Japan is amazing!
The country is very strange and different. But the country is also amazing.
I have eaten some amazing food! Sushi bars here are only 100 yen each! Ramen noodles, Okinomiyaki, Octopus balls, curries, even the local supermarkets have some great things!
The people are really friendly escorting you sometimes to your destination. Greeting you every time you walk into a shop, smiling always!
I don't know where to begin. The hotel was really nice, the Onsen on the top floor was amazing! Sauna, two types of jaccuzis, another sauna, an indoor and outdoor pools, baths, showers, free shapoos and body washes! Things in Japan sometimes seem the same on the surface but they really aren't. The modern looking hotel with this very old fashioned Japanese feature on the roof was great!
Training was long but useful. We had a couple of meetings on our first day, then the second another one. Mostly signing stuff and meeting our teachers. On one night we went to a Karaoke bar and had a bit to drink. The next day everyone had to run around and get to their flats! Everyone was equipped with a map and had to get to the place to get our keys, then get on our trains to our flats! It was like a big treasure trail with different groups from training pairing up together! About 40 ALTs in our city!
The weekend was basically catching up from jetlag and getting stuff for our houses, sorting out bank accounts, phones, alien registration etc. That and exploring around a bit!
We had 3 more days of training where we did demo lessons and got given some stuff! On Thursday I went to my school which was very scary. I went in then gave an intro to all the staff. I was very tired and sweaty because I got up at 6.00am so not to be late and decided to walk so I wouldn't miss the trains or get lost. The school is nice, the children shouting "handsome" and "cool" at me in Japanese. Apparently some kids are a bit naughty and throw paper planes at the teachers!
The next day there was a typhoon so a load of people went home early. The weekend was basically drinking with the other ALTs to celebrate a good week! So here I am writing this after a busy busy few days.
So what is Japan like you may ask!
There are vending machines everywhere, sliding doors, kimonos, great food, friendly people but scared of the language barrier, hardly any western people here apart from my collegues! I made friends with my next door neighbour who wants to learn English. The streets are really compact. Public transport is expensive but food is cheap, everything you can find for 100 yen or about 85p in huge shops! They have 100 yen food shops, they have 100 yen department stores! My flat is filled with mostly 100 yen things, even pots and pans! I found an oven in a recycling shop!
The flat is very nice, very compact with everything I need. The area around me is nice, quiet but there are loads of little resturants and bars. Also my block of flats is very empty so no one makes noise!
I love Japan!
My first few days at school were strange. I gave a speech to 600 people which went down pretty well even though I may have got a bit of the shakes halfway through. The kids laughed in the right places. My first lesson today was hard but the teacher said I did really well. The kids are not the well behaived robots I was expecting!
Yesterday I went to a bar and although no one spoke English I managed to have a conversation. I got free food there off this old couple that ran it. I saw them put a whole octopus into a vat of boiling water!
Anyway, enough mindless ranting. Here are some pictures!
The country is very strange and different. But the country is also amazing.
I have eaten some amazing food! Sushi bars here are only 100 yen each! Ramen noodles, Okinomiyaki, Octopus balls, curries, even the local supermarkets have some great things!
The people are really friendly escorting you sometimes to your destination. Greeting you every time you walk into a shop, smiling always!
I don't know where to begin. The hotel was really nice, the Onsen on the top floor was amazing! Sauna, two types of jaccuzis, another sauna, an indoor and outdoor pools, baths, showers, free shapoos and body washes! Things in Japan sometimes seem the same on the surface but they really aren't. The modern looking hotel with this very old fashioned Japanese feature on the roof was great!
Training was long but useful. We had a couple of meetings on our first day, then the second another one. Mostly signing stuff and meeting our teachers. On one night we went to a Karaoke bar and had a bit to drink. The next day everyone had to run around and get to their flats! Everyone was equipped with a map and had to get to the place to get our keys, then get on our trains to our flats! It was like a big treasure trail with different groups from training pairing up together! About 40 ALTs in our city!
The weekend was basically catching up from jetlag and getting stuff for our houses, sorting out bank accounts, phones, alien registration etc. That and exploring around a bit!
We had 3 more days of training where we did demo lessons and got given some stuff! On Thursday I went to my school which was very scary. I went in then gave an intro to all the staff. I was very tired and sweaty because I got up at 6.00am so not to be late and decided to walk so I wouldn't miss the trains or get lost. The school is nice, the children shouting "handsome" and "cool" at me in Japanese. Apparently some kids are a bit naughty and throw paper planes at the teachers!
The next day there was a typhoon so a load of people went home early. The weekend was basically drinking with the other ALTs to celebrate a good week! So here I am writing this after a busy busy few days.
So what is Japan like you may ask!
There are vending machines everywhere, sliding doors, kimonos, great food, friendly people but scared of the language barrier, hardly any western people here apart from my collegues! I made friends with my next door neighbour who wants to learn English. The streets are really compact. Public transport is expensive but food is cheap, everything you can find for 100 yen or about 85p in huge shops! They have 100 yen food shops, they have 100 yen department stores! My flat is filled with mostly 100 yen things, even pots and pans! I found an oven in a recycling shop!
The flat is very nice, very compact with everything I need. The area around me is nice, quiet but there are loads of little resturants and bars. Also my block of flats is very empty so no one makes noise!
I love Japan!
My first few days at school were strange. I gave a speech to 600 people which went down pretty well even though I may have got a bit of the shakes halfway through. The kids laughed in the right places. My first lesson today was hard but the teacher said I did really well. The kids are not the well behaived robots I was expecting!
Yesterday I went to a bar and although no one spoke English I managed to have a conversation. I got free food there off this old couple that ran it. I saw them put a whole octopus into a vat of boiling water!
Anyway, enough mindless ranting. Here are some pictures!
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| Iguana on a lead |
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| Rat-dogs in a pram! |
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| Osaka Castle candle evening. |
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| My flat |
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| Tower parking! The cars go up in lifts! |
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| Beer from a vending machine with no need a proof of ID! |
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| The toilet in my house which has a sink on the top to wash your hands and save water. |
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| The bathroom with a dryer inbuilt! Operated by the buttons on the wall on the right! |
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| Kitchen |
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| House slippers |
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| The building near my house, old man cleaning in the rain there is a shrine in the centre that is lit up and night. |
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| Kim-OH-NO |
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