Well, I finally got around to taking some pictures. These are from when I went to Aikawa beach last weekend. http://s680.photobucket.com/albums/vv164/eightbitplus/Aikawa%20Beach/
I took these on my phone, which has a better camera than my current digital cam 8mp > 4.1mp.
Im planning on getting a new sony 12.1mp soon. I also plan to take some pictures around my place, so stay on the lookout for those. Until next time.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Month One.
Well, I have been in Japan for a month now today, I barely got internet yesterday so I am finally able to post again. I decided just to do a little recollection of the first month from what I can remember.
We flew out on Saturday, the 25th, at around 1 something via JAL, the flight was about 10 hours or so; a few hours shorter than my last trip to Japan, so I was happy about that. However, I couldn’t sleep at all during the flight. Also, the in flight entertainment was not as good as expected, there were many channels to watch, but unlike last time, the movies did not start when you switched to the station, you had to wait until it finished and started over. So, I only got to watch one movie and about the last quarter of another; the rest of the time was spent trying to sleep. The meals on the flight were not that bad. After the flight and airport/customs business it was onto the Keio Plaza hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The first night, we had to go out and find dinner on our own. I met up with a few people I met before the flight, and went out to search for food in the city. Before we went to eat, we went to the Shinjuku watch tower; it gives a pretty good view of Tokyo. I took a few pics, which look terrible thanks to my lousy old camera. After that, we walked down some of the busy, brightly lit alleys to find some food and call it a night. We found a small noodle shop; the food was ok, maybe a 6/10, definitely left something to be desired. After the meal most of the group wanted to head back and rest since orientation started early the next morning; but one guy wanted to venture around since we would only be in Tokyo for a very short time. So, another guy and I joined him to go see the “not so fabulous Shinjuku”. We were joined by another guy outside of Lawsons who is also in the program. We walked around and went through Shinjuku station and came out the other end and thought we were somewhere else, it was loud, brighter and tons more people. Its kinda like when you see the cliché of a big city on TV. The further away from the station we walk, you could see the attitudes of the people change. A lot of people were out working like it was the middle of the day, despite the fact it was about 10 at night; trying to get you to go to their clubs and meet their “girls”. Once we got through that part, we were in quiet and quite dirty streets, most of the people there walked with their heads down, and you could see piles of trash bags sitting outside houses and apartments. The streets were barely lit, it was like this area of the city had fallen asleep and become disconnected. That walk through Shinjuku was definitely worthwhile. When the little adventure concluded, I returned to my room to rest for the big day ahead of me. The orientation itself was alright, it was two days starting the Monday after we arrived. I attended a few seminars and then spent a lot of my free time exploring Tokyo. Last time I went to Tokyo, the only place I really saw was Akihabara and the Narita airport. This time I saw Ebisu, Shinjuku, Akihabara and a few other places. I was really jetlagged most of the orientation, so it was fun but not super exciting, I just didn’t have the energy. However, I did make some good friends at the orientation, and I also learned a few things about teaching. That Wednesday morning, orientation was officially over and everyone headed to their placements. Getting to Niigata from Tokyo wasn’t very hard, we took the bullet train and that was only about an hour and a half at most. After Niigata station, I had another ride to get to my specific placement, the ferry. Once we arrived on the island we were greeted by other current JETs; then it was right into self introductions and paperwork. We went to a City office and met with a superintendent, then went to register at the city as aliens and so on. After that, I was picked up and headed out to my Board of Education and met with some of my coworkers. I also able to do a bit of grocery shopping since there is a small grocery store across from the office. Once I finished shopping, I was taken to my new home and got to drop off my luggage and get ready for a small welcome party with the other JETs.
Since then, I have been going to work Mon-Fri and there have been many Festivals going on all around the island. I hope to get my camera situation worked out and get some nice photos online for you all to see, as well as coherent and interesting posts.
Until next time.
We flew out on Saturday, the 25th, at around 1 something via JAL, the flight was about 10 hours or so; a few hours shorter than my last trip to Japan, so I was happy about that. However, I couldn’t sleep at all during the flight. Also, the in flight entertainment was not as good as expected, there were many channels to watch, but unlike last time, the movies did not start when you switched to the station, you had to wait until it finished and started over. So, I only got to watch one movie and about the last quarter of another; the rest of the time was spent trying to sleep. The meals on the flight were not that bad. After the flight and airport/customs business it was onto the Keio Plaza hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The first night, we had to go out and find dinner on our own. I met up with a few people I met before the flight, and went out to search for food in the city. Before we went to eat, we went to the Shinjuku watch tower; it gives a pretty good view of Tokyo. I took a few pics, which look terrible thanks to my lousy old camera. After that, we walked down some of the busy, brightly lit alleys to find some food and call it a night. We found a small noodle shop; the food was ok, maybe a 6/10, definitely left something to be desired. After the meal most of the group wanted to head back and rest since orientation started early the next morning; but one guy wanted to venture around since we would only be in Tokyo for a very short time. So, another guy and I joined him to go see the “not so fabulous Shinjuku”. We were joined by another guy outside of Lawsons who is also in the program. We walked around and went through Shinjuku station and came out the other end and thought we were somewhere else, it was loud, brighter and tons more people. Its kinda like when you see the cliché of a big city on TV. The further away from the station we walk, you could see the attitudes of the people change. A lot of people were out working like it was the middle of the day, despite the fact it was about 10 at night; trying to get you to go to their clubs and meet their “girls”. Once we got through that part, we were in quiet and quite dirty streets, most of the people there walked with their heads down, and you could see piles of trash bags sitting outside houses and apartments. The streets were barely lit, it was like this area of the city had fallen asleep and become disconnected. That walk through Shinjuku was definitely worthwhile. When the little adventure concluded, I returned to my room to rest for the big day ahead of me. The orientation itself was alright, it was two days starting the Monday after we arrived. I attended a few seminars and then spent a lot of my free time exploring Tokyo. Last time I went to Tokyo, the only place I really saw was Akihabara and the Narita airport. This time I saw Ebisu, Shinjuku, Akihabara and a few other places. I was really jetlagged most of the orientation, so it was fun but not super exciting, I just didn’t have the energy. However, I did make some good friends at the orientation, and I also learned a few things about teaching. That Wednesday morning, orientation was officially over and everyone headed to their placements. Getting to Niigata from Tokyo wasn’t very hard, we took the bullet train and that was only about an hour and a half at most. After Niigata station, I had another ride to get to my specific placement, the ferry. Once we arrived on the island we were greeted by other current JETs; then it was right into self introductions and paperwork. We went to a City office and met with a superintendent, then went to register at the city as aliens and so on. After that, I was picked up and headed out to my Board of Education and met with some of my coworkers. I also able to do a bit of grocery shopping since there is a small grocery store across from the office. Once I finished shopping, I was taken to my new home and got to drop off my luggage and get ready for a small welcome party with the other JETs.
Since then, I have been going to work Mon-Fri and there have been many Festivals going on all around the island. I hope to get my camera situation worked out and get some nice photos online for you all to see, as well as coherent and interesting posts.
Until next time.
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