Shizuoka!!

July 31, 2011

Today was sad, saying goodbye to all my fellow trainees. We had a great group! Mary and Jaclyn supposedly don't live too far from me. Mary is in Numazu and Jaclyn is in Fuji.
I am more upset that we had to wear a suit today..and for what?!! Nothing. I can only wear pantyhose so many days out of the week. We all took pictures an said our goodbyes and that was that.

Some of the ladies and a sandwich on my ass..right where it belongs..

The boys...real cute....

Roomies

You can tell it was a good night...

On the bullet train to Shizuoka!

Oh, Mary...

We all boarded our trains and departed 岡山 (Okayama) for our designated cities...me--静岡 (Shizuoka). I was to meet my manager and possibly the person who would be responsible for training me at the station. I was surprised to find that they would literally be on my platform when I stepped off the train. I handed my gift to who I thought was my manager (it's kind of mandatory to bring a gift to someone when you meet them), but it turns out she was one of the Japanese teachers at my new school. Oops. It's all good. They took me on a bus to my apartment where my giant bags were there, waiting for me. Apparently they were at the school for the week before and my alarm kept going off during work hours and no one knew where it was coming from. My bad.
My apartment is so cute! And it's WAY bigger than I thought. I actually have ROOMS. Get that? Plural. ROOMS. I'm stoked that the shower is HUGE. Not that I need a lot of room to shower, but when they provide you with an entire room to shower in...it's pretty grand. The downside is, there is no oven so I can't bake. And I only have a one burner stove so..I don't know often I'm going to cook...or what I can cook. But whatever..it's still cute! I have a 畳 (tah-tah-me) room too! Basically it's a room with a straw floor covering. It looks cool. Other than the fact that there's no dryer and I have to clip my clothes to a pole that hangs over the street outside...the only other strange thing is that there is a sink connected to my toilet. That doesn't sound so weird...just space efficient. But, it only works when you flush the toilet.

View from the front door

kitchen!

closet...lots of space!

my bed. I sleep on the floor..

desk and what I use as a dresser. and my nice ass chair.

my tub and shower ROOM. separate from my toilet...

Anyway, the JT (Japanese teacher) and Tim, my trainer, took me to lunch at an "Italian" place next to our work. Somehow they believe that french fries go with any meal...I'm all down for it, but it's still a strange way to eat. We met my manager and talked for a bit and then wandered around the train station. Tim showed me an internet place. I might try to go in the morning. I want to talk to my family and friends. I hate not having a phone or internet..I feel so lost, lonely, and disconnected. AHH!! Tomorrow hopefully I will be able to get a phone. My manager said one of the JTs will take me...against their own will. They have to. She's also going to take me to get my Alien Registration Card and to start my bank account!
I spent the rest of the night at my new home, unpacking my things. HOLD UP. Did I mention that I live across from a mall? Well, I live across from a mall..that my school is attached to. What...wait for it...up?! There's like a bazillion places to eat in there and a grocery store... Plus a Starbucks and a Baskin Robins. I'm set. I've unpacked my stuff and made a very long list of what I want to make my apartment my own. Perhaps tomorrow I will go on a hunt for a 100円 (en...yen) store. Well...Until next time! またね!
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New Vocabulary:
~銀行   gin (like in guinea pig) ko   bank