Well, it's been a really long week but here I am, all moved into my new apartment in Niigata. It's been a bit crazy so I'll try and hit the main points of the past week or so.
Tuesday through Friday we had training from 8am to about 5 or 6pm, with an hour break for lunch in the restaurants at the hotel. The lessons and the games and ideas they gave us were fantastic and the trainers are all extremely helpful. We also had a health check on Thursday afternoon, which was interesting. I had to submit a urine test, and then there was a vision test, blood test, chest X-ray, and EKG. A bit random, but we've only got to have it done every two years, so that's over with for now. All of the Japanese doctors were incredibly nice and friendly, which is also encouraging, should I become sick while I'm here. (And I'm sure I will at some point--I'm working with kids, after all!) The X-ray was taken in a van that had pulled up in front of the hotel. It had a sealable room at the back and we went in one at a time, they took the X-ray, and that was it. Very efficient.
On Friday, I found out my school schedule for the year (what schools I'll be at on which days, as well as vacation times) and maps of the area around my apartment. I'll be teaching at four schools and they're all elementary, which I find fantastic! I had rather wanted to teach younger kids anyway, and apparently I'm not allowed to write on the board because they don't start learning to read English until Junior High so I'll be drawing pictures only, and mostly playing lots of games, from the sound of it. Where Junior High is oftentimes team teaching with both the ALT and the Japanese Teacher of English in the classroom cooperating (of course, level of cooperation depends on the teacher), Elementary seems to be mostly on my shoulders, and to be honest that works just fine for me.
I also found out that I won't be driving after all, which I think is good, as it's just one extra expense. And all four of my schools are within walking/biking/train distance of my apartment, which is fantastic. Speaking of trains, I'm about four blocks away from the closest station! Very convenient. I'm also within VERY manageable walking distance of the closest supermarket, which is enormous! I've been twice now and still haven't seen all of it, but I did get stocked up with the basics for cooking, including some rice that was grown in my prefecture: we're supposed to have some of the best rice in Japan, so I'm anxious to try it.
But I'm getting ahead of myself! On Saturday, all of the Interac ALTs in my area got up, had breakfast, and met in the lobby at 6:30am. Our luggage had been shipped out the day before. Because Japanese use public transit, and even when they don't, because their cars are so small, oftentimes when traveling or moving they will use domestic shipping companies to move suitcases and the like to their apartment or the airport or wherever. It's very safe, inexpensive, convenient, and reliable, as well as fast--my suitcase was sent Friday evening and I received it yesterday (Sunday) morning.
Anyway, after everyone gathered at the hotel, we hopped on a shuttle to the airport, which was only about 20 minutes away. From there we caught a train into Tokyo (Ueno), and then those of us going to Niigata (I traveled with four others) hopped on a bullet train and headed north. Most of the train ride was in tunnels, because shortly outside of Tokyo, the Japan Alps start making an appearance. There's one tunnel that is quite fantastic to ride through, as when you enter, everything on the Tokyo side is still a bit green and brown because Tokyo's winters typically aren't that harsh. On the other side of the tunnel, however, immediately everything is suddenly white with snow. It's sort of like going into a tunnel in Huntsville and emerging in the midst of the Rockies. The mountains are enormous and so close and just beautiful. The trees are all dusted with snow and you wonder if the little towns and villages off in the distance on the base of these incredible peaks are ski towns. It's certainly possible, since Niigata is said to have some of the best skiing in Japan. It's because of the powder, apparently--people travel from all over the world to ski here.
