First Post in Japan and Orientation

Welcome!

So this is my first official post on my blog about my experiences in Japan. I have been meaning to get this started for awhile, but the lack of an internet connection has delayed this for the first month that I have been in Japan.

The point of this blog is mainly for my friends and family to know what I’m up to, and to also chronicle my time here. So first off if you don’t know, I applied for this program called JET or Japan Exchange and teaching last November. After a lengthy application and interview phase, I was accepted to be one of many Canadian and English foreigners to be whisked away to Japan to teach English in Japanese public schools. So here I am, living in Japan…..lets get started!

Tokyo July 25^th- July 28^th

I landed in Tokyo on Sunday July 25^th at Narita International airport. The flight went well, from Vancouver it was only about 10 hours, and it went by quite briskly. Especially, since we were flying business class with JAL. The contingent of about 100 JETs from British Columbia and Alberta arrived on time and without a hitch. The most interesting thing that occurred that day was when we were making our way through the arrival gates and heard loud cheering outside. My first reaction was like “WOW,” they really welcome the new English teachers in Japan. However, just when I walked out, I noticed tons of Read Madrid soccer jerseys and Beckham signs and that is when I realized that Real Madrid was in Japan to play a friendly. It was really weird walking in front of dozens of TV cameras and crowds of people.

After the airport where we were herded onto buses that led us from the airport to Tokyo. We arrived in Tokyo about 40 minutes later and stayed at the classy Keio plaza hotel, which was probably going to be the nicest place I am ever going to stay at. At night a few Canadians that I had met up with decided to explore the Shinjuku area where we were staying. Being my first time in Asia, I was pretty amazed by how things are in Tokyo, it is a pretty crazy city, with its neon lights and its endless streams of people. We had a good time exploring a bit of the city, and the main words out of our mouths, was “I can’t believe we are in Tokyo.”

My first night was definitely a memorable one, as we decide to go into a restaurant and try out the local cuisine. Unfortunately, we choose a menu with no pictures. I was the most fluent of our group, which really isn’t saying much. So I tried to order using my broken Japanese, when suddenly the waitress asked if I spoke Chinese, as she was Chinese herself. I replied I did, but…she spoke Mandarin and I spoke Cantonese. So using all three languages I managed to order our group some sashimi, chicken and rice and we all had a great time drinking Kirin well into the night and then went exploring around Shinjuku some more.

The second day in Tokyo was when the main workshops happened. All in all the workshops were beneficial and interesting. Lots of information gets thrown at you, and I now have a whole bookshelf full of handbooks and teaching materials to aid me. The second night I spent with Asuka’s friend Aya who lives in Tokyo. She brought me around the town and we had a nice dinner and visited Shibuya, one of the trendiest areas of Tokyo. I took a picture with this famous dog statue, it did something during the war, I have no clue what it did but Aya just told me to take a picture with it.

On the third night, was when Japan formally welcomed the new JETS with a typhoon. Did I also mention that the day we arrived there was also an earthquake, so we definitely got a nice Japanese natural disaster welcome. Our final night in Tokyo was suppose to be our formal dinner at the Canadian embassy, but due to the Typhoon it was canceled. Instead, a few of us decided to venture out into the typhoon, which ended up being a weak one as it actually passed most of Tokyo. My final night in Tokyo was also a great night, as I had lots of Beer and Chu-hi, a fruit infused alcohol. We ventured into a place called the Arabian Rock, which I kid you not, was made to mimic Arabia in ever way possible. They even played Aladdin music outside and had all the Arabian nights décor. Inside, everything is stone with a hostess that wears a traditional Arabic garb and even asks you to rub a magic lamp that has a puff of smoke exploding from its spout. Yea, definitely a place I have to re-visit the next time I am in Tokyo.