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Finally got a grounded power strip and adapter so I can plug in my laptop. This means I can finally do the big update, telling you about all my adventures up to this point.
Day One
After about three hours of sleep, I went with my brother
Danya to the airport (I said goodbye to my other siblings at home before I left). Brian and Zack, and Steven's parents were there to see me off. It was very early in the morning! Steven, the sweetheart, was flying down to LAX with me, since I had a five hour layover there. The flight attendant harrassed us for being cutesy; it was amusing. We hung out at the airport, snuggling and being sappy (we also both fell asleep sitting at our table) until it was time to say goodbye. That was SO difficult! I'm so glad he was there with me for the first leg of my journey, though - it was wonderfully sweet and made things a bit easier for me. Then I got on the JAL airplane for my 12 hour flight to Osaka. Sitting for so long is uncomfortable, but the food was pretty good. The highlight was the anpan (bread with sweet red bean filling) they brought for a snack. I didn't know it but the other guy sitting on my row was also a Nova employee; I found this out when we got to the airport. Going through Japanese customs was so easy - they didn't even scan my luggage. Kind of shocking after all the rigmarole at LAX.
We (several other new Nova employees were there as well - all boys) were met at the airport by Susannah, who handed us our welcome packets and arranged for our luggage to be delivered to our apartments. Then we took a bus to downtown Osaka, where our hotel was. Hotel Dotonbori, which has these weird head on legs statues out front (you can see a picture on the website). I was very tired when we got there, despite having slept most of the flight, and I couldn't figure out how to use the phone card Nova gave us, so I ended up just sending a couple of quick emails from the internet terminals in the hotel lobby and then going to sleep. I think the rest of the boys went out for dinner and drinks.
On the bus ride to the hotel, I was looking out the window, taking in the landscape and I realized that I had been damping down my excitement about being in Japan, because on some level it felt disloyal to everyone who was missing me back home. Once I became conscious of it, however, I realized how silly this was and determined to enjoy my stay here as much as possible. Loyalty dictates making the most of this experience, not being miserable and spending all my time being homesick! It's funny how the brain works sometimes.
What I saw of Osaka seemed exactly like I imagined Japan to be - colorful and high tech, exotic and commercial. Our hotel was on a narrow street packed with shops, restaurants and hotels, all with brilliant neon signs, so it was very brightly lit at night. But that makes it sound very modern, and many of the shops and restaurants have wooden storefronts, looking very classically Japanese. We walked through the subway station from the bus stop to the hotel, and it is full of shops and restaurants as well, delicious smelling bakeries, cafes, gift shops (this generally means places where you can buy food which is beautifully wrapped, different kinds of mochi and other regional specialties), drugstores, conbini (mini mart type places, including 7-11 and AMPM), etc. It was very busy and interesting!
Day Two (Friday)
After I woke and showered, I wandered in search of a payphone so I could callSteven. I felt SO much better after doing that. Then I got some breakfast at the conbini - onigiri, melon pan (sweet bread with a sort of melon shape, very tasty) and milk coffee. Not long after that, we were met by Hiromi, who escorted two of us to the Shinkansen (the rest were taking a different route and had a different escort). Luckily, Toyohashi is on the Toukaidousen, one of the main shinkansen routes, so it was just a straight shot from Osaka. The other guy had to make two transfers, something I would not have wanted to deal with on my first day, despite my Japanese skills.
In Toyohashi, I was met on the platform by Cathryn, who's an Assistant Area Manager for the branches in our area. Right away, she told me she'd never been to my apartment and had poor navigation skills, which wasn't terribly reassuring! Fortunately we made it there without too many problems, and we were greeted there by one of my new roommates, Emmaline, newly arrived from Brisbane, Australia. Another Nova instructor, Iti (not sure how to spell it, actually) was there, having a snack. Soon after, Iti and Cathryn left, and Em and I spent some time chatting and getting acquainted. She was feeling really homesick, poor girl. It appears that most of the Nova instructors don't speak or read Japanese (a few of them know some basic Japanese phrases, but that's about it), something which just boggles my mind. I can't imagine coming here to live for a year without knowing any Japanese.