When we got to Niigata station, it was snowing. We headed off the platform and went downstairs into the station and met our contacts from Interac. The company has hired independent contractors (ICs) who speak English to help us get settled and set up cell phones, bank accounts, and get our alien registration cards (think green card). My IC is Yamaga-san, and she's 25 and teaches English at a local cram school. She's been fantastic! She took me all around and got my apartment key, and apparently had already had the water and electric turned on, and the guy who turned on the gas got there shortly after we did, so she definitely hooked me up. Then we got my list and went out shopping. My apartment is furnished (washing machine, loft bed, lots of shelving, and so on) but I needed a futon, and blankets and a pillow, as well as preliminary food. Yamaga-san took me to what seems to be the Japanese equivalent of Ikea, as well as a hundred yen store (like a dollar store but with quality). I was able to get kitchen supplies and all the stuff I needed for my bedroom (which, amusingly, is also my dining room and living room). By the time we got to the grocery store it was rather late, so I was able to get the things I needed for breakfast and then we headed home.
Home. Sounds odd to associate it with a place in Japan but it also feels like I've been living here for years. All that's left now is to get my official documents sorted and meet the principals of my schools while it's still spring break, and figure out lesson plans for the first week. I know teaching is going to be a bit daunting until I get into the swing of things, but if my past jobs are any indicator, hopefully I'll have relaxed a bit more after the first few weeks. I kept seeing kids in the grocery store last night and wondering, "maybe I'll be teaching you next week!" It's an exciting thought. I want so badly to make English as fun and exciting for them as Japanese has been for me. I've been really fortunate throughout my life to have understanding and inspiring teachers and I can only hope that I can do the same for these kids, whether English becomes their favorite subject or not.
Anyway, as scattered as I'm sure this seems, I think I'm going to leave it here and finish getting ready. Yamaga-san is picking me up in a bit for more errands! If any of you have skype, feel free to add me and chat me up if I'm on! You can search for me by my email ( thestacymiller@gmail.com ). Thinking of you all often!
P.S. IT JUST STARTED SNOWING AGAIN!! The flakes are HUGE!!!!
29 March, 2010
23 March, 2010
Tokyo (Narita!)
Hey all!
Well, I`ve made it to Japan and gotten to my hotel and gotten my baggage and everything squared away! Despite the initial itinerary confusion, the flights went very well and I managed to sleep a good bit on the plane from Washington/Dulles to Tokyo, so that was good. I chatted up a nice Japanese guy on the way to the gate and got a chance to practice before I actually got into the country, which was good. And the guy I sat next to on the plane was Palauan! Apparently there are only 20,000 or so Palauans left in the world, and he speaks a bit of the language so he taught me some words and phrases. He is an American though, and works for the US Department of Defense with the Army Corps of Engineers, and works very closely with the State Department so we chatted for a long time about his work, and being employed with the government, and that sort of thing. Probably one of the most interesting people I`ve ever met.
When I got into Tokyo, I got through customs very smoothly and found the group with Interac fairly quickly as well. They have us all in this nice hotel not far from the airport, and we`re doing all of our training here as well. My roommate is fantastic--she`s from New Zealand and she`ll be in the same prefecture I will, and I`ve met about 5 or 6 others who will also be in Niigata-ken with me, though not in my city. She showed me pictures of NZ tonight also, and it is just as beautiful as you can imagine. I`ve been thrilled to meet lots of others here from all over the world: I had dinner tonight with three guys from the UK and we discussed plans to go skiing and snowboarding, and there are a couple of girls in my prefecture from the UK and Ireland who might be interested in some winter sports as well.
The hotel is nice, and the food they`ve had for us is very good. It`s been fantastic to get back to eating nikujaga, tonkatsu, Japanese curry, and the like. Also, I`ve been reminded as to why Japanese crepes are amazing. I also had a bit of an adventure in that I got over here with my watch and pulled it out this morning and realized that it wasn`t running. So after dinner at the local mall tonight, I found a camera shop and got the battery replaced, and they`d reset the time and date on it for me and everything. Great people, here!
We had training all day today, and went over some general company guidelines as well as a crash course in Japanese culture, which was a nice refresher. Then we were given some teaching samples in the form of full length actual classes for elementary, junior high, and high school, and it`s been incredibly helpful and encouraging. Also, I signed my contract and got set up with insurance, so things are moving right along.
