Volume 5: The Good, The Bad, and the Downright Dissapointing
My first full day after arriving in my prefecture was busy! I was required to go to school for the full day, whereas other teachers were off and could spend their time unpacking and organizing their home. But, I didn’t mind going to school because I was able to do important things that needed to get done like get a bank account and a cell phone.
But before all that, I will first start with the most downright disappointing part of my foray into my new life…..my apartment! I wasn’t told much about my apartment before arriving, and although I got some pictures I always keep in mind that things look different in person. So I did not have much expectations of where I was living….and still I was disappointed! In short my apartment is the bottom half of an old house (which is fine). But, it was filled with things that my predecessor neglected to throw out. There was no room to unpack any of my own things because all the space was already filled up….with junk! Other than the unnecessary items (most of which I threw out) I was told that they found out after my predecessor left that the microwave was broken and the floor was damaged. The hard wood floor is flaking off so it’s very possible to get splinters if you don’t wear slipper inside. Both of these problems were not reported to the school beforehand, so the school learned of them when I did.
Luckily the microwave and toaster oven had been replaced by the school, and my landlady generously agreed to change the floor with no cost to myself! Hopefully sometime next week the floor will be changed. In addition there is lots of mold in my apartment…..honestly Japan is very humid so mold is a normal occurrence….but I also think my predecessor did not clean very well or very often (his facial hair clippings was still all over the bathroom sink and vanity…gross!). Even though I’ve already spent a whole weekend cleaning and throwing out, it’s safe to say I still have a lot of cleaning ahead of me before I can truly call the apartment my own. After the floor is changed I will upload a virtual tour so you all can get a good idea of where I live and homes in Japan.
Next comes the bad. After setting up my bank account (which had no problems) we headed over to get a cellphone. It’s almost a law for foreign teachers to have a phone in an emergency. The school and government need some way to get in touch with us in case of a natural disaster. Most people just bring an unlocked phone to Japan and use that with a sim card. But, my phone is too old to be used with the new sim cards, so I needed to get a new phone. I picked out my phone and plan, but when the time to pay came I’m told since I don’t have a Japanese bank card they can’t let me leave with the phone. I had gone to the bank before and set up my account so I had my bankbook, but they would not accept this fact and demanded my credit card. Or to wait for my bank card and get the phone a month later. In the end we had to go all the way back to my apartment because I didn’t bring my Canadian credit card with me, and then back to the phone store to to pay for my phone. I also have to go back at some point with my bank card to change the main method of payment…..gah!
On a more pleasant note I also had some very good moments in my first week of Japan! All my co-workers are very nice, helpful, and speak reasonably good English. My school looks amazing and the students I’ve met so far have been really nice and speak to me in English! (If you don’t know anything about my previous students in Korea this is a huge deal for me!!!!!). I also had the pleasure of going to dinner with a couple of my female co-workers, and being invited for dinner at a new friend’s house. I met this new friend through Facebook because she was very excited that we were both living in Ritto city. Apparently, I am the only JET teacher living in Ritto and one of the only foreign people. So my new friend who’s living in Japan with her Japanese husband is super excited that I’m living like 10 minutes away by walking! We had a great dinner together and I was really happy to have someone close by to hang out with. The dinner with my co-workers was equally difficult and enjoyable. They spoke Japanese almost the whole time, so the translating part of my brain was working in overdrive even though I know minimal Japanese. It was nice to get to know the co-workers around me and see them in a different setting. We made plans in the future to go eat Korean BBQ!
To sum up, my first week in Japan has been hectic but I would not trade it for anything! I’m happy to finally be here and starting my new adventure in Japan. I will try to regularly keep in touch.
Sayonara!
(Goodbye!)
P.S. Thus ends my volumed saga :)