Welcome to Japan

Hey gang!

Well, I'm here.  After a few nights with VERY little sleep (I averaged 4 hours/night the two nights before I left) and a 13 hour plane ride that took me across the international dateline, I made it!  Once again, leaving was REALLY hard....I cried when I left Ian in Nashville, when I spoke with my family for the last time, when I boarded the plane from Dallas to Tokyo.  I know it sounds like I'm a big bawling baby, and I swear I don't cry THAT often, but these are different circumstances. 

The plane ride- holy crap.  That was the LONGEST. RIDE. EVER.  I had two naps, watched three movies, four episodes of The Office and 30 Rock, read for a bit, ate two meals and two snacks, stood up three times to stretch, and finally we touched down in Tokyo.  Blarg.  It was sooooooooooo long.  I have never had a panic attack and am not claustrophobic or anything of the like, but I was definitely feeling antsy and anxious to get off that plane.  No matter which way I twisted or turned, I couldn't get comfortable.  :(

Friends- I've made friends w/a couple of people.  One the plane ride from Nashville to Dallas, I sat next to another JET from Paducah.  We chit-chatted the whole time, and he seemed like I really cool guy.  The only bad thing is that if you make friends w/people at this stage of the game, once you leave Tokyo and go separate ways, you're likely to NOT see them again.  :(  That's why it's important to make friends w/people going to your area.

First impressions of Japan- Organized, uniform, green, and backwards.  I say organized b/c as soon as we cleared customs, there were multitudes of JET representatives pointing us in the right direction.  Do this.  Check that.  Sign this.  It ran like a well oiled machine, let me tell you!  I had a problem filling out my insurance form since I had to add Ian as a dependent, which was supposed to be collected before we got off the bus at the hotel.  I asked our TOA (Tokyo Orientation Adviser) what I needed to do, and he personally escorted me to someone in the hotel who could answer my question.  Very nice.  I say green b/c I was amazed at the green foliage.  Even in the city, there are a ton of parks that dot the landscape, so it's not completely gray skyscrapers.  And finally, I say backwards b/c I didn't realize until a little while into our commute into the city that we were driving on the left side of the road.  ha, ha.  I'll have to get used to that!

Anyway, I just wanted everyone to know that I made it safe and sound.  I'll have internet here in Tokyo until Wednesday.  On Wednesday, I depart for Yunomae, and I'm not sure when I'll have internet again, so if you don't here from me, don't worry!  Email or facebook me.  I'll be busy for the next couple of days with orientation, so if I catch you on skype, I'll call, if not, some other time.  There's a 14 hour time difference, so please be aware of that.  Love you all!

Melissa

The final days

I've been getting the same question over and over and over lately. 

"So, are you excited?"

My answer to that question is yes...... and nervous/sad/anxious/ready/determined/happy.  I've been telling everyone that I feel like I'm on a roller coaster of emotions.  After my farewell party on Saturday, I came home and cried.  I knew it was silly and impractical, but I couldn't help it.  I'm most dreading Friday when I have to say goodbye to my family and Saturday when I have to say goodbye to Ian.  Despite the fact that Ian will join me in Japan in a few weeks, it's going to be really weird not having him with me.  In case anyone was wondering, saying goodbye sucks.  So this is what it feels like to move abroad.  I've done the whole semester abroad thing, but this is SOOOOOOO MUCH different.  For a semester abroad, I knew it was a relatively short amount of time.  This is a year....a whole year.  I know that in the grand scheme of things a year is nothing, but right now it's seeming pretty daunting.  I'm not saying that I regret my decision to do this (b/c I absolutely don't!!!), but now that the time is so close, I keep asking myself why the heck I'm doing this, lol. 

These past couple of days have been great.  It's still really weird for me to think that by the time the week's over, I'll be on my way to Japan.  So far, I've spent the majority of the week with my family and Ian.  Most of the time has been spent doing normal things--swimming, running errands, babysitting the nephews and niece, joking around, etc.  I honestly cannot think of any other way I would have rather spent my last week in the States.  I love my family so much and am so fortunate to have such a wonderful family!!  

I've been packing things for the past week.  As I sit now in my living room, I'm staring at blank, barren white walls.  It seems so impersonal--so cold to not have family pictures, photos, or keep sakes hanging on the walls.  Even though our apartment is small and has its downfalls, it's our first home together, and it's kinda sad to leave it.  There's still so much packing to do!!  Ian doesn't leave until August 15th, and he told me not to worry about packing the apartment stuff up.  I hate to leave him with everything, though.  It's not fair to him to have to box up EVERYTHING.  (Plus, don't tell him I said this, but his organizational skills aren't the best. ;)  His idea of packing is tossing random stuff in a box until it's full.)  It's almost 2:30AM now, but when I laid down to sleep earlier, I couldn't.  I was thinking, "I need to do this in the morning," or "Did I pack my belts?" or "Shoot, I should put my toothbrush in my carry on."  My mind is running about a hundred miles an hour.  :)  How does one pack one's life away into two checked and one carry on luggage?  Seriously, if anyone has suggestions, I'd welcome them.

Does anyone else notice that apparently there is nothing in North Korea, at least according to Google Maps?

-Ian

Before we begin....

Hello all!  Before we begin our Japanese adventure, I wanted you all to know about this blog.  Therefore, I probably won't post too many times before I leave.  In addition, this is OUR shared blog, so both Ian and I will write it.  I leave for Japan on July 30th, and Ian won't come over until August 15th.  The program recommends giving yourself a few weeks to establish yourself and get things around town taken care of before spouses or children come, so that's why Ian isn't coming until later.  Just to give you an example of how far away Japan is, I fly from Nashville to Dallas and Dallas to Tokyo.  I leave Dallas around 1PM on the 30th, and I won't arrive in Tokyo until 4PM on the 31st.  Yes, I will waste an entire day flying!  Once I land in Tokyo, I will be there for three days of orientation in which they will prep me for my job, and I will attend various seminars on culture, language, what to expect, meet other JETs in my prefecture, etc, etc.  After the third day, I will fly to Kumamoto City and then take the train to my tiny mountain village of Yunomae.  Ian and I love going to the mountains, so we are very excited that we'll live in a mountain town.  My prefecture is bordered by Mount Aso, a volcano, so there are lots of hot springs around, and the beach is a mere two hours away...nice for a weekend getaway!  I already know that I will be the only JET in Yunomae AND the only foreigner.  lol.  I'm sure I will stick out like a sore thumb!  We have a one bedroom house to live in, and by Japanese standards, it is a fairly large house. Although Yunomae is small enough that we can walk or bike anywhere we want, we also have a car.  My predecessor told me that since Yunomae is so rural, it is nice to have a car.  As I said earlier, Yunomae is a TINY town of 4,800.  The size alone will probably be culture shock!  We are both very excited about this adventure!  Please continue to follow us!