una mez

It has been almost a month since I arrived in Japan and I think I'm settling in pretty nicely. The people here are so nice and the people I work with are really taking good care of me. I got a set of wheels so I can bike around and see more of my town, not to mention make quick trips to the supermarket once food goes on sale for half price after 8pm :) I love that thought is put into food not going to waste. 

The weather here is insanely hot and humid, but we had rain the past few days and it turned out that the weather today was absolutely beautiful! I took some pictures of flowers and such on the way back from school and took advantage of the fact that not many people were around to sing some English songs out loud for a bit. I got through the first part of "At last I see the light" from Tangled. It's kinda nice to sing in a language not native to this land, just in case are some people that are listening. I think I've convinced myself that this is somehow less embarrassing XD

School starts soon and I'm nervous to start teaching and working with the students. I've been told repeatedly that I have huge shoes to fill because my predecessor was there for five years and was a rock star as an ALT. I could tell that he really loved his job and that the kids really loved him too. I think he hates me just a little bit for being his replacement, but oh well. He's really loved by the Japanese English teachers he worked with too. He was the best ALT that they've worked with. >.< I hope I can live up to their expectations and that I as myself will bring something new and different and fun to the table. 

Keeping patience in mind I think will help a lot. Since I'm not very good at Japanese either it'll be interesting to see what happens. I've been thinking a lot about Right to Learn stuff and the importance of literacy and how that opens doors to new worlds. Hopefully I'll be allowed to throw some new songs their way and introduce them to bands that they've never heard of before, as one way of studying English. I can't wait to learn new things from them too :) The process of gaining teacher perspective is both interesting and exciting. At the same time, since I'm learning Japanese, I get to feel a bit of what it must be like for the students to be learning English and draw from my own experiences to apply it to teaching. Perhaps I'm the most worried about memorizing the 500 some odd students names >.< maybe they will be nice and make me profile cards if I ask them to...

Well off to the supermarket to get lunch and snacks for tomorrow...

..............and I'm back :) There were slim pickin's today, but I managed to find some sashimi! I felt bad for the grocery clerks that put the discount stickers on the food cuz people practically follow them to see where they'll go next. Once the guy started putting stickers on the sashimi, people swarmed to look at what was on sale. I think next time I'm not on the market for it, I should people watch at a distance and  contemplate the anthropological aspects of it from what little I know of anthropology. 

I was interested to see how people choose which fish to get. I found that some people are very particular about the cuts of fish that they end up buying.I heard that white lines in the fish make it chewy so people avoid them, though I haven't been paying enough attention to test the validity of this statement. 

I managed to find this peculiar slightly expensive tan almost white sashimi. Supa waku waku (excited) to eat it for din din tomorrow! The other was a cut of tuna I believe with the skin seared? It looks scrumptious. So far out of the tuna's that I've had the one with the tanish brown skin is more to my liking than the silvery black one. 

I have been instagramming the food I've been eating like crazy so I'll be sure to include the pictures in an upcoming post. I'm starting to think that doctors that ask people to write food diaries should just have people instagram all the food they eat. It'd probably be more efficient and enjoyable than having to catalogue and contemplate the exact weights of everything we put into our bodies.

Oh I wanted to mention that today I was really proud of myself, cuz yesterday I managed to figure out how to make an account for the Japanese Post Office and to inform them that I would be picking up my undelivered mail. (thank you google translate for the assist) It turned out to be my bank card yay! I can live! I then managed to withdraw money from the atm, which I guess isn't that big of a deal since there is an English option on the touchscreen, but after the PIN shenanigans, I'm glad I managed to guess right on the first try haha. 

Next mission: 1st lessons with self introductions and hopefully Pterodactyl. 

Dreams: demon hunting, earthquake-possible vampire suspicions, and little sisters, reminders of multiple grocery shopping wandering

Recap: Arrival, fridge, kitchen gift box, futon, star curtains, bathroom rug, kettle, rolly drawer, cell phone, nice teachers, recycle shop clothes and tea cup, rice cooker, hanging rack, fan, pillow, knives, honey mustard vinaigrette ingredients, pans, hanabi, welcome party, laundry basket, bunny bento, washing machine, iron, laptop bag,handkerchief, hangers, laundry detergent, health check, light festival, ghibli mats, library, hanabi, Rinku Town, welcome party, rain, rain, umbrella, fire festival, ember bits, nice weather ^-^