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.
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