I'm Off to Real Japan

See map of Japan for visuals
http://www.servas-japan.org/contents/Map1_Japan.html
See map of Oita for visuals
http://www.pref.oita.jp/10400/guide-o/pdf_e/mapoita_eng.pdf

Well, I am in real Japan, I guess. It's not like Tokyo isn't real (esp. since, as we all know, Tokyo is what most foreigners think of when they think of Japan), but I've been living in a hotel for 3 nights, 4 days, and am surrounded by English speaking folks (almost 1000 of them!). We crowd the hallways and lobbies of this hotel; it feels like the airport. It certainly doesn't feel like a place where one would need to speak anything other than English.

We've been rushed around in groups and as a giant cohort into varirous orientations with topics ranging from driving in Japan and the expenses (about 6,000 USD per year) to team-teaching methods used with Native Japanese Teachers of English to how to survive as a rural JET (me). We've had candid discussion panels about life as a JET. We've been welcomed by Japanese teachers, reps from the Ministry of Education, and various other Japanese officials.

Even though we've been overloaded with information and so-so meals, most of us have managed to at least once get out into the city and explore or play a bit. For the most part, after 7 PM, we've been free to walk around or go wherever we like. For the first two nights, I met up with my good friend, Kaoru, who I met in the US 3 years ago and have visited, along with her lovely family, in Tochigi prefecture while I was studying abroad. I was in bed by 10 pm. Last night I went out with a group of people mostly from Oregon (since we had all arrived together in Japan and have become nicely acquainted) for some beers and Karaoke. Let's see, songs sung were: Holding Out for a Hero, Pocohontas (Colors of the Wind), Baby Got Back, Bohemian Rhapsody, Time to Say Goodbye, etc. I believe all genres were represented in our 2-hr, 27 USD + 1 beer singing room.

So now, this morning, we depart this famous hotel (Keio Plaza in Shinjuku) for our destinations. In Japan, there are 47 prefectures. You can think of these as states, but they are the size of counties. We are all pretty stoked about meeting the people we will be spending the next year or more with. I'm pretty anxious to unpack my many suitcases and figure all the things out that I'll need. It sounds like there is a lot of paperwork to do when I get into my city. Also, it seems like there will be many introductions, self-introductions, and ceremonies (just for me) when I arrive. This is all rather inimidating, but it's also what everyone will face. And really, it's all just to make us feel like we're an integral part of the community.

A thing that I found very interesting was that there are many many (100s) of JETs here like me. What I mean by this is that I think at least 1/2 the people speak Japanese, more than half have been to Japan before, and many are teachers from their home countries. It's not that I didn't expect this, but I am happy to learn that I have many similar interests with English speakers stationed all over Japan. Two important contacts are one chica in Okinawa, and an hombre in Sapporo, Hokkaido. I hope to do some visiting during at least one of the 15 national holidays of Japan.

So I am off to my hometown, my new home in Japan. I've provided map links so that you can familiarize yourselves with my new area and Japan in general. I'm in Oita Prefecture, Southern Japan, and I'm in a town area called Bungo-ono. It may be a while until I contact anyone again, or it might be this evening ;) I haven't set up Skype again since my comupter was reloaded (b/c of problems). But make sure that you're on so that we can talk for free! And away I go.....