Both of us napped for a bit until our other roommate, Meas, returned from work around 10 pm. She invited us to a going away party for another instructor who was transferring to Tokyo. We met at a reggae bar - they played reggae music and the seats were wood stumps. It was interesting (and also smoky - lots of people smoke here). After hanging out there for a bit, we wandered down to the arcade for karaoke, stopping at Mosburger for teriyaki burgers on the way. (Tasty but greasy.) It was a lot of fun, and was exactly the kind of thing I imagined doing here.
The days are mostly kind of fuzzy after that, though I know I did a fair amount of wandering around, getting acquainted with our neighborhood. Em and I went and bought bicycles on Sunday, used ones, so they were fairly cheap, and that was a big improvement in our lots, since it gives us a bit more freedom to wander around.
Yesterday we went to Nagoya for orientation, which involved trying to figure out a new train line (Meitetsu), transferring trains, and then wandering around the outside of the station in Nagoya until we found the Nova offices. It took nearly an hour to get to Nagoya and we spent another hour wandering around, though we did make it to orientation on time. Orientation didn't seem that useful, unfortunately, but I was able to get the adapter/power strip I needed so that I could charge my laptop battery. Thank goodness! Now I can stay connected, it's a big relief. We also had dinner at Denny's with another instructor who was there for orientation. I had tendon (tempura donburi - tempura rice bowl), which was quite tasty. I looked around for postcards to send people but didn't find any, unfortunately.
The other interesting thing I've been doing is trying out different foods. Different snacks, prepared food from the grocery store (named "Feel") like korokke (potato croquettes), cold noodles, curry fried rice, different types of onigiri, etc. So many different and yummy things! It's a simple thing, but somehow it's very exciting to me to be in Japan and buy stuff that I've read about or only seen occasionally at the Asian groceries back home.
Today is my first day of on the job training, I have to leave in a few minutes for that.
So far I'm having a wonderful time, though I'm also missing people a lot. I wish you could all come visit me here - we'd have so much fun!
Day One
After about three hours of sleep, I went with my brother
Danya to the airport (I said goodbye to my other siblings at home before I left). Brian and Zack, and Steven's parents were there to see me off. It was very early in the morning! Steven, the sweetheart, was flying down to LAX with me, since I had a five hour layover there. The flight attendant harrassed us for being cutesy; it was amusing. We hung out at the airport, snuggling and being sappy (we also both fell asleep sitting at our table) until it was time to say goodbye. That was SO difficult! I'm so glad he was there with me for the first leg of my journey, though - it was wonderfully sweet and made things a bit easier for me. Then I got on the JAL airplane for my 12 hour flight to Osaka. Sitting for so long is uncomfortable, but the food was pretty good. The highlight was the anpan (bread with sweet red bean filling) they brought for a snack. I didn't know it but the other guy sitting on my row was also a Nova employee; I found this out when we got to the airport. Going through Japanese customs was so easy - they didn't even scan my luggage. Kind of shocking after all the rigmarole at LAX.We (several other new Nova employees were there as well - all boys) were met at the airport by Susannah, who handed us our welcome packets and arranged for our luggage to be delivered to our apartments. Then we took a bus to downtown Osaka, where our hotel was. Hotel Dotonbori, which has these weird head on legs statues out front (you can see a picture on the website). I was very tired when we got there, despite having slept most of the flight, and I couldn't figure out how to use the phone card Nova gave us, so I ended up just sending a couple of quick emails from the internet terminals in the hotel lobby and then going to sleep. I think the rest of the boys went out for dinner and drinks.
On the bus ride to the hotel, I was looking out the window, taking in the landscape and I realized that I had been damping down my excitement about being in Japan, because on some level it felt disloyal to everyone who was missing me back home. Once I became conscious of it, however, I realized how silly this was and determined to enjoy my stay here as much as possible. Loyalty dictates making the most of this experience, not being miserable and spending all my time being homesick! It's funny how the brain works sometimes.
