Adjusting to Life

This is going to be a long post. I have a lot to say, it's been quite an adventurous past two weeks.
Hopefully my writing is somewhat entertaining.

I've been here for nearly two weeks now.
In one sense it feels like I've been here forever, though I've not yet settled in.
I'm finally not living out of my suitcase and starting to use my dresser that was left behind by my predecessor. Many things were left behind that are beneficial but certain essentials were missing. Luckily, there's a home-goods store literally right down the street from me.

But this is now. And up until this point, I've had a whirlwind of events since touching ground in Narita.

It was such a blessing to be able to arrive in Tokyo aboard the same plane with all the other JET's from Hawaii. I can definitely say that I've become good friends with many of the Hawaii JET's and they've become such a great support line in just 2 weeks. It also helps that I had two classmates from KS (Kikaha and Kamu) as well.

Once I exited the airport it was quite a shock to realize just how hot Japan summers are. People aren't joking when they advise others not to visit Japan during the summer. The humidity is unbearable and the heat from the sun only adds to the misery. The short walk from the exit of the airport to the bus was a task and by the end of the walk, my shirt was soaked in sweat. Gross. Luckily the bus was already running with AC and it was easy to quickly cool down. On the bus ride we (Myself, Kikaha, and Kamu) sat next to other JET's from Canada. Nothing really much more to say about that.

We were told that when we got to the hotel, we wouldn't know who we'd be rooming with. So I was a bit nervous to open my door when I got my key. Boom. I opened my door and I was the first one that arrived. Apparently we had found out that they tried to put the Consulate JET's together, meaning that all Hawaii JET's would be rooming with one another. A few minutes passed by and much to my relief, a Hawaii JET opened the door to my room! I'm pretty sure we were both stoked about that and we lucked out as my roommate, Keita, is now my closest friend in Japan.

Keita and I at Tokyo Orientation. This is also quite possibly the first time I've been "Dressed Up".

There's not much more to comment about Tokyo Orientation. They were long days filled with workshops and conferences, much on things that I was already familiar with. I hope reading this segment where I write about Tokyo Orientation is boring you so that you can feel the boredom I felt while sitting in Orientation all day for two straight days...all while being Jet-lagged.

That was that. We were in Tokyo (Shinjuku), so we tried to have some time exploring the city. I'd been there in January of this year so it was easy to get around navigating, but physically it was a pain as my leg was still a bit sore from my dog attack. However, I was able to meet up with Nathan in Shinjuku again and that was quite exciting for me. We ate Happy Chicken and it lived up to the name as it was pretty good. I would say that it was nothing to write home about, but I'm writing about it now, so it must have been good.

On my last night there I was able to go to Yokohama with Tyson to watch the Matsuri Fireworks. I knew fireworks were a big deal in Japan, but one would just have to experience them to truly understand. Even though I had been in India earlier this year and thought I've seen as dense a population as you can get, I had never seen so many people in one small area as I had in Yokohama. We were squished into the train like a salmon and the throngs of people was quite a sight! The fireworks were huge, they were loud, like nothing I've ever seen. Unfortunately, a picture cannot justify the size and awe-factor of the fireworks.

These pictures do no justice. But still worth sharing.

The next morning was a sad one. We all were heading our own way and now our real adventures began. It was sad to say goodbye to one another and intimidating to go off on our own. Fortunately for me, there are about 6 Hawaii JET's in the Fukuoka area so we do have a great support system for one another!

The flight was short, almost too short, as the tension started to build as we neared Fukuoka. We knew that supervisors from our schools would be waiting for us at the airport. So naturally, we decided to all exit baggage claim as a group. Silly, yes, but somehow it was easier to cope with that way then being a lone wolf.

