ただいま、大阪。I'm back, Osaka!

Alright, it's been more than a month since I've arrived in Japan, and I have had had plenty of time to settle in.  Let me tell you: Everything is practically perfect.  I feel like I'm experiencing a second cycle of culture shock, and I'm in the honeymoon phase yet again.  The mountains are in the horizon.  I've gotten to make friends with people from all over the world through my job program.  My co-workers make me feel welcomed.  My apartment is clean and spacious (for a Japanese apartment).  There's a supermarket with almost everything I would ever need right behind my apartment building.  I'm within 30-40 minutes of the main city center by train.  My boyfriend is in the same country as me. And I have a salary!

Yeah, life is pretty good, and I feel almost guilty for being so happy.  I know my family is happy to hear that I'm happy.  I feel like it helps them to worry less about my well-being.

Anyways, since the end of my job orientation (2 days) in Tokyo and upon arriving in Osaka, I have been talking in and listening to so much Japanese!  I felt really really rusty since I hadn't practiced for two years, but oh my god, in just this one month, I feel like I've been given a crash course in conversational and work Japanese.  Now, I'm not saying that my mind's eye has been opened to understanding Japanese 100% because there is still like 70% of conversation and paperwork that I feel I cannot understand, but I have had so much authentic practice by just living in Japan that I have almost been brought back up to speed from where I left off.  It's crazy!  Being surrounded by the language you're trying to learn really helps improve language skills exponentially that no one hour a day weekly class could ever hope to.

So yeah, I'm adjusting to life in Japan pretty well.  The Board of Education and the employees at the city hall have helped me immensely, especially the translator, who is happy that I'm not a hopeless newb.  They've helped me get things in order like my bank account, my cell phone, and my residence card.  My senpai, the other Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) who live in the same building and work in the same town as me although at different schools, have also been supremely helpful in helping me learn to sort trash, take the bus to work, understand some workplace culture and habits, shop locally, etc.  I am so grateful that I wasn't just plopped into this rural town and expected to fend for myself. Shhhhhit, because if I had, it would have taken me A LOT longer to adjust and finally feel comfortable (and find good cheap food to eat, ha ha).

I will post a picture summary below soon.  I'm currently typing this on my school laptop.  Yeah, there is definitely a good chunk of what is called "desk warming."  I have a lot of free time on my hands despite being a full-time ALT.  Picture update coming soon!

Goodbye, Amerikuh

Hi, I'm back!  Back to this blog and Japan, actually, hee hee.

Right now it's past midnight, and I have been traveling for the past 24 hours.  I traveled from Miami to Dallas (3-4 hours) and then finally arrived in Tokyo at 4:15 pm Tokyo time  (after a 14 hour flight and an hour through customs and shipping suitcases to my future home).

It's been a whirlwind of a trip, but one thing I can definitely say is that I am thoroughly impressed with my program's organization and seamless transitions.  There was always a representative at every point of the journey from the USA all the way to the hotel room accommodations for orientation (I now have a two day orientation in Tokyo before I go to where I will teach in Osaka prefecture).  I never for one moment felt confused or lost.

Oh yeah, what am I talking about?  I am still recovering from this trip, ha ha.  I am back in Japan to teach English at the junior high (middle school) level as an Assistant Language Teacher.  I just finished my master's in English Education, and I'm really excited to teach!  I have found my passion, and now I can merge it with my interests in improving my Japanese and chilling in Japanese culture and mountainous country filled with delicious takoyaki and sushi.  See, that's the real reason I'm here.  I'm here to eat as much sushi as possible.  Mmm, that salmon.

I'm trying to remember what I wanted to write about, but my mind is still in zombie mode and all over the place.  Let's see… Right now, I'm in a hotel room with two other young ladies who traveled with me from Miami on this program.  I just skyped my mom, and I contacted other family and friends via facebook, LINE, and Tango to let them know I was safe and happy.  Oh, and then before that I met a friend to eat an izakaya (pub), and I ordered a Cassis Soda (omg, how I have missed that drink).  Before that I showered because, geezus, I felt so gross after that 14 hour plane ride.  Oh!  And on the plane ride, I drank quite a bit of the complimentary white wine, got quite tipsy, and then napped for about 3 hours.  In the past 24-36 hours, I have probably only slept 6 hours total.  I should sleep now before I just ramble on and fall asleep at my laptop.  Gotta wake up in like 5 hours.

Night!

I have returned to the land of the free~

Welcome Back to Amurika

Today was the first day I drove a car after nine months of being in Japan.  Yesterday was my first visit to Walmart since nine months ago.  Since about two weeks ago I had bbqs, days at the mall, movie theater experience, and many other “all-american” things for the first time in a long time.  Although I have been experiencing a bit of reverse culture shock mostly in the forms of “Oh my goodness, they don’t make xyz-food or drink in these sizes!  This small xyz-food or drink is the same as a large in Japan!” and “Service in America will never compare to Japan’s.  Geez, so rude…,” I’m actually really glad to be back.  It’s nice to finally have been able to spend time with close friends and family I haven’t seen in so long and be able to hug and kiss people and not feel awkward about it in public.  However, I do really miss the mountains in the horizon, my Japanese friends, the ease and convenience of travel and consumerism, and all the memories I made there.  It’s really bittersweet actually.  Both countries have good and bad to them, and I can understand and appreciate both.  BUT, seriously, there is no place like home.  I’m so happy to be back.