What I saw of Osaka seemed exactly like I imagined Japan to be - colorful and high tech, exotic and commercial. Our hotel was on a narrow street packed with shops, restaurants and hotels, all with brilliant neon signs, so it was very brightly lit at night. But that makes it sound very modern, and many of the shops and restaurants have wooden storefronts, looking very classically Japanese. We walked through the subway station from the bus stop to the hotel, and it is full of shops and restaurants as well, delicious smelling bakeries, cafes, gift shops (this generally means places where you can buy food which is beautifully wrapped, different kinds of mochi and other regional specialties), drugstores, conbini (mini mart type places, including 7-11 and AMPM), etc. It was very busy and interesting!
Day Two (Friday)
After I woke and showered, I wandered in search of a payphone so I could call
Steven. I felt SO much better after doing that. Then I got some breakfast at the conbini - onigiri, melon pan (sweet bread with a sort of melon shape, very tasty) and milk coffee. Not long after that, we were met by Hiromi, who escorted two of us to the Shinkansen (the rest were taking a different route and had a different escort). Luckily, Toyohashi is on the Toukaidousen, one of the main shinkansen routes, so it was just a straight shot from Osaka. The other guy had to make two transfers, something I would not have wanted to deal with on my first day, despite my Japanese skills.In Toyohashi, I was met on the platform by Cathryn, who's an Assistant Area Manager for the branches in our area. Right away, she told me she'd never been to my apartment and had poor navigation skills, which wasn't terribly reassuring! Fortunately we made it there without too many problems, and we were greeted there by one of my new roommates, Emmaline, newly arrived from Brisbane, Australia. Another Nova instructor, Iti (not sure how to spell it, actually) was there, having a snack. Soon after, Iti and Cathryn left, and Em and I spent some time chatting and getting acquainted. She was feeling really homesick, poor girl. It appears that most of the Nova instructors don't speak or read Japanese (a few of them know some basic Japanese phrases, but that's about it), something which just boggles my mind. I can't imagine coming here to live for a year without knowing any Japanese.
Both of us napped for a bit until our other roommate, Meas, returned from work around 10 pm. She invited us to a going away party for another instructor who was transferring to Tokyo. We met at a reggae bar - they played reggae music and the seats were wood stumps. It was interesting (and also smoky - lots of people smoke here). After hanging out there for a bit, we wandered down to the arcade for karaoke, stopping at Mosburger for teriyaki burgers on the way. (Tasty but greasy.) It was a lot of fun, and was exactly the kind of thing I imagined doing here.
The days are mostly kind of fuzzy after that, though I know I did a fair amount of wandering around, getting acquainted with our neighborhood. Em and I went and bought bicycles on Sunday, used ones, so they were fairly cheap, and that was a big improvement in our lots, since it gives us a bit more freedom to wander around.
Yesterday we went to Nagoya for orientation, which involved trying to figure out a new train line (Meitetsu), transferring trains, and then wandering around the outside of the station in Nagoya until we found the Nova offices. It took nearly an hour to get to Nagoya and we spent another hour wandering around, though we did make it to orientation on time. Orientation didn't seem that useful, unfortunately, but I was able to get the adapter/power strip I needed so that I could charge my laptop battery. Thank goodness! Now I can stay connected, it's a big relief. We also had dinner at Denny's with another instructor who was there for orientation. I had tendon (tempura donburi - tempura rice bowl), which was quite tasty. I looked around for postcards to send people but didn't find any, unfortunately.
The other interesting thing I've been doing is trying out different foods. Different snacks, prepared food from the grocery store (named "Feel") like korokke (potato croquettes), cold noodles, curry fried rice, different types of onigiri, etc. So many different and yummy things! It's a simple thing, but somehow it's very exciting to me to be in Japan and buy stuff that I've read about or only seen occasionally at the Asian groceries back home.
Today is my first day of on the job training, I have to leave in a few minutes for that.
So far I'm having a wonderful time, though I'm also missing people a lot. I wish you could all come visit me here - we'd have so much fun!