I saw a cute sign held with my name and met two JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) from my school, Oyama and Hatsuku Sensei. I was nervous and didn't really know what to converse about but I somehow managed to make small talk and enjoy my time. I played out in my head how it would happen, and I figured that whoever were to pick me up would be surprised that Mizumoto-San would be as dark as I am. And yes, I'm pretty sure they were surprised to find out that I'm Mizumoto-san and that I am part-Japanese. Come to think of it, that was one of my first conversations with them. I asked if they were surprised that I was Mizumoto, and they said yes.

Nicer handwriting than my own.

When we exited the airport and walked towards the parking lot I couldn't believe how humid it was. If I thought it was humid in Tokyo, then I knew nothing. Literally two steps outside, my nice dress shirt was soaked. It was embarrassing just how soaked my shirt was, especially since it was a first impression to my supervisors at work. But Japanese people are so nice, and actually apologized for it being so hot. But no matter how hot it was, or will be, this is my life now so I just had to deal with it.

I'll fast-forward and summarize a bit now so as to not lengthen this post.

I work at Kaho-Higashi Senior High School. I haven't met much student's yet as they are on summer vacation. So yes, I mostly just sit at my desk all day and look through lesson plans. I'm sure most others are bored and I occasionally get texts from other Hawaii JET's saying how bored they are. But I'm an education major, so I find it quite interesting to look through material and see what I can do to adapt to the system and hopefully even improve on it as well.

My School, Kaho-Higashi Senior High School

I'm excited to begin teaching and to meet all the students as well. That will happen next week hopefully. So until then, more sitting at my desk.

My Jutaku (Apartment) is very old and looks like the housing! I was shocked to see that the place where I'll be living is so run-down, but it's at least really big. Almost too big. There are 2 bedrooms a living room, and kitchen.

From the outside

Living Room

Spare Room. And yes, of course a bike room.

Bedroom. Small-kine messy.

Kitchen. Though now it's been rearranged.

It's been quite lonely here. I tend to eat dinner by myself and in silence at the kitchen table. I even take pictures of my dinner and send them to Kikaha and Keita, Tyson, and Jennifer (Fukuoka JET) and say "Dinner for One!"

Some examples of "Dinner for One"

The markets here are strange, so that'll be something fun getting used to. Especially being the only foreigner shopping there as well.

Even though it's been lonely, I'm happy that the Hawaii Fukuoka JET's are close and that the other JET's in my Jutaku are very nice, helpful, and friendly. They had taken me out to eat sushi on my second night here and that was very welcoming and I am very happy to know they are here. They still even offer to help me out and make me feel welcome and comfortable in Iizuka.

But, most of my adventures have been with Keita so far in Fukuoka.

Canal City

Hakata Station

Pokemon Center

Doraemon

Yafuoka Dome

SoftBank Hawks Game.
Time for the balloons to be released during the 7th Inning Stretch

John Bowker!

Keita had scored free tickets to a Hawk's baseball game through a friend of a friend, who just so happened to be a play for the Rakuten Golden Eagles, the team playing against the Hawks on that particular night. It was unbelievable how lucky we were to score those tickets and we enjoyed the game very much.

I actually have two bikes now! I first bought my Commuter, Mama-Chari on my first day here and immediately slapped that frame with stickers. It's a single speed and it's hilly in Iizuka so it's not that much fun, but it works well. I'm much more excited about the CX bike that I got in the mail today. I was outside fixing a fellow-jutaku's (Amy) bike when the deliveryman came to drop off my bike. I built that up as fast as I could and was excited to finally have a bike that I can go on long rides with. Sadly, I cannot yet ride as my leg is not ready to ride.

Speaking of my leg. I've been to the hospital here 5 times so far. I received stitches and I just got them out. The good news is that my leg is good. The bad news is that I can't move too much so that I do not re-open the cut. So until then, I've been pretty immobile but once I wait this out, I'll be able to explore more!

That's about all that's been going on here. I do miss home. I miss my friends, family, and cat. Thanks to the internet and my new iPhone 5C (Pink), I can still keep in touch.

I'll leave this post with a few more pictures of the places I've been so as to maybe interest someone.