today i had prefectural orientation.
but wait, you may be thinking. didnt you have an orientation in chicago? and another one in tokyo?
yes. yes i did. and i had a third one in fukuoka-shi for all of the new jets in fukuoka prefecture, because jet likes orientations i guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
had to wake up at stupid o’clock to walk like two miles to the nearest train station, had to catch the train to hakata and transfer to the subway. its complicated but ultimately i can be in fukuoka-shi proper in like 45 minutes and its only ¥740 to do it, so i have a feeling ill be in the city a lot. my legs are gonna be STEELY.
anyway. orientation. the only good part was getting there sweating buckets and being told its okay to wear cool biz 🙏🏻 cool biz is what people in the south wear in the summer, basically short-sleeve button ups and no jackets or ties. its a blessing. the second best thing was the mascot of the prefecture. HES A PIG AND I LOVE HIM. im assuming because hakata ramen is made from pork spinal fluid (sounds gross, still gonna try it) and is incredibly popular. like, people flock to fukuoka for this stuff i guess. but yeah, the mascot is a Good Boy. watching him try to fit through doorways made me want to cry a little because it was so cute.
i dont remember much from the actual orientation except the pig, and there was a video the fukuoka jets made to highlight some cool stuff in and around the prefecture. i am making plans to go see the giant reclining buddha nearby, as well as experience karatsuyaki in karatsu-shi, saga-ken. i signed up to see a fukuoka softbank hawks baseball game next month too. and i have off until thursday, so co-alt and my friend m and i will head to mitama marsuri for obon. the next month or so looks busy 💙