Life, cars, etc.

I hate that I’m falling into the habit of not updating very often. It’s something that I tend to do, but this journey is all about making myself face situations and make new habits, so I’m going to try to be better about it!

It’s been a while since my last update. Not much has happened, but a lot has happened. What I mean is, a lot of small changes happen almost every day, but nothing big and life-changing, I think.

I’ve been at my main school for two weeks, dicking around mostly, but also talking to some of the teachers, which you could count as both Japanese study time for me and English study time for them, because we’ve been using more Japanglish than anything. Everyone there is just amazing. One of the math teachers has been hanging around me more than most. We have lunch together just about every day. 

Yesterday, my car wouldn’t start, so my supervisor took me to school and got the mechanic to pick up my car and take a look at it. The battery was the immediate problem, but there’s probably something else wrong with it. Anyway, one of the teachers at my school sent his brother or cousin a message. They have a new car (actually, not sure how new it actually is) that has shakken due next year. They were going to scrap it, so they said they’d give me the car. Straight up. I’m going to take a look at it. It might not be worth it for me to repair the car when I can just transfer a new one to my name. I just bought two tires for this one, but it wasn’t nearly as expensive as it would have been back home. 

Last night was my first enkai. The BOE had a welcome party. This is only my second welcome party. The first was after prefectural orientation with all of the other newbies. Next week, I have both my base school and the region parties. But I had fun, so I look forward to the next one, especially since it’s my main school. 

Speaking of the teachers at my main school, almost all of them have been wearing tracksuits to school during the holiday. But there’s this one badass that has completed the look with a fan, a popped collar, and bare feet. I have no idea what his name is, but if I were a guy, I’d strive to be just like him lolol. 

The term starts monday, so I’ll be actually doing stuff starting then. Wish me luck? :D

It's been a while!

I've officially been paid once! And not a moment too soon, because, as much as I love the furniture that I have, the table is just way too big, and I don't easily have the option of sitting on a full-size to eat or do things at a table. It's either sit on the floor at a table or in a chair without the table. So I went to Nitori and ordered a small dining table and two matching chairs and a small couch. I figured I'll find a good, cheap kotatsu elsewhere. It's still a week before they deliver them, but they're bought and paid for! Now I have time to find someone/people to take what I have off my hands.

I also got a new futon and put up the old one for visitors. I'll probably get another later and be able to have two guests, which is about all I'd be able to hold. 

I'm starting to build a manga collection, too, since that and children's books are about all ill be able to read. While I was at Book Off, this guy took off his earphones to talk to me. He asked if I was a student at the nearby university. He's failed the ToDai twice, I gave him words of encouragement, then went on my way. I'm afraid he may have thought I snubbed him because he failed to get in, oops. But really, I think he was trying to flirt or whatever the Japanese equivalent is, but really he was way too young. 

We had prefectural orientation last week, which was great. After, everyone went to Tokiwa Beer Garden. After, many of us went to karaoke, some went to the gaijin bar. A few of us went to the bar after karaoke briefly. I stayed the night with someone in he city, then went home the next morning. After the Beer Garden Welcome Party, but before the after parties, the newbies were hazed. I won't say what it was, just in case any future Oita JETs finds this. 

After two weeks at the Board of Education, I'm now on the last day of my first week at my main school. I've done a marvelous job of hardly doing anything, because I think another week of non-stop Japanese study would kill me. I spent one day on making a prezi for my intro lesson(s), though, so that's something, I've done studying here and there, though, but the intense, always writing so ill remember? Nah. I remember better if I write everything, but my hands just can't take it anymore.

Yesterday, I went to lunch with two teachers. We spoke magnificent Japanglish the entire time. I think it might happen again? We've got one more week until school starts.

Getting settled in

My last week has been mostly quiet, because I've chosen to spend most of my free time by myself. I find it easier to explore the first time alone, because I don't have to worry about what another person wants to do. I can just go and do what I want, and learn as much or as little as I want about a place.

Even so, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, when I wasn't at work studying or at the store picking up food or whatever I needed, I was at home reading or watching something. Just spending time with myself. Thursday, I went to Beppu and tracked down the Hard Off there. I managed to find a TV that I liked for ¥10,500, then I stopped at the Book Off/Off House on the way back and found a new bag for ¥595. It's big enough to be a bookbag/briefcase thing and is black except for the fact that the lining is Mickey Mouse and there's one Mickey thing on the outside. Friday, my supervisor led me to this Mitsubishi shop in the next city so they could repair something that was recalled.

Yesterday, much of my day was spent just as I'd done most of the week, but then I went back to Beppu to the Daiso, where I bought a few more things I needed for cheap, along with a couple of things I just wanted because I could. I found a department store and went looking for some more clothes for work. Before I started looking, I went to an omurice place. It was delicious and they gave me a reward card, so I'll get it stamped every time I go to one of those places. Beside the food court was a small Uniqlo. I found one shirt there, though I would have liked another. The other was a new item and a bit more than I wanted to spend right now. I found another shop with some shirts I liked, and I ended up getting two things there, too.