Anyway, I should probably get to bed as I`m still rather tired from the flight and the training today, but as far as my schedule goes, I have training the rest of this week and then apparently I leave for Niigata-ken on Saturday. Also, I`ve heard that since our contract doesn`t start until the 6th of April that we`ll have all of next week to get settled, meet the principal of our school, and find our way around a bit, so that`s definitely a bit of a nice breather to get acclimated to where I`ll be living.
Hope all of you are doing well! And for those of you that I`m sure are wondering, yes, my hotel room has a heated toilet seat. And since it`s still a bit chilly in Tokyo right now, it is pretty nice.
Good night all! Thinking of you from tomorrow :)
Well, I`ve made it to Japan and gotten to my hotel and gotten my baggage and everything squared away! Despite the initial itinerary confusion, the flights went very well and I managed to sleep a good bit on the plane from Washington/Dulles to Tokyo, so that was good. I chatted up a nice Japanese guy on the way to the gate and got a chance to practice before I actually got into the country, which was good. And the guy I sat next to on the plane was Palauan! Apparently there are only 20,000 or so Palauans left in the world, and he speaks a bit of the language so he taught me some words and phrases. He is an American though, and works for the US Department of Defense with the Army Corps of Engineers, and works very closely with the State Department so we chatted for a long time about his work, and being employed with the government, and that sort of thing. Probably one of the most interesting people I`ve ever met.
When I got into Tokyo, I got through customs very smoothly and found the group with Interac fairly quickly as well. They have us all in this nice hotel not far from the airport, and we`re doing all of our training here as well. My roommate is fantastic--she`s from New Zealand and she`ll be in the same prefecture I will, and I`ve met about 5 or 6 others who will also be in Niigata-ken with me, though not in my city. She showed me pictures of NZ tonight also, and it is just as beautiful as you can imagine. I`ve been thrilled to meet lots of others here from all over the world: I had dinner tonight with three guys from the UK and we discussed plans to go skiing and snowboarding, and there are a couple of girls in my prefecture from the UK and Ireland who might be interested in some winter sports as well.
The hotel is nice, and the food they`ve had for us is very good. It`s been fantastic to get back to eating nikujaga, tonkatsu, Japanese curry, and the like. Also, I`ve been reminded as to why Japanese crepes are amazing. I also had a bit of an adventure in that I got over here with my watch and pulled it out this morning and realized that it wasn`t running. So after dinner at the local mall tonight, I found a camera shop and got the battery replaced, and they`d reset the time and date on it for me and everything. Great people, here!
We had training all day today, and went over some general company guidelines as well as a crash course in Japanese culture, which was a nice refresher. Then we were given some teaching samples in the form of full length actual classes for elementary, junior high, and high school, and it`s been incredibly helpful and encouraging. Also, I signed my contract and got set up with insurance, so things are moving right along.
Anyway, I should probably get to bed as I`m still rather tired from the flight and the training today, but as far as my schedule goes, I have training the rest of this week and then apparently I leave for Niigata-ken on Saturday. Also, I`ve heard that since our contract doesn`t start until the 6th of April that we`ll have all of next week to get settled, meet the principal of our school, and find our way around a bit, so that`s definitely a bit of a nice breather to get acclimated to where I`ll be living.
Hope all of you are doing well! And for those of you that I`m sure are wondering, yes, my hotel room has a heated toilet seat. And since it`s still a bit chilly in Tokyo right now, it is pretty nice.
Good night all! Thinking of you from tomorrow :)
21 March, 2010
At the Airport! (And How Travel Never Goes Quite the Way You Expect)
Hey all!
I'm sitting at my gate in Nashville waiting to board, though it's been a bit of an interesting journey thus far. Pam and I left Huntsville around 1:30am to arrive at the airport at 4:00am as planned, with plenty of time left for my 6:30am flight to Chicago. We parked, and got out of the car, and I happened to glance up at one of the screens outside and saw that my flight was not on time, not delayed, but canceled. Since I've always had fairly good luck with flights being on time and scheduled and going as planned, it threw me for a loop until I was reassured that I wouldn't be charged for any re-routing.
