Monday, July 30, 2007
Finally in Tokyo
It's day one of Tokyo orientation. Right now I'm chilling in my room waiting for the next event to begin after wandering around Shinjuku. Here's what's happened since my last update.
The Flight Over: Wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be. My first flight there was an empty seat between me and the guy sitting next to the window, so plenty of space. And I ended up sleeping the whole way. The second, and much longer flight, I ended up in this weird row towards the back of the plane that didn't have TVs on the back of the seat in front of me. Instead they were in the arm rest, like in business class. We also only had 4 chairs in our row (in the middle of the plane) rather than 5 chairs like the other rows. This flight was a bit more of a pain, but still not bad at all. Got to sit next to Jun, another JET who is also headed to Yamanashi. We chatted a bit, but spent most of the flight sleeping. I also got about 300 pages into the new Harry Potter book. Food was okay. Got two meals. First was chicken with rice and veggies, a sushi sampler (very cute!), cookie, and salad. Second was a personal pan pizza, fruit, and a brownie.
Arrival: Immigration line was long and equally long was the bus ride to the hotel. Didn't get in until 9pm - ish. Just walked around outside a bit before showering and heading to bed. Nothing too exciting.
Day One of Orientation: Welcome event started late, but gave me plenty of time to chat with other people headed to my prefecture, including one also headed to Yamanashi city. She hadn't heard from her pred either, but apparently had gotten info from the schools she'll teach at. I'm definitely feeling a bit out of the loop. On a positive note I did find out that I will be teaching in an elementary school from the TOA (Tokyo Orientation Assistant) that came from my prefecture (she was taking attendance and had some of our placement info written on her 'list'). I'm hoping that it's true cause it means that I'll have to go to several elementary specific orientation events. Plus little kids are fun!
That's all for now! I'm off to the next event.
The Flight Over: Wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be. My first flight there was an empty seat between me and the guy sitting next to the window, so plenty of space. And I ended up sleeping the whole way. The second, and much longer flight, I ended up in this weird row towards the back of the plane that didn't have TVs on the back of the seat in front of me. Instead they were in the arm rest, like in business class. We also only had 4 chairs in our row (in the middle of the plane) rather than 5 chairs like the other rows. This flight was a bit more of a pain, but still not bad at all. Got to sit next to Jun, another JET who is also headed to Yamanashi. We chatted a bit, but spent most of the flight sleeping. I also got about 300 pages into the new Harry Potter book. Food was okay. Got two meals. First was chicken with rice and veggies, a sushi sampler (very cute!), cookie, and salad. Second was a personal pan pizza, fruit, and a brownie.
Arrival: Immigration line was long and equally long was the bus ride to the hotel. Didn't get in until 9pm - ish. Just walked around outside a bit before showering and heading to bed. Nothing too exciting.
Day One of Orientation: Welcome event started late, but gave me plenty of time to chat with other people headed to my prefecture, including one also headed to Yamanashi city. She hadn't heard from her pred either, but apparently had gotten info from the schools she'll teach at. I'm definitely feeling a bit out of the loop. On a positive note I did find out that I will be teaching in an elementary school from the TOA (Tokyo Orientation Assistant) that came from my prefecture (she was taking attendance and had some of our placement info written on her 'list'). I'm hoping that it's true cause it means that I'll have to go to several elementary specific orientation events. Plus little kids are fun!
That's all for now! I'm off to the next event.
