Crazy Island Life

Entry #5

FIRST OFF, sorry for the insanely long entry! And pictures will come later!!!

We left the hotel about 9 am on Wednesday morning to Haneda airport, which is the airport for domestic travel in Tokyo. Once we got there we had to check our baggage, mine was almost overweight; actually, I think mine probably was overweight, but they let it slide. In Japan, domestic travel baggage weight limit is 44 lbs and I received about 5 extra pounds worth of material at Tokyo Orientation. It looked like I was one kilo over, but the woman at the counter told me I was “サーフ” (pronounced, say-fuh), meaning I was safe—whew!!

Our plane (all of the Kagoshima JETs took the same flight from Tokyo to Kagoshima, about 25, so we took up a good 1/4 of the plane) departed around 11:30 am. It was one of the most interested take-offs. First, the warning video that they presented was absolutely adorable. Second, they had cameras attached to the front and bottom of the plane; as we took off, they turned the cameras on, so that through the TV on the plane we could actually watch take-off as if we were in the cockpit. Once we got high enough up in the air, they turned the camera on the underside of the plane on. It was pretty cool to watch!

We got into Kagoshima and were instantly greeted with a wall of heat and humidity. WHEW! As soon as we exited the baggage claim there was a blockade of Old JETs and our supervisors waiting to pick us up. They all had signs made with our names and the location we would be employed. Taka (who is not my supervisor, but I’m not quite sure what he does. He simply told me he is on the computer all day. So, I know he works at the Board of Education with me, but I have no idea what he does. I also know that he is relatively new, because he pours everyone’s drinks when we got out as a company together) picked me up from the airport at Kagoshima. We had about two hours to kill before the flight from Kagoshima to Okinoerabu. We walked around and ended up grabbing some coffee and chatting (all in Japanese, you’ll be proud mom!) about what we like to do, Okinoerabu, Japan, and so many other things.

The plane we took from Okinoerabu was SOOO tiny. Actually, you had to walk out of the airport to board it. And it only holds, maybe, 50 people. It was a scenic flight though, the clouds above the ocean were beautiful and it was amazing passing over tiny specks of islands. The flight to Okinoerabu (which, I have been told locals only call it “Oki-erabu”) was just a little over an hour.

Once we got to Okierabu Airport (SUCH A TINY AIRPORT), Maki-Sensei, my supervisor, greeted us. He took me to the Board of Education, where the rest of my luggage was waiting, I gave a quick introduction, which was followed by lots of “Nihongo ga jouzu!!!” (Skilled at Japanese), which actually isn’t a sign of how adept I am at Japanese – They say that to any foreigner who can speak Japanese. But they were impressed at how much I knew, and that I could read Hiragana, Katakana, and quite a few Kanji (the different Japanese alphabets). From there, everyone at the Board of Education (about 10 people) took me to my apartment and inspected it. I tried to ask how to use all the appliances and everything. I didn’t get too much time, because afterwards they took me back to the Board of Education where some other workers were waiting. Then, all of us headed to a restaurant for my Welcome Party and drinks. They were amazed that I could use chopsticks, eat fish, and drink sake. I was really tired, though, so about three hours into it my supervisor took me to another restaurant to meet Joy. Joy is a Fillipino woman who lives on Erabu and can speak English, Japanese, and Filipino quite well! He said that she would be taking me around the next day to get some of my neccesities. After that, we went to the grocery store to get some breakfast items consisting of: bananas, bread, and butter – the essentials obviously, .

After that, Joy dropped me off at home. Tried to use the toilet and it flooded; tried to find my ethernet connection and I couldn’t. So, I did the sensible thing, I plopped down in the middle of the floor and cried. Looking back, I’m so embarrased, but I was jet-lagged (still am actually), exhausted, and my toilet flooded. I finally figured out my ethernet connection and skyped mom and just cried my sob story to her. I was scared that something creepy and crawly would crawl all over me. So, Mom, the amazing person that she is, told me to keep skype on as I slept so she could make sure.

I woke up the next morning much better. I was able to get my toilet fixed (well, actually, my supervisor and Joy were able to call someone to fix the toilet—because the pipe behind my toilet was not tightened completely). My supervisor picked me up from my apartment to take me to work. I worked for a few hours and then Joy picked me up to get a few essentials, like my foreigner card, bank account, cell phone, and groceries. We bought tons, tons, tons of cleaning supplies, some more food, and some necessities for the house (like toilet paper!). She also introduced me to some of her other Filipino friends, Marie, Cleo, and Honey – all of whom speak English. They have completely embraced me as a sister and Joy, who is about 45, acts like their mother and said if I ever need anything to let her know. That day we came back to the apartment and put the towels I used to soak up my toilet into the washing machine. We turned it on and then left to grab some other things for the apartment, when we came back water was coming out of my apartment door. My washing machine flooded! So, Joy called a guy named Shin. Shin is Japanese, but has lived in different parts of America his whole life until recently. He now owns a fishing business and sawmill on Erabu. Anyways, Joy called Shin and he came over to help us clean up all the water and fix the washing machine.

