KAPIC

It`s been hard to want to blog these days due to the fact that I can only really use internet in the office. It seems that it will be at least 2 weeks before I can finally get internet set up in my apartment.

Last week, the new JETs in Kagoshima prefecture had our orientation in Kagoshima city in Monday, then on Tuesday most of us went to the cultural center in Kanoya known as KAPIC. It was rather fun to spend so much time with other JETs in the prefecture. The area where KAPIC was located was also very beautiful (pictures to come when I have internet at the apartment.) At the same time, I was also pretty tired the whole time.

On Saturday, I went with Aya (IchikiKushikino city, Kagoshima prefecture native/Japanese little sister), Jenny (Prefecture ALT who also lives in Ijuuin Town), and Kathryn (a couple hours up North of us) to a big fireworks festival. We all put on yukata at Jenny`s place, so we got a lot of attention walking around. It was far more crowded than I expected and it got pretty crazy (frightening even) in the crowd when it began to rain. It was nothing like people themselves were going crazy, but I felt nervous around so many people crowded together with umbrellas and children here and there.

The fireworks show itself was very nice, though. There were some breaks and I don`t really know why those were in there, but a fireworks lasted a long time.

Yesterday I went out shopping. Grocery was a good part of it, but I also bought a new chair and a new kitchen towel holders because both of those things were broken. I found a pretty neat store where things are not only cheap, but also (badly) translated into English. I decided that when I get things like cleaning supplies where it would be good to know directions, I`ll try to buy from that store so I have a much better chance of understanding correctly.

This morning, I was -not- ready to get up when I did. It`s Monday and I already feel like I could use another weekend.

Tomorrow, I believe, Aya`s relative who sells cars is going to be coming by the office to show me a car. I really hope that I don`t feel pressured to make a decision about it too soon...

It`s hot

But maybe I just think it`s especially hot today because I had to drag one of my suitcases to the office today.

I`m going to an orientation in Kagoshima city until tomorrow, then going to a culture center in Kanoya for culture and language lessons until Friday. So, I have my packed suitcase right next to me.

We had a typhoon! I`ve experienced those before, I think it was moreso the edge rather than the stronger part of it. Being from the Monterey area, I`m not used to thunder and lightning storms that last longer than around 10~20 minutes. It`s pretty crazy.

My apartment is beginning look a lot more like a place where I live. I have pictures up and things like that. I took pictures and was going to use my friend/neighbor/fellow ALT`s internet to upload them, but she wasn`t at her house yesterday evening for some reason. Oh well...

I`ve been experiencing some frustration on the language end in that sometimes when I try to speak Japanese to people, I can understand what they are telling me but I can`t think of the suitable reply at the moment, so they think I don`t understand at all. For example, I decided to try to call the post office yesterday on my own instead of waiting until later and getting a native Japanese speaker to help me. I understood what she was saying I felt like we were getting done everything that we needed, but she still referred me to a English language line that charged a fee. That was kind of frustrating.

In other news, it looks like I`m buying a car. It was `strongly suggested` by my supervisor and, according to Charlie and some others, renting a car is better if you only plan to stay for one year, otherwise it`s better to buy. Aya has a relative in Kagoshima city who sells cars and I`ll probably get a good deal from him.

First blog

This isn`t going to be as structured as I wanted my first entry here to be. Probably because I`m typing it in circumstances different than what I expected.

Technically, I typed my first entry on my first night and it is saved onto my laptop at my apartment.

But right now, I have no internet at my apartment and I`m using my work computer at the city education office.

Meaning that I can`t post my `first blog.` I was thinking I`d wait until I could use internet at my apartment to start, but I realized as time went by that so many days were passing and people would want to read my initial thoughts about things.

So I`ll post the real `first blog` later on.

Life in Japan has been treating me well so far. I`ve been going through the process of settling down in my apartment pretty smoothly and people have been very nice around here.

As I will mention in my `first blog,` I did experience some initial depression, but now I feel very cheerful and I`m really happy to be here.

There`s not an awful lot to do for work these days because school hasn`t started yet, so I basically just hang out at the office.

Last Friday was my first work related party. It started out at an Izakaya where you can drink and eat all you want. This was really a lot of fun because I got to see people who usually seem pretty serious be really friendly and relaxed. Afterward, we all went to karaoke where it was apparently very surprising that I already knew a number of Japanese songs. (haha)

Saturday, there was a gathering of Kagoshima JETs. We went to Kagoshima city, toured around a little bit and went bowling. I ended up leaving early because I didn`t feel very good and I just didn`t feel up to hanging out with so many people then.

Yesterday, Aya and I went to Kagoshima city. The plan was to go shopping and try out a Mexican restaurant called `Crazy Uncle` to lunch. It turned out that the Mexican place was closed. So we ate somewhere else for lunch, stopped by the foreign foods store, returned to my apartment, and we made Mexican food for dinner. It was really a lot of fun.

It was actually my first dinner I made at the apartment, so it was really great for that reason, too.

Aya also helped me figure out the waste disposal system around here. It`s actually EXTREMELY complicated. Regular garbage is called `Burnable` and there are separate bags needed for plastic, plastic bottles (strangely called `Pet Bottles` around here), plastic/Styrofoam containers, `dangerous things.` There are really more details about this whole thing than I can really think of right now to write, but I think I`ll do okay. I also have to write my name on each bag so that I`m accountable for how well I sort. Intimidating, right?

Post

Just something to put here until I can actually do a real post.

Ugh... why does my template put all my titles in caps? I'll figure out how to fix that soon.