Wednesday, March 31, 2010

What You've All Been Waiting for!

Finally, the apartment tour to end all apartment tours. Note the extra-shoddy camera work. ; ) Feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Mini-Update: The View

I'll give y'all the obligatory apartment tour soon, but right now I haven't really had a chance to make everything look nice yet. But, just to keep you all interested, here's a video of the amazing view from my front door:

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Mini-Update: The Bread Sale

So, down at the Mito Station there's a great bakery with really tasty bread. They close at 9 PM, so beginning at 8 PM every day, all their bread goes on sale for 100 yen. Check out this tastiness. That one up top is a Sakura Anpan, with a real sakura on top and tasty pink filling. The one below, still in its wrappings, is a choco-bagel. Mmmm.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Video BONANZA

It was a nice day for once today, so I went down to Mito's big, beautiful park and took several little videos. Pictures are on facebook. Please watch my videos:

At Senba Lake



Beginning of the Blossom Viewing Season



Say A Little Prayer



The Cure

Friday, March 26, 2010

I've Got a Beautiful Feeling



Check out the sunny view from my hotel room window! And some video:

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Part of this Balanced Meal!



Just so my mom won't worry, let me assure you all that I have had several tastier and more nutritious meals than this since arriving in Japan. Tonight, though, I slept in instead of venturing out for supper, so today's last meal of the day came from the hotel vending machines. Witness its majesty.

Well, this is the end of my third full day in Japan, and it was my first free day. Monday was the day I arrived, and as mentioned elsewhere, that day mostly involved various confused errors and then eventual collapse into bed. Tuesday and Wednesday were largely consumed by all day training sessions. I did all kinds of exciting things like signing contracts, learning Japanese educational theory, and practicing for my interview with the Otwara Board of Education. However, the training took place alongside about twenty other new ALTs, so there's no need to fear I was lonely or bored.

Because today was to finally be a day of rest, I determined to sleep in all I wanted. I even stayed up late last night in anticipation of this, not finally closing my eyes until nearly 1:00 AM. Then, of course, just because my body is my greatest enemy, I woke up at 4:44 and could not go back to sleep. I eventually gave in and got up around 5:30. I then spent several productive hours trolling the internet, gettin' my Skype on (with Mom) and making more Skype dates. Around 8:30, I decided to have my daily Denny's breakfast.

The hotel I'm staying in has a Denny's attached to the lobby, and the rooms include a complimentary breakfast past for every morning you stay. At Denny's, the nice ladies show you a poster illustrating the two breakfast choices, western or Japanese. The western option includes your choice of toast (HUGEST toast I've ever seen, btw) or pancakes, scrambled eggs, two sausage links, a strip of bacon, and, of course, salad with Thousand Island dressing. The Japanese breakfast consists of a bowl of rice, another of miso soup, dried seaweed, a fried egg, a strip of bacon, pickles and, of course, natto. I have yet to brave the Japanese breakfast, though I have seen others try. One day, though, before I leave the hotel, I will screw my courage to the sticking point and order it.

Once breakfast was taken care of, I met up with a couple of friends and ventured out into the cold and the wet in order to experience all the joys and beauties Mito has to offer. We visited the train station, several book stores, the electronics store and, through a misunderstanding, a male hair restoration clinic. Lunch was acquired at the tasty Mos Burger. And then, because it was nearly three in the afternoon and I'd been up since before 5 AM, I came back to the hotel and took a nap that lasted until 9:00. Ahhhhhhh.

So let me break down the next week or so for y'all. Saturday I'll meet with the company to receive my rental car (That's right. They're actually gonna let me drive here...). Then, on Monday I'll drive with my city coordinator, Shuji, and the other new Otawara ALT, Jerry, to my new town, meet my new apartment and introduce myself to the Board of Education. Sometime from next Thursday (April 1) onward, I will begin work. ¡Que emocionante!

Well, there it is, folks. Please feel free to ask about anything I neglected to cover! I tried to hit all the high points. Watch for more updates in the future!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Mini-Update: Double Duty and a New Signature

Today, I acquired a new identity. Well, sort of. See, in Japan, just writing your name--no matter how many flourishes you use in your cursive--does not constitute an official signature. You have to have one of these special name stamps called a hanko, and you have to stamp your name in red ink. You will need this for any official document you sign. Here's a picture of mine, which was just made today. In case you were wondering, it's my first name written in kanji, or Japanese characters. It looks like this: 沙羅.


Now check out this awesomeness. Apparently the Japanese are against the creation of extraneous faucets. Therefore, the sink faucet does double duty as the bathtub faucet. You'll notice in the image above that there is clearly no tub faucet. You simply turn on the water at the sink and flip the switch to shower. You can leave the shower head high to take a shower or move it down lower to fill the tub. So efficient!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Mini Update: Who Needs Pajamas...


...when you've got a comfy yukata to wear? The hotel provides this lovely (and truly very comfortable) traditional clothing item and changes it out every day, just like a towel. I wasn't sure how I'd like it, but I found it to be infinitely wearable.

Note: I am wearing a very cheesy smile in this picture because I was trying my best not to look sexy, which was really hard in that particular pose.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Mini Update: Super Toilet




Is it weird that the one thing I really love about being in Japan so far is the toilet? Check out my photos. You'll see that the handle for flushing has two labels on it, and it can be turned in either direction. You turn it clockwise if you went number 2 (or "big" as the Japanese label calls it, 大). You turn it counterclockwise if you went number 1 (or "little" as the Japanese label says, 小).

The toilet also has a built-in bidet that will cleanse your hindquarters with warm water for you. There are settings for both front and back cleansing and for different water pressures.

U.S. toilets just seem so primitive by comparison. Heh.