first impressions

So I’ve been living in Japan for almost two weeks now and I’m starting to feel like I’m settling down. It’s been a whirlwind of alien registration, opening bank accounts, training and figuring out trains. When I arrived in Kanayama (my neighborhood) and saw my room, my first thought was, “I can’t do this”. It was two strides wide and across and had no working closet. I was so frustrated because after living out of my suitcases for almost 3 months, I couldn’t spread out and put my things in the right place. I was cramped and hot in the Japanese humidity, where I felt that I was trapped in a dense cloud of overcast. My roommates, Christy and Sandy, were really sweet to me but both of them were about to leave so they weren’t going to become tight friends.

The company also had me train with 3 people in a city about 30 minutes away, which is a huge commute from where I work. It was really cool to see how another branch would be, though I thought it was really disorganized to have me train and make friends with people that I will have a really hard time hanging out with. The boys in my training class were fun though. We spent most of our time making fun of our trainer and nicknaming him Gifford. Our last night of training, Gifford took us for drinks and we sang karaoke. This time I made it a point not to fall and hurt my knee. (For those that don’t know, that’s another story).


I am really lucky to have my friend, Brandon, here. Not that I haven’t met a lot of other teachers and enjoyed meeting some Japanese people, but it’s important to have someone you know, who shares your values watching your back. After training, we spent our day off wandering around Nagoya and found a store called Toyku Hands that sold only cartoon paraphernalia. I’ve never seen so many pencils, stickers, notebooks, towels and cell phone bling in one place. I must have wandered around that store for an hour wondering how best to pimp my new Japanese cell phone. I already have 2 charms; the Nintendo one is from a vending machine and the Koran-Chan one I bought from my cartoon friend on the street.

This week I started working at my branch and, though it’s far and very small, I really like my staff and my students. I’m learning Japanese vocabulary and writing characters on the train, so it’s nice to have a long train ride.



I moved into a new room tonight, since one of my roommates moved out. I am finally feeling settled into my new home. I am liking my job, trying to learn the language and meeting people. Now that I’m settled, I’m ready to start exploring the city and then Japan. Watch out Tokyo…here I come. (Daft Punk, y’all! December 7 and 8th. WHAT?!)