First Weeks in Japan

Well first off I know I'm bad and I should have written on my blog weeks ago, but for one I've been busy and secondly a little lazy... But so far so good. I really like living here in Japan. It's a very different experience than Taiwan. A good way to describe it is it's kind of like living in the middle ground of Taiwan and Canada (ok this is isn't a very good comparison since no one I know except for Krista has lived in both places, but use your imagination). Everything is very different than home in many respects (like everyone speaks a different language) but other things are the same (the temperature, clean air, greenery, people obey the traffic rules etc.). Already my Japanese is probably as good as my Mandarin, which is a little sad for my lack of Chinese. but this time around I'm really trying. I have Japanese lessons with Ito Sensei every Monday afternoon and I'm continually hounding my co-workers asking what this and that is in Japanese (I can't say I always retain this knowledge, but I'm trying).

My actual job here is really good, and a lot easier than my job was in Taiwan. First off I get paid for the first hour and a half to play with the children outside. Also all my prep work is paid for and I have ample time for that. Actually I'm finding myself with a little extra time on my hands, hence the pestering of asking how to say things in Japanese. The children all have a very low level of English, so I'm constantly reviewing old material. The people here are really great too. Some of my co-workers have pretty good English but the majority all are at a low level. Thus the need for me to buck up and lean their language. But the English teacher I've replaced was here for the first 2 weeks I was here and she was great. Julie showed me all around Tomakomai (pronounced Toe-moe-ko-my). Also we went to Sapporo and I checked out the shopping there. It's fantastic, which could be dangerous. Also I fit in the clothing here, whereas in Taiwan I couldn't find anything except shoes. One of the pics is of the downtown and the other is the alcohol Bill Murrey plugs in Lost in Translation (I thought it was cool).

My work has also done two pretty special things for Julie and I. First they held a big party with all the staff (prob 25 people) with the two of us as the guests of honour. There we had really good expensive Japanese food (sooo good) and then sang karaoke. They made both of us start off the show singing seperate songs. So I jumped right in and sang a little George Michael Careless Whisper. Let me tell you it's a hard song to get the right pitch with. The next thing is my head boss Gacko Encho Sensei (means head Principal) had over her Legion type friends and also invited the local newspaper. She got Hokkaidos best Kimono dressor to dress Julie and I in two of her kimonos. We then had lunch and the paper interviewed us and put our pic in the nest days paper. Gacko Encho Sensei then presented Julie with that kimono to take home. Score. I'm excited for when it's my turn to say goodbye.

Anyhoo, I'll elaborate on daily life more in the next post. But all in all I'm really happy here. I already have a Japanese friend here named Eriko and she's already taken me to an Ensen (it's like a outdoor hotsprings/giant bathtub). Pretty much you have a shower then sit out door in the hotsprings, then you jumped in the cold pool and jump back into the hot springs. It's fricking freezing, but an experience. Oh and you can't wear a bathing suit, hence the giant bathtub. Then you go back to the showers and wash yourself again. Japanese people love to be clean. I still haven't figured out how to use my bathtub/shower but I'll save that for the next time.