It was so refreshing to talk with Shin. Unlike Joy, who is amazing but she has a heavy Filipino accent, he speaks English like someone off any street in the U.S. He also said that he has a freezer full of essential American food, like hamburgers, steak, lasagna and tons of goodies. And if ever I’m craving some American food, I’m close enough to Okinawa to go over, plus Shin goes there often and we often have some of the guys off the base in Okinawa come down… so Shin said I can ask any of them to grab me something if I want. Once we fixed the washing machine he called a friend of his, Jonathan, who owns a scuba diving business in Erabu. Both of them were friends with Sarah and helped her out with all parts of her apartment. So, Jonathan came over, and brought a house-warming present of mixed fruit beer (actually, really really good) and the guys helped me just fix up the aparment. They helped me put away all of my groceries, helped me figure out how to use the bath, moved the dining room table, and killed a spider. Afterwards, we sat around my kitchen table and chatted.

Both of them swim, scuba dive, go spearfishing, free diving, snorkeling, and fishing – they invited me to come and learn how to do all of this too. And, they invited me to a festival that’s going on on the other side of the island in Ch’ina (pronounced Chee, like cheetoh, Nah) on Saturday. After they left, Joy invited me out to grab a bite to eat and a drink at a local restaurant where the owner is really very friendly and has given me dinner/lunch for free. Once I got home, I fell right asleep.

But, I woke up this morning at 5 am! Just woke up and decided that it was the perfect time to clean. I vacuumed the whole apartment, scrubbed down my tub and shower, cleaned dishes, did a load of laundry, all while listening to Mamma Mia. By the time my supervisor came to pick me up at 8:15, I had done all that and taken a shower, eaten breakfast, and was ready to go.

Today, I’ve been at the office the whole day. I don’t really have anything to do, because I have not begun lesson-planning with the other English Teachers, but I’ve tried to keep myself busy with reading Japanese language learning books, teaching books, and getting familiar with everything. Today though, my supervisor took me to all the schools to visit all the principals and vice principals and different English teachers. I gave my introduction about 10 different times today. I really feel confident in my speaking abilities and held pretty free-flowing conversation. I can even joke in Japanese, which I didn’t realize I knew how to do. But, I am VERY VERY happy that I studied abroad in Osaka. Osaka has a special dialect that is pretty unique and pretty fun to use. So, all of the comedians speak in this dialect and I know a few words and phrases. So, when I say I studied in Osaka, I also say I know some Osaka-Ben, which gets people everytime. They love when I use the phrases I know. And, today while talking with the Principal and Vice-Principal of one of my Elementary Schools, Uchijiro, my supervisor even said I was the happiest and funniest ALT they’ve ever had. Pretty excited about that.

Now, I am back at the Board of Education. I won’t actually have many office days once the school year starts on September 1st, but until then I’ll just be coming into the office. So, I’m trying to keep myself busy, but one way to do that is making this blog entry! Anyways, I have read through some of the teaching materials and made some ideas and example lessons for when I begin teaching. About 30 minutes ago Emily (the ALT from Tokyo Orientation who lives on the island right next to mine, Yoron) called and invited me to her island for a matsuri (pronounced, MA like ma-ma – TSU – RI like re-lax, it means FESTIVAL) next weekend. So, I’m doing pretty good now. I’ve made some friends here and am enjoying the nice climate, there is almost a constant breeze and the past two days it has rained in the late morning almost like clockwork. I think once I get more involved I’ll enjoy it even more. I’m just still trying to get used to living on my own… it’s so weird not to come home to roommates or family and I think that’ll be the hardest challenge. PLUS, missing out on family stuff; even though I missed out on that stuff while in college, I was always able to go back for a weekend if I wanted. So, I know I can do it, it will just take some getting used to.

Hopefully you enjoyed the insanely long entry, so much has happened. I feel like most of my entrys might be about this length. There is just so much going on and so much to do. I really think for the most part I really lucked out, I am on a beautiful island with a good number of English speakers, the ability to go to beautiful Yoron and Okinawa, and the chance of a lifetime to go scubadiving, freediving, spearfishing, whale-watching, and turtle-watching.