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From the pre-departure orientation in Chicago, the 13 hour sleepless plane flight went by in less than a flash, leaving a sleep-deprived version of my self sliently bowing and following the herd of JET Program members as we picked up our luggage, dropped at least one suitcase with a luggage courrior, and boarded multiple busses for Shinjuku, Tokyo. The Keio hotel was our destination, a large 4 or 5 star hotel that stood out in the Shinjuku area skyine. No matter how many times one goes from Narita airport to their destination in Tokyo, it’ll probably always seem strange to see rice fields and bamboo in what is suppose to be part of the largest city in Japan.
The orientation came and went, and while really well organized, interesting and inspiring it was at times, there was no breaks during the days and it was difficult to sleep at night knowing that the next day was another all-day venture. The number of people from English speaking countries all over the world was surprisingly wonderful. Having lived in an International community on campus for the past four years, I was surprised at how surprised I was to hear so many accents, and realize that despite our pronunciation and word-choice differences, we are all native English speakers. It might seem like a ‘duh’ statement, but it really was cool to hear all the accents from places like New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, Jamica, etc. all come together as we kampai’ed (said cheers) and toasted a new year of JET. It was inspiring to hear from the former JET partipants who now for for CLAIR and now support the JET program by working as translators, coordinators, JET program staff support, etc. Knowing how much support there exists for current JETs, that there is a system of support from within the smallest Japanese villages on up, NPOs/clubs/activities that also exists for JETs, as well as different options for professional development, and that there are job fairs and associations for former JETs, I have never been happier to be on the JET Program.
Anyway, after the 3-day Tokyo orientation, the Nagano JETs boarded a bus and headed off to Lake Suwa, the largest lake in Nagano, for lunch. Since I’m located in the southern region of Nagano, I was dropped up in Matsumoto City, where I was picked up by my supervisor, who is extremely nice. After dropping by my high school for a dozen quick aisatsu (introductions) with various teachers/principals, seeing my office, etc, before I was taken to my apartment, where I told the supervisor I’d be fine buying food on my own (they’re more than willing to help new JETs with grocery shopping if need be) and after sitting around like a lump for some time, I bought a few basics at Apita, a large grocery/clothing/housewares/etc. store (think Wal-Mart only higher quality merch), ate a quick dinner and was in bed by 8.
