got hit hard by the tsunami in 2011, however it looked as if they were doing well in reconstructing the new water wall. The waves were amazing to watch for a few minutes before we passed the gates and started our climb up the startlingly white lighthouse. It took a good two dizzying minutes to reach the top. A few other people were there too, enjoying the scenery and the ocean breeze. Since there aren’t any lighthouses in Iowa, it was unique and special to be able to come to one within my first week in Japan. That evening was a fireworks festival in Onohama. April was gracious enough to let me borrow one of her summer kimonos (called yukata) to wear to the festival. We got changed at Ayumi’s parent’s house before heading off into the night. We met up with several other of April and Ayumi and Brian’s friends and after wandering around for about thirty minutes trying to find a good spot, we stood over a bridge in front of the dock and watched the fireworks for the next two hours. The fireworks were better executed than the ones I watch in Iowa (that could be because the town I go to watch them in is really small and because the ones in Onohama were lit off of barges) and were even in time to music. I quite enjoyed myself. The next day, I had April and Brian take me to Sakuragaoka to retrieve the bike that I would be using during my stay in Japan. Since Brian had a car, April relied on him some days for transportation and had left the bike at the school. She unlocked the bike for me and Brian adjusted the seat (to its most extended level) to fit my height, and after a shaky start, I left them to go explore the town on my own. Now, I did not know much of anything about the layout of the town, so it was definitely trial and error to try and find the recycle shop (named Hard Off—it’s actually part of a chain of Off stores: Book Off, Hard Off, House Off, and a few more that I haven’t been to or seen) I had seen when Sakuma had taken me around the days before. Eventually, I found it. I was hot and sweaty, but I didn’t care at that point because it was a small victory for me to have made it there. I went in and encountered the blessed air conditioning. While I air dried, I looked around at the clothes section before heading off and seeing the rest of the store: purses, dishes, sports gear, kids section, furniture, DVDs, CDs, games, computers, and musical instruments. Nothing tripped my fancy that time, but it definitely would not be my last trip there (I think I go there about once a week just to see if I want anything or to buy new clothes for myself). On my way back through town, I dropped off my bike behind the big mall and went in. The first floor is mostly small restaurants and a large grocery store. The second floor has more restaurants, a coffee shop, and many stores. Third floor had more stores, and the fourth floor has the government office (that I went to with Sakuma) and the library. I spent a good two hours just browsing through the stores and seeing what all there was. It is pretty much like any American mall, but there are more specialty stores and more things that are “cute”. I stopped by the convenience store that is a couple of blocks away from the apartment and bought supper: an onigiri and a sweet bean paste filled mochi rice cake. I had no idea what was inside of the onigiri since I could not read the kanji, so when I bit into it, it was a pleasant surprise to find that it was salmon.
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Myself
Video blogger and now a blogger as well. My life in Japan has changed me for the better. However, it wasn't easy... Archives
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