After waiting about half an hour for the United Airlines staff to show up for the morning shift, I was informed that since I had checked in early online and the second leg of my trip was with All Nippon Airways, United was not able to re-rout me because ANA will not release a booked seat to another airline. The extremely helpful staff at United gave me the phone number to call but ANA's US offices don't open until 5:30am PST, which is 7:30am Central. By this time I had been waiting at the counter for about two hours, so I only had about another hour to kill. So I bought some internet time and some caffeine, and proceeded to update Interac with the developments. When 7:30 rolled around, I called ANA and they were more than happy to help me out, as were the patient staff at United, who also were kind enough to wave the overweight baggage fee that I would've incurred (whoops!).
I just finished updating Interac with the new itinerary and I'll still be arriving in Tokyo just in time to meet up with my new co-workers. So now that I know how I'll be traveling, here is the updated information:
United Airlines
Flight: UA7994
Depart: Nashville, US (BNA)
21-Mar-10 (Sun) 08:57a
Arrive: Wash/Dulles
21-Mar-10 (Sun) 11:52a
United Airlines
Flight: UA897
Depart: Wash/Dulles
21-Mar-10 (Sun) 01:28p
Arrive: Narita/Tokyo
22-Mar-10 (Mon) 04:30p
So there you go! Thanks to the incredibly helpful airport staff at United as well as ANA, and not to mention the support and encouragement of my partner in crime, I'm all set to go off on the next great adventure. Here's hoping my bags follow me to Japan and that I haven't forgotten anything critical (especially since I finished packing about half an hour before we left Huntsville, so you can probably guess how much sleep I got)! My next update will be from the opposite side of the Pacific, so look out for it!
I also just wanted to make a brief mention of how incredibly grateful I am to all of my friends and family. Everyone has just been so supportive and loving and understanding and while leaving my home country is the hardest thing I've ever done, it's also been made so much more effortless because I know I get to come back to you all. Much love to everyone and I will be thinking of you guys!
More soon!
I'm sitting at my gate in Nashville waiting to board, though it's been a bit of an interesting journey thus far. Pam and I left Huntsville around 1:30am to arrive at the airport at 4:00am as planned, with plenty of time left for my 6:30am flight to Chicago. We parked, and got out of the car, and I happened to glance up at one of the screens outside and saw that my flight was not on time, not delayed, but canceled. Since I've always had fairly good luck with flights being on time and scheduled and going as planned, it threw me for a loop until I was reassured that I wouldn't be charged for any re-routing.
After waiting about half an hour for the United Airlines staff to show up for the morning shift, I was informed that since I had checked in early online and the second leg of my trip was with All Nippon Airways, United was not able to re-rout me because ANA will not release a booked seat to another airline. The extremely helpful staff at United gave me the phone number to call but ANA's US offices don't open until 5:30am PST, which is 7:30am Central. By this time I had been waiting at the counter for about two hours, so I only had about another hour to kill. So I bought some internet time and some caffeine, and proceeded to update Interac with the developments. When 7:30 rolled around, I called ANA and they were more than happy to help me out, as were the patient staff at United, who also were kind enough to wave the overweight baggage fee that I would've incurred (whoops!).
I just finished updating Interac with the new itinerary and I'll still be arriving in Tokyo just in time to meet up with my new co-workers. So now that I know how I'll be traveling, here is the updated information:
United Airlines
Flight: UA7994
Depart: Nashville, US (BNA)
21-Mar-10 (Sun) 08:57a
Arrive: Wash/Dulles
21-Mar-10 (Sun) 11:52a
United Airlines
Flight: UA897
Depart: Wash/Dulles
21-Mar-10 (Sun) 01:28p
Arrive: Narita/Tokyo
22-Mar-10 (Mon) 04:30p
So there you go! Thanks to the incredibly helpful airport staff at United as well as ANA, and not to mention the support and encouragement of my partner in crime, I'm all set to go off on the next great adventure. Here's hoping my bags follow me to Japan and that I haven't forgotten anything critical (especially since I finished packing about half an hour before we left Huntsville, so you can probably guess how much sleep I got)! My next update will be from the opposite side of the Pacific, so look out for it!
