First Blog

Because I know some of you are wanting to live through me vicariously, and some of you just want to know what I’ve been up too, here’s a blog.

It’s been a pretty long few days, but despite the very little sleep, I feel fantastic. Tokyo was fun, and there was a TON of people, JETs from all over the world. The information was useful of course, but I think the most important part of orientation was all the new friends and support network building that happened.

First night I didn’t do too much, just went to get some Ramen with some of my fellow Houston JETs, second night went out with the queer folks to a bar and then a dancing bar. It was fun and pretty exciting, enough so that I got home at 3:30AM, you know, and of course had to go to orientation the next day. I may not be as hardcore as some of the folks I was with who drank slightly more, but considering I got through all the workshops next day without dying, I’m pretty proud of my alcohol-tiredness handling skills.

It was pretty cool to walk into a basement type udon shop in Tokyo, hear someone yelling at me, and realizing it was an old classmate from when I lived in Ehime in 2003. Well, I had no plans on going back to Tokyo much, but it would be nice to catch up with him and others, or maybe we can meet halfway or something. Small World!

The flight to Nagasaki was cool. Talked to a fellow JET about everything under the sun, and then about the more serious stuff like organizational functioning, meditation, and travel abroad experiences. Good to know we think alike, have similar experiences, and just plain can relate to one another. I love my new found family. Oh yes, the landing on the plane to Nagasaki was fun! Well, actually it was terrifying. Had there been no seatbelts, there would have been tons of people flying out of their seats. Lots of folks screamed, and I must say, even though I’ve been on a bajillion planes before, this was probably the scariest. Oh well, at least it was fun : )

Met one of my supervisors in Nagasaki, and waited around with him to fly out to the island. He’s pretty awesome, very down to earth and very nice. One thing I’m learning about my island is that it seems to be pretty laid back and very smooth. I will get along just fine here.

After the little propeller plane (less scary than the bigger Nagasaki plane believe it or not), I arrived at my new home in Tsushima. Most of the JETs, my supervisor, and other important people (crap, I still need to ask who they are) met us there. Smiles and warmth were aplenty.

Then of course, off to the restaurant to eat some stuff and welcome me. I’m really pleasantly surprised and happy about them really being accommodating about my being a vegetarian. I have felt no ostracism, actually, I feel like everyone is more curious than anything else, and it looks like being a vegetarian is going to be less of an issue (at least with my BOE) than I had thought. Seems to me like most Tsushima folk are pretty cool and nice and understanding. (Especially when they find out I love to drink!)

Then of course, BEER! Long past few days, tired delusions, and that means there will of course be beer and sake with dinner. Yes, of course I’ll have another, and of course I’ll try that sake! Well, it goes without saying for those folks that know me, I can hang : )

I feel very calm right now, woke up at 5AM, writing this because can’t really fall back to sleep (jet lag). I figured you all might like to hear from me, even if just in writing. And if not, oh well. ha ha ha.

Pictures, I promise I’ll try and be better about that. I’m not huge on pictures, mostly the taking them is what I find cumbersome at times, but I’ll try and get better I promise (or not…).

Oh yes, I haven’t seen much of the island because it got dark after dinner, but I can tell, well you know, it’s fuckin’ beautiful! I’m super excited, looks like I got the perfect placement and am pretty much gonna love it here, a strong feeling I have. The folks I’ll interact with, i.e. my coworkers and supervisors, I already love them. They are like a family, and in due time (likely a few more days) they will surely become family. There’s definitely a lot of love here, I can feel it and I’m excited about it, and I like the genuine sense of caring that seems to abound here. Looks like I’m in really good hands.

Oh yeah, my apartment. It’s freakin cool. Apparently I got a new floor and paint (sorry Jesse). Yes, also Jesse told me it’d be small, but I don’t think it is at all actually. In fact, I think it’s pretty big. Well I guess that has a lot to do with living in Japan before and having small rooms, but I love my new little place. A bit of rearranging and I’ll make it my own. Either way, they did a good job of making me feel at home here, and I think my accommodation is super cool. I feel very safe and at home. And, I have a rice cooker. My life is complete, ha ha ha.

Alright, I’ll leave you at that, I’m gonna try and get a bit more shut eye before my day starts. The semi (cicada bug) buzzing outside is to me like a lullaby. It’s as if Japan has been calling me home, and it’s finally good to be back. Japan has always had a special place in my heart, and it is very much home, not feels like or is my second home, but my home. I feel safe here, and the distance between my U.S. family and friends doesn’t even phase me. This is a new feeling for me, semi unexpected, but greatly welcomed. I guess it’s all about living life moment by moment, wherever you are. It feels good to be home. Home really is where the heart is, and looks like somehow Tsushima has found mine. So I’m pretty glad about that. Take care of yourselves, keep dreaming, and I promise I’ll post some pictures soon.

Later!