JET Program Tokyo Orientation 2010

I'd like to take a moment to release a long, deep, sleepy sigh:

Si-------igh.

It's been quite a day.

I am in Tokyo now. In the same city, in the same hotel where I was exactly one year ago today. Except this time, I am on the other end of things.

Last year I stumbled off a plane, piled my bags onto a cart, trudged through a hotel full of smiling people pointing the way, wondered why they were so incredibly happy to see me, and came to this hotel to collapse in a haze of utter exhaustion.

Today I took a short bus ride to the airport, was assigned a little corner next to the elevator, and spent the next 8 hours grinning crazily at new JETs as they stumbled off a plane and trudged past me pushing a cart piled with bags, and then came to this hotel to collapse in a haze of utter exhaustion.

Still exhausted, but this time, I am on the other end of things. This year, instead of being a new JET just off the plane, I am a Tokyo Orientation Assistant (TOA). And I have to say, I prefer it!

I flew to Tokyo on Friday.

I took a monorail and three trains by myself, arrived in Seijo, Tokyo around 10 p.m., and met some friends to stay the night.

I woke up on Saturday morning, took another train, and arrived at this hotel: The Keio Plaza Hotel. Then I attended 4plus hours of training, got sushi with a new friend, boarded a bus, and went to a different hotel near Narita airport.

Woke up this morning, joined the rest of the TOAs, and went to the airport to anxiously await the arrival of hundreds of new JETs.

Our duties at the airport involved an unnecessary amount of waiting around, so when that first JET walked around the corner to my little welcome station, I nearly grinned my face off. I was so happy to welcome this new french friend, who I may never see again, to a year or more of incredible adventures, that I could hardly contain myself. I wanted to hug every JET that walked by me (except the ones that were all glare-y... they scared me).

So for the rest of the week I will be here at this hotel, manning the information desk or the hospitality center (where JETs can iron clothes, skype call home, get medicine, or have a chat), setting up for orientation sessions, and just generally trying to make myself helpful. All while meeting other TOA JETs from all over the country, learning about their experiences, and making awesome new friends. I am loving it already.

I feel like I've come full circle in a way, and I can't imagine a better celebration of my one year anniversary in Japan. Here's to another year and Tokyo Orientation 2011!

I did it! I passed the test for my Japanese driver's license!!

For those of you who don't know, you may be surprised that I've been here a year and driving around without a license, but actually, I was allowed to use an international driver's permit (like a translation of my american license) for a year, but it expires next month. Some countries have some sort of agreement with Japan so that they don't have to take the actual driving test, but that isn't the case for Americans.

I might post a longer blog about the whole grueling process later, but for now I will just say: I did it. I am so happy.

Cafe KUGAFU: Updated

Cafe KUGAFU Mosaic
Originally uploaded by ReBekha Michele

I felt a little down today after failing my Japanese driver's test (more on that later), so I decided to spend the rest of my morning off at my favorite cafe: KUGAFU. I wrote about this place before in my "Open Letters" blog, and continue to go back at least once a week. I love it so much!

So, I've decided to write a little review about them for the Okinawa JET newsletter, and another for a local website called Okinawa Hai. Gotta share the love! I will post one of the reviews on here when I finish, too. :)

To prepare for those reviews, I took a bunch of photos today. Here are a few of my favorites in mosaic form. Yay!

Kazuno-san (the owner's daughter who helps run the cafe) was incredibly obliging. She answered all my questions, tolerated my photo-craziness, and was so kind. Thank you, Kazuno-san!

I'm really excited to have a writing "assignment" of sorts. I've missed this!

p.s. Kazuno-san has used some of my photos on the KUGAFU website! Click here.

Oh, Beautiful

I'm trying to teach my students about Independence Day this week,

but every time I say the words "constitution," "independence," or "patriotic,"

their eyes gloss over.

Show them a picture of a kid in a cherry-pie eating contest, however,

and they're nothing but riveted attention.

I think all they're getting out of my class is that people throw candy during parades and fireworks scare dogs.

On the other hand, all I'm getting out of it is homesickness.

I have to admit it's difficult to be patriotic while living abroad.

Especially when so many people's opinion of America is negative

(often for good reason).

I find myself fighting down the urge to lie about where I'm from

just to avoid the ridicule and judgement.

It feels like other nationalities can be openly proud of their heritage,

but since Americans are expected to be cocky jerks, I have to bite my lip.

I am proud, though.

I don't hold to the delusion that America's got it all together, or that we are somehow superior to other trazillion* people on the planet.

However.

I love my beautiful country and all of the incredibly warm, loving, and embracing people in it.

So even though I didn't eat hamburgers this year,

didn't light fireworks,

wear red, white, & blue,

or get to spend time with my family,

I am thankful for the 4th of July.

Thankful it reminded me that where I'm from is part of who I am, like it or not.

Happy Belated Birthday, America.

*rough estimate

Rock Star ReBekha, Fresh Water Longing, Lunar Eclipse in Paradise

The following three events have been so note-worthy that each of them could've kept me happy for a month or more. The fact that they all took place within a week of each other means that I have had no time to write about them. :) So, ya get a three-for-one deal this time!

