I’ve been in Yaizu, Shizuoka for the last few days (uh, since the 28th). School is out right now (and begins on 01 Sep), but I’ve been meeting the teachers at the school. Everyone is very friendly and tries very hard to speak in English. The English teachers here are the most confident, and one in particular , Hayashi-sensei, has been helping me out a ton. Today, we opened a bank account, and yesterday, we applied for an id card.

Dinner with Dice was sweet! He took us to the east gate of Sinjuku station to a great restaurant that had an ancient dungeon theme. A robotic samurai answered a door, and we had to say the password. Once inside, we saw the crazy decorations! Re-bar and sheet metal everywhere, heavy industrial theme going on there. It was sweet.

Tomorrow, I hope to buy some things I need: slippers for school, an umbrella (a typhoon is scheduled for tomorrow!), and some other things.

New experiences include:

• Japanese toilet (a squatter)
  Raw octopus (ie sashimi)
  using my inkan
  wearing a bathrobe kimono
  uisng a Japanese shower
  seeing Fuji-yama

Howdy!

I’m in Shinjuku, Tokyo right now, at the Keio Plaza Hotel. Everything has run very smootly so far: the flights over (sleeping most of the way thanks to heaps of long-haul, pan-Pacific flights [and sleeping aids]), customs (3 questions and the wave thru), the bus from Narita to Shinjuku, and finally the hotel. Keio is world class, full stop.

Meals are provided, except for dinner. But that’s fine - it let friends from the Denver meet-up and I wander into “the strip” and eat at a sushi restaurant. The place was similar to what I saw in Melbourne on Swanston St: a conveyor belt with mini plates that each held 2 pieces of sushi. Each plate was 136 yen (so about US$1.25). 6 plates later you’re full and the complementary green tea washes everything down rather well.

The day today has been nothing but meetings and ceremonies really. Tomorrow looks to be the same. BUT, I did call Daisuke, and he’s meeting me tomorrow after I’m finished. God, it was so good to hear his voice. I’m really excited to see him again!

Wednesday, I’m off to Yaizu so I don’t know when I’ll be online again. Soon, prolly, but I have a few days in a hotel there while my predacessor moves out of my apartment.

I feel full of enthusiasm to be a great teacher. All of the workshops keep increasing my motivation to meet people, make new friends, and help my students have fun with a foreign language. I want to volunteer as well, and since volunteering is quite undeveloped here (and minimal), I’ll be doing a lot of it on my own. I wanna try to recreate a “Trick or Can” near Halloween - something I did in uni, and foster pen-pals with my elementary school students in Boulder. Who knows? It’s all so new. I’m really able to start completely over here. Optimism is very high, I must say.

Thanks for coming by! I trust you received my spam (or maybe you’re just a regular around here). This is the thread to read if you want basic news about what I’m up to now!

Tomorrow I leave for Japan to teach English for a year.

I’ll be in a high school in Yaizu, Shizuoka (map), teaching two English classes - the American equivalent of sophomores and seniors (or the first and last years of Japanese high school).

New photos will be added to my album, once they are taken and I have internet set up in my apartment.

Dancing at the Merc was nice, I’ll say again. I received the welcome of a prodigal son. Twice was I ambush-hugged. Dances were good - I got short winded from the altitude, but the aridity was nice for the sweat. Stay nice and cool, you do.

The BBQ on Saturday was full of good food - Sarah and I made some tasty marinades for the meat (steak, chicken, shrimp, scallops). Jack Daniels and soy sauce, spicy peanut satay, lime and chipotle pepper, garlic and rosemary. So good! Nick came over later on, and Cody (one of our friends) brought a DVD of movies he made. Some were really funny. If you wanna see one, go here: codyb.com; “3 Minutes with Walker” is a character sketch that Nick did just before he moved to NY. His hair is still that big.

I went to Fort Collins on Monday, and the town has been nice to me - good food (Big City Burrito, and other key flavors unique to this suburb without the urb). Mom made enchiladas that rocked, and I’ve been doing some shopping for Japan - just some dress shirts for the classroom so far. Tomorrow is more stuff, a new digital camera and a long overcoat for winter.

I feel that there’s too much to do before leaving, but when I look at my list, there really isn’t a whole lot. After I make these purchases, it’s just pack. Feelings of scaredness are slipping in, and not knowing Japanese as well as I’d like is the main culprit. Uf.

I’m also worried about the Linux laptop I ordered. The guys said they’re a week behind because one of their technicians is ill. I wanna go over with that laptop!

I’ve added the photos from my Paris adventures, finally. It took ages to find a computer that would read my CD. A mac eventually came thru!

Joe’s Photos

Nick’s BBQ was great fun last night. I met his girlfriend Gosia, and she’s really cool. Friendly and engaging. A group went to Anchorman, with Will Farrel, and it was tremendously funny. Brick is the best.[/u]

Well, I’ve made it states-side safely. I’m in Denver at the moment (Sarah’s house), and pulling a shopping list together for Japan. Turns out I’ll only really need to buy a few more dress shirts and bring extra toiletries. I’ve ordered a laptop from laclinux, and I’ll be purchasing a new digital camera because the view screen on my current one has broken (it died during the Tongariro hike).

This week, I’ve been corresponding with the JET I’ll be replacing, and he’s given me lots of advice. I’ll me moving into his apartment: a two-bedroom, two-floor flat. I’ll be living by myself, so I’ll have a guest room! Or something. I’m getting fairly excited about going over and settling down for a year.

So far in Denver, I’ve been swing dancing - where the altitude has made me more short of breath - and to Fahrenheit 911, which is slightly more rounded than Columbine. At least there’s a biased liberal voice out there.

Tonight, Nick and Derek are visiting from NYC. Nick has come back to introduce his Polish girlfriend to folks here and see old friends. There’s a BBQ tonight which will be a lot of fun.

I’ve added more photos to my album - if you haven’t been by in the last month, you’ll see new pics! Additions have been made to the Melbourne album, a new Hong Kong album is up, and the South Island of New Zealand. Take a look!

Joe’s Photos