Busy Busy Busy!

WHEW. This past week has flown by; at the same time it feels like I've been in Japan a month already, even though it's really only been seven days. I've just been that busy.
Let's see. Tuesday was more sessions for orientation. We had one in the morning explaining the school system and the objectives of the different levels of English classes (elementary versus middle versus high school), and then we had lunch, and then we split off into hour-long sessions. I went to one about making the most of your time on JET (how to get involved, basically) and then to one about living in rural areas and driving in Japan. Then I went to our prefectural group meeting for the Yamagata JETs, where Alex, the Prefectural Adviser, told us that we'd be taking the bullet train to Yamagata in the morning and gave us tags with all our info on it to mail anything ahead that we could. I ended up mailing ahead my big Air Boss case, because I didn't want to get bruises on my shoulders again from lugging around 20/30 pound bags. So I went back upstairs and repacked, then lugged that thing down to the takkyubin place and they took care of it for me for a mere 1100 yen.

Tokyo Orientation, Day 1

So it turns out I can't actually use the gym in the hotel--there are too many JETs here, so we're banned from the gym and the pool. I went back to the hotel room pretty disappointed, but I did a few small exercises like sit-ups and whatnot, then got up and started organizing my luggage. Sara woke up after a while, and then I showered and got ready while I Skyped Mom. I also made some green tea with the hot water heater we have in our room--god I love Japan. Sara and I were out of the room by 7, and went and had breakfast. We met up with some other Denver JETs who arrived in the room the same time as we did. Then Justine, Sara and I went on a walk around Shinjuku since we had some time to kill before the prefectural meetings and opening ceremonies at 9, and Sara and I went back to our room after the short stroll. I organized my luggage, and then we went down to the big ballroom where our first sessions were. We were seated according to prefecture and we had an hour to just talk with everyone, so we got to meet some of the other Yamagata JETs. I found out there's another JET from Ireland who's placed in Shinjo along with Ben and I, which is cool. There are five Irish JETs in Yamagata and even an Australian, Tom.

Here We Go Again

Whelp, here I am in Japan--for the second time! I can hardly believe it's been over a year since I last was in the land of the rising sun. I can hardly believe this time around, I'm not just visiting, but living and working here. I can't believe I didn't cry (that much) when I left. I can't believe I'm awake and functioning at four in the morning (Japan time that is) and seriously contemplating going for a run (well more like a quick jog) in the fitness center after I've finished this post. Take that, jet lag.