Arrival

July 24, 1999

3pm--Here I am, sitting in the plane, awaiting takeoff. They're sending us business class, which is incredible. $2600 for the ticket--whew! Huge seats made for reclining, with a retractable footrest. Free slippers, toiletry bag, toothbrush, and sleeping mask. That's not counting the personal video monitor in the arm of the chair...

I'll take a break from gushing for a moment to record a few details. The orientation last night was a chance for us to introduce ourselves. My roommate was a girl who will be in a small town near Nagano. Now I'm sitting next to a guy from Illinois with my same last name who will be in a town west of Osaka.

I just can't get over the luxury of this flight. The only down side so far is that my carryon was too big to keep with me. But I got everything out of it that I need for the trip, so it doesn't bother me at all. It should be fun.

Mom, Dad, and Robert came to see me off. I'm not too freaked, yet, that it will be so long before I see them again. The computer helps a lot, knowing I can contact them whenever I'd like.

The plane should be getting underway at any time...the adventure begins.

5:10pm--Looks like I was wrong. We're still sitting here. There was a malfunctioning PA system. But it's supposed to be working now...

6:50pm--And we're off! <sigh>

8:46pm/9:46am (Tokyo time)--I have to admit, this is a cozy trip. The service is good (although my seatmate and I have already been mistaken for a married couple). I'm watching a Phil Collins special on my monitor (I tried Payback but I gave up after a few minutes, and I've seen Shakespeare in Love). There's even a channel showing the plane's progress--we're over Canada at the moment.

I feel really bad that we'll get in so late at the airport (estimated arrival 8:15pm) and Jenn will probably give up waiting for me. What makes it worse is that I know already, early in the morning for her, and I have absolutely no way to contact her. Perhaps the JET people will hear from the airport, and she'll be able to find out somehow...but chances are slim. I hope she manages to enjoy herself while she's in the city, at least. I wouldn't want her trip to be wasted.

July 26, 1999

Jenn is so wonderful. She actually waited all evening at the hotel until my group finally arrived at 11:30pm. We picked up some food at a convenience store down the block and talked until nearly 2am.

I'm staying with Amy, the other one going to Matsudai. She seems really nice so far. They're treating us in style here. The Keio Plaza is a five-star hotel. Our room has a doorbell, for goodness' sake! The mattresses are still hard, though.

We're going to try to make plans to visit with Denise and Michelle when they're free in about two weeks. That should be fun.

July 27, 1999

I did manage to go shopping last night, though not without difficulty. I didn't take my map of the area, so it took me an hour to find the Kinokuniya bookstore. I got lost several times (though luckily the Sunshine 60 building is a great landmark).

It was rough staying awake through the afternoon lectures, but I did, barely. Wonder if it will be any easier today.

July 29, 1999

Yesterday I finally arrived. The three Matsudai English teachers met me at the station in Echigo-Yuzawa and drove me all over the place. (There are lots of tunnels on these mountain roads, and they're all very dark inside.) They even tagged along with me to go grocery shopping in the next town (Toukamachi) to be sure I got everything I needed. They offered to stay over for dinner in case I needed company or help in cooking.

I tried out the TV stations right away. It seems I get CardCaptor Sakura and Mahou Tsukai Tai, which are on satellite channels. I don't know about the local channels...it's always news when I turn it on.

As for the apartment itself, it's part of a complex called the teachers' dormitories. I'm right next door to the vice principal, as a matter of fact, and one of the English teachers lives in the same complex as well.

It seems very empty at the moment, but once I settle all my things into the nooks and crannies, it'll probably start feeling more like a home. It'll just take time.

There's going to be a teachers' trip this weekend to Kanazawa. Then I have orientation on Monday near Niigata City. So much to do.

I'm still waking up early--I got up at 4:30 this morning. It's not such a bad thing, since the sun comes up (and goes down) early. I was shown how to use the gas heater for my bath, but I couldn't get the fire to light, so I had a cold shower. Not so bad when the weather is hot, but I'd better get it working pretty soon, because the water apparently freezes in winter.

July 31, 1999

Here I am, on the bus for the staff trip to Kanazawa. It's been a whirlwind so far, but everyone has been extremely helpful. They threw me a welcome party barbeque last night, complete with fireworks. One of the teachers brought me a bag of vegetables from his garden.

I made tortillas for myself yesterday. They didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, but it didn't help that I didn't have a rolling pin. I'm definitely going to have to make an extended shopping trip soon.

August 1, 1999

We did a lot on the trip yesterday. For one thing, the bus is a deluxe model. Soft, cushy seats, all the beer, tea, or coffee you can drink, and even a karaoke machine.

The Kirin brewery, one of the stops on our tour, was like a big museum with an attached garden and restaurant. The Kenrokuen garden, our next stop, is one of Japan's "Big Three," and it is very beautiful. However, I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was seeing it the way Jenn and I explored the Heian garden.

The onsen is a very fancy, traditional-style inn, complete with kimono-clad ladies to cater to our every request. The dinner they served was more than I could possibly eat. I suspect most of the broth in the soups was fish-based, so I tried to stick to things like the potato salad and tofu.

Then we spent the rest of the evening on karaoke. I even did two songs, starting with "Hey Jude" (for which I couldn't hit the low notes...or most of the others, for that matter) and then the opening theme song from Rayearth. I didn't do so well at the beginning, since most of the kanji didn't have furigana, but one of the other teachers got up to help me, and I finished all right once I got caught up with the music.

The hot spring itself is relaxing, but I can't stay in it very long before feeling woozy. There were three pools, one of which faced open windows overlooking the sea. That one was my favorite, both because of the view and because the breeze cleared my head better than the fully enclosed pools.

August 6, 1999

The roads here have racoon crossing signs. I wanted to write that down before I forgot.

Orientation in Niigata City (or near there, at any rate) went okay. Most people were bothered by the heat--at least at night in the dorm rooms--but I must not be as sensitive because I slept right through it. I bought more manga and CDs, though I still haven't located a good used place anywhere.

I've also been exploring a little, now that I know how to use the train. (The car has a flat tire and the nuts are on too tight for me to change it.) I got a membership card to the video rental place in Toukamachi, and there's a food store right by the station.

Other than that, things have been going poorly. I gave out presents yesterday, but I think I didn't do it very well. I probably confused the heck out of everyone.

The VCR here isn't working. It worked fine when I tried it out the first time, but when I got back from orientation hoping to watch the show I had set it to record, there was no picture. The sound was fine, and the connections were fine because I could still watch the satellite channels, but the tapes wouldn't play. I suspected that mold had gotten into it from the old videotapes left in the apartment, so I tried checking for that, and in the process I broke the eject mechanism. <sigh> Well, I would probably have gotten a new one anyway, since this one doesn't have stereo.