I also just wanted to make a brief mention of how incredibly grateful I am to all of my friends and family. Everyone has just been so supportive and loving and understanding and while leaving my home country is the hardest thing I've ever done, it's also been made so much more effortless because I know I get to come back to you all. Much love to everyone and I will be thinking of you guys!
More soon!
10 March, 2010
Countdown
Hey all!
Well it's been a little while since the last update so I thought I'd let you know where things stand now. It is Wednesday morning and there are 11 days left until I leave.
I've been working on things here and there to get ready. Since I'll be driving over there, I had to get my driver's license transferred to an Alabama license and get an international driving permit. I've also been filling out health forms and other documentation for Interac that I'll need once I'm over there.
I got the contact information for my predecessor over in Niigata last night too, so I sent him an email to see if he had any information about where I'll be and the schools I'll be in and that sort of thing.
Other than that, I'm just trying to stock up on clothes and other things that I'll need once I'm over there. My friends and family both here and overseas have been invaluable with helping me acquire the essentials I'll need to pack. It's quite a lot to think about: Imagine moving somewhere for several years and only being able to take a suitcase and a carryon. I know I'll be able to get some things in Japan--but trying to keep straight everything that I'll need to bring with me and keep track of what I need to pick up when I get there is a bit mind-boggling.
Also, for those of you who'd like to keep in touch while I'm overseas, there are a few ways to do this. One of the easiest ways will be email (those of you who know me well know that I love to write!). This is the best address at which to reach me: thestacymiller@gmail.com
If you have a hankering to hear my dulcet tones, Skype is also an option. Skype is a fantastic free program available for download from Skype.com. It's fairly simple to install and set up an username and password, and then you can add me by searching for my email (above). You can use Skype to chat with me as a regular instant messaging program, or, if you have a microphone for the computer, you can voice chat, like a phone call.
Well, I think that's about it for news for now... I'll probably have another update or two before I leave, and then I'll have to wait until I can find internet access over there. As always, thanks for reading!
Well it's been a little while since the last update so I thought I'd let you know where things stand now. It is Wednesday morning and there are 11 days left until I leave.
I've been working on things here and there to get ready. Since I'll be driving over there, I had to get my driver's license transferred to an Alabama license and get an international driving permit. I've also been filling out health forms and other documentation for Interac that I'll need once I'm over there.
I got the contact information for my predecessor over in Niigata last night too, so I sent him an email to see if he had any information about where I'll be and the schools I'll be in and that sort of thing.
Other than that, I'm just trying to stock up on clothes and other things that I'll need once I'm over there. My friends and family both here and overseas have been invaluable with helping me acquire the essentials I'll need to pack. It's quite a lot to think about: Imagine moving somewhere for several years and only being able to take a suitcase and a carryon. I know I'll be able to get some things in Japan--but trying to keep straight everything that I'll need to bring with me and keep track of what I need to pick up when I get there is a bit mind-boggling.
Also, for those of you who'd like to keep in touch while I'm overseas, there are a few ways to do this. One of the easiest ways will be email (those of you who know me well know that I love to write!). This is the best address at which to reach me: thestacymiller@gmail.com
If you have a hankering to hear my dulcet tones, Skype is also an option. Skype is a fantastic free program available for download from Skype.com. It's fairly simple to install and set up an username and password, and then you can add me by searching for my email (above). You can use Skype to chat with me as a regular instant messaging program, or, if you have a microphone for the computer, you can voice chat, like a phone call.
Well, I think that's about it for news for now... I'll probably have another update or two before I leave, and then I'll have to wait until I can find internet access over there. As always, thanks for reading!
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