I have three problems with most of the things I tried on, though, and these are the same problems I had back home: many are shorter than I'd like, the fabric is super sheer, so I'd have to wear an undershirt, and they're not made for boobs my size. The one-two punch of having a short torso and big boobs rules out a lot of shirts, because I'd rather not accentuate both at the same time. Any shirts that require buttons are almost certainly out, because, even though they fit everywhere else, it comes open at the bust. I found one other shirt I liked at the second store. My only problem was that, even though it was two layers, you could still see straight through it. I'd rather not have to wear several layers in general, much less in the summer in Kyushu. Siiigh. I'm thinking of heading to another department store today, so wish me luck?

Friend time!

I got to spend the day with my friend Russell! He was on the way back to Nobeoka, Miyazaki from Fukuoka and took a detour to Kunisaki. We ate lunch at a sea-side restaurant down a super narrow street between rice fields. Then we went to Oita City to see if I could find a good cheap TV. In the end, I decided not to get any of what they had at the Hard Off there, and we went to this mall called Park Place and walked around for a bit. We found a Capcom pachinko where all of the workers were in some costume from some Capcom game. Because you have to, we did purikura and mimiced the poses the girls did in the examples. We parted ways there, but it'll totally happen again.

Hi everyone! I arrived safely in Japan, spent three very long days in Tokyo, then flew to my new home in Kunisaki, Oita. Of all of the new Oita Prefecture JETs, I had the shortest distance to travel, because the airport is in my city. In fact, the closet convenience store to my new apartment is inside the airport. My supervisor, Okano-sensei, picked me up along with two others. I am horrible with names, so I don’t remember theirs. We went to lunch right across the street from the airport, then went on to the Board of Education.

I met a few people there before heading to the Municipal Office to meet the mayor and register. I got my residence card actually registered and applied and paid for a year’s worth of insurance for the car. From there, we went back the BOE, but not much happened there. I was told to rest after the long day, so I sat at a table towards the back and eventually read a bit of Goblet of Fire since I’ve not been able to read it much lately.

Next, Okano-sensei drove me around my neighborhood a bit before taking me to my apartment. My predecessor called the landlady Tsuru-sensei, but she told me that it was fine to call her Minako-san, because her husband is Tsuru-san, and calling them both that would make it confusing. Tsuru-san called the electricity company and just had me be like, “hai,” and tell them my name. Pretty soon, the gas guy showed up and got me set up, too. I found out today when he came to do a couple things that his daughter is going to be one of my students.

After everything was set up, Minako-san took me to the next closest convenience store, where I got something to eat so I wouldn’t have to cook. I also picked up a drink. I later went for a walk and stopped in at the Seven Eleven in the airport and got a Boss for the morning and a bottle of water. On the way out, I picked up a pouch ice cream from a vending machine.

My pred left me lots of books. One of them I happened to bring with me, so I now have to copies of An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese, the sort of third Genki. There’s even a book that teaches Oita-ben!  He also left a Bible and Book of Mormon as a gift because they helped him during his stay. (I then found another Book of Mormon in the glove box of the car.) Not sure what I’m gonna do with them…

This post might be weird, because I’ve decided to add everything before getting internet access to the same post. Everything before now was day 2 in Kunisaki.

On the third day, Friday, right after I borrowed my landlady’s computer to post to facebook that I was fine but without internet yet, one of the two other JETs in the area stopped by.  Until I arrived, she was the only girl in Kunisaki, since my predecessor was a guy. The other JET went home for the summer, so I won’t meet him until September, most likely.

Anyway, she brought me the PS2 that I bought from a nearby departing JET, some flowers, and a huge bottle of water.  We talked for a few minutes, then decided to go to one of the supermarkets nearby. I’d already gone to my closest market, but we went to another that is closer to her house and where we both work. I got some items I’d found I needed/wanted. Another clothes drying hanger (the pred left one), some kitty slippers, a few more sweat rags (two for me and one for each neighbor), Pokémon tissues, a variety pack of miso, toilet paper, and a few other things, probably. We then went across the street to a hardware store, where I found an electric kettle and a clothes drying rack thing.  Altogether, I spent about $70 on essentials/sort-of-essentials.

I’m ending the fourth day now, and finally have some form of internet. I went to the au store and got an iPhone 5 with free tethering. It was quite fun trying to get it done, let me tell you. My Japanese is nowhere good enough to fill in a phone contract, so for a while, he had to do a combination of saying and miming things before I could be sure I knew what he was saying. He ended up calling the help line for a translator for a couple things. I THOUGHT he was asking me about insurance, but he didn’t say Apple Care until he was talking to the translator oops. He stopped trying to talk to me once he figured out he could get a translator on the phone, though. Oh well.

I also washed clothes for the first time since getting here. I put them out to dry pretty early, so they ought to be dry by now. Tonight, I’m going to take a bath for the first time in my super deep tub, yay!