1. Rock Star ReBekha

A few weeks ago, some of the teachers approached us ALTs about singing with their band at the school festival. Four practices later, I was dressed like this:

singing/screaming on stage in front of alllllll of my students as they cheered, jumped up and down, and acted like we were real rock stars.

I was horribly off key, and An forgot most of the words, but we gave it our all and the students didn't seem to mind.

It was a challenging but thoroughly exciting three minutes. Next time I wanna try Lady Gaga.

2. Aha Waterfall

Last Wednesday we had a holiday so a couple of friends and I drove a couple hours north to a fresh waterfall to swim around. :D

The falls were beautiful, and they emptied into a big beautiful pond. So lovely.

The best part? The rope swing.

It'd been such a long time since I'd swam in fresh water, and it was incredibly refreshing. No icky, icky salt in my eyeballs. :)

I want to go here many, many times in the future.

On the drive home we found this adorable turtle. Look at his little face!! I am pretty much in love with turtles now. :)
3. Tokashiki Island

I decided to get away for the weekend kind of last minute, because I was getting a little feverish. So I hopped on a ferry with a couple friends and said so long to all my troubles. Paradise, here I am!

It was a great choice. I went with three lovely ladies and we pretty much just sat on the beach for both days. It was sunny, hot, and gorgeous.

AND there was a lunar eclipse! I loved sitting alone on the beach, listening to the crashing waves (how can one describe that sound and not sound like a cliche? :P), and watch the moon go from full to a sliver and back again. When it was at its fullest it was almost blinding. Gorgeous.

So that is the cliff note version of some pretty epic events. :D

Sometimes I shake myself in disbelief and wonder, is any of this really happening to me?

I'm so glad that the answer is: Yes!

Five Things That Have Made Me Giddily Happy Recently

They say that culture shock comes in waves,

or hills and valleys,

or crests and troughs.

However you put it, I've definitely been on more of a downward trend lately, so I am working to turn it around. Sure I am dissapointed that I won't get to take a trip home this summer, and I am starting to feel the isolation of this life a little more strongly than usual, but I've decided to keep on plugging along here and focus on all the major blessings in my life.

So, in the spirit of thinking positively, here are Five Things That Have Made Me Giddily Happy Recently.

1. Air conditioning in the teacher's room and my main classroom. Now I can use my fan for more productive purposes...

Arr! I am the Disheveled Office Pirate!

2. Sashimi! An Yang took me to this excellent fish shop next to our school where this pushy old lady chops up the fish fresh in front of you. I brought home this beautiful, delicious sashimi for only 500 yen (about $5).

3. Kento's. I returned to my favorite oldies bar for more good food and ginger ales and to celebrate my beautiful friend, Julie K., on her birthday!

4. Smoothies. A few of my friends--Michelle, Sarra, and Melody--have inspired me with their smoothie adventures, so I've broken out the blender three nights in a row. The fruit boost really, really helps keep me in good spirits when it is pouring down rain for days on end. Plus, it is an easy, light meal on a muggy day. On days when it is both rainy and muggy? Perfection.

Weather: defeated!

5. Cafe Restaurant and Bar Double Decker

I am a sucker for themed restaurants. Especially when they go the extra mile. :) This place is a definite win.

Look! I wrote "gullible" on the whiteboard!

Whew! This week has been a busy one. I can hardly believe it is almost over... just one class separating me from the weekend! Wahoo! After teaching 14 long classes (9 of which I taught alone), I can barely muster up the energy to smile at students. That's really saying something. :) Perhaps this day is not the best to blog, but I want to share one special anecdote with you before I forget.

Yesterday after school, my fellow JETs and I met the International Club students for our weekly english conversation time. About ten minutes before the club started, Max and I looked at each other blankly: "what should we do?" A quick google search came up with this activity and we decided to go for it.

When all the students had settled down in the classroom, Max and I stood in front of them with our best serious-teacher faces and launched into a dramatic tyrade saying something like, "Yesterday, in the dark of the night, when all the doors and windows were locked, some hooligans broke into the teacher's room and committed a crime so heinous, so disturbed, so awful..."

We described, in great detail and with great drama, how two students had taken a bottle of soy sauce and "bombed" Max's desk. I have no idea where he came up with this idea (possibly this photo?), but we effectively made it seem like the worst crime in the history of humanity. Finally, I said, "Our sources tell us that one of YOU were responsible for this monstrosity!" (They have no idea what that means.) "No one is leaving this room until we figure out who done it!"

Then the students broke into pairs and came up with detailed alibis ("We were salsa dancing in Kyoto" was my favorite). When they were finished, each pair was split up (one of the students waited in the hallway) and individually interrogated by the rest of the students. The pair with the most discrepancies in their story was deemed, "guilty."

In the end, the students selected a pair of freshman girls as the guilty criminals and we proclaimed that they were sentenced to manual labor: cleaning Max's desk every day after school.

We then left the club and came back down to our office to pack up for the day, and not far behind came the two freshman girls... carrying a towel.

They were actually going to clean Max's desk!!

Between fits of hysterical laughter, I was able to tell them that it was only a joke and they were not actually Max's eternal slaves, despite having lost the game.

I love our students.