KAGOSHIMA KURUMA DESU

this is the email to my mom bc i dont have time to post.. but heres an update!!!! yay!



the bank copied my license see if you can get it from them. they might still have it on record.

oh wait so i guess i can write you a real person email too instead of being a jerk and just putting that! haha

first... who the hell won SYTYCD!!!! wait im going to check now bc im at an internet cafe and all the tabs are in japanese damnit maybe i wont. ill check after i write this email. and then i:ll probably write another one.

i wont have internet for a couple of weeks btw but i have found this 500yen/hour internet cafe which is schweet!!! OMG i LOVE my apartment.. it:s so freakin peaceful and beautiful and full of love and its definitely my home... seriously.. you would love it. its kinda small but such a perfect size for me. and it took me 10 min to get to work today which is like from our house to FAs. Seriously amazing.

i got my car yesterday!!! weird right? you would think you needed a license or something but it all worked out that i didnt need any of that.. however if i do get pulled over i:ll get some outrageous fine for not having my license with my drivers license. zushi sensai (my