Arriving in Kitakyushu

So I flew in two days ago to Kitakyushu and apart from the sweltering heat I couldn't be happier! Patrick is in the apartment building next door, so the two of us were shown around together. On our first night Dan, our prefectural advisor, took Patrick and I around town. We started by walking over the river to Dan's place so he could put his bags down and change out of his nice clothes. Then we walked down the river to the Board of Education so that we knew how to get there. We even walked to Kokura castle, which is less than a half hour walk from my apartment! We also went to Riverwalk, a big shopping mall/arcade/restaurant building with both a movie theater and live theater on the upper stories. If you go up to the 5th floor, there is a really nice place to sit outside that overlooks the castle and the city. We hung out there for a while. Then Dan had to meet some teachers for dinner, so he took us to the monorail station. Patrick and I decided to get some dinner while we were still downtown, so we went to a place Dan suggested. We each had some beer and shared some beef and cabbage in a spicy miso broth, it was great!

Yesterday we did all of our bureaucratic stuff. We filled out official change of address cards so we would be in the Kitakyushu system, signed our work and apartment contracts, got phones, and got bank accounts. It took a really long time, but Dan and Juha (another JET who's been here a few years) took us out to a restaurant yakyudori for dinner. It's a play on the word yakitori (a way to prepare food, usually grilled or fried and on a stick) and yakyuu (baseball). The food was amazing and we all had a few beers.

All the new JETs have today off, so we're doing our final unpacking and then meeting up for lunch and to go shopping for anything we need. I have so much more to write about how great the apartment is and great all the people are, but I really need to finish unpacking. I'll write more later!

News from Kitakyushu

So as I've said before, JET is a long process. I heard a few weeks ago that I was placed in Kitakyushu, but I don't get any details until the Board of Education can give them to me. As new JETs, we have no way of contacting our placement for details (e.g. schedules, cooperating teacher, middle or high school) until we are contacted by them first. I am excited to say I just heard from the JET adviser in Kitakyushu and she will be sending my packet of information sometime this week! I am hoping it arrives next week, although it may take longer. Letters are sent in lieu of e-mails because there is often sensitive information enclosed and official work papers that I will need to fill out and bring with me to Japan.

I will update more when I receive my letter. I will also have a new entry next weekend after my orientation on Saturday!

Placement in Japan

Like almost everyone going to Japan, I was really hoping to be in Tokyo. On my application, I put my placement preference as urban with my top three placements being Tokyo, Osaka, and Hiroshima. I know almost everyone puts Tokyo as their top placement, but I still held out some hope despite the low likelihood of that placement. So when I found I would be living in Kitakyushu I was disappointed.

If you’ve never heard of Kitakyushu, don’t worry, neither had I. Kitakyushu literally means North (北) Kyushu (九州). Kyuhsu is one of the four main islands in Japan, directly under neither the largest island, Honshu. After some quick Google searches I found that I would be in an industrial city on the water. There is a castle to visit and a pretty extensive subway system including a monorail. A theme park called Space World seems like something I want to check out and it’s going to be hot and humid almost all year round.

I’ve been asking around and almost no one knows anything about Kitakyushu other than that it’s industrial and near Nagasaki. Part of me is scared to go somewhere so new, but part of me is excited. It’s a new place I’ve never been before and even though I don’t know much about it, I’m excited to explore somewhere new. It’ll be a completely different experience than if I was placed in Tokyo or Osaka and that’s not a bad thing. I’m going to get an experience I couldn’t get anywhere else. My initial disappointment has changed into giddy enthusiasm to explore this new place. My placement isn’t going to be what makes my time in Japan amazing, what I make of my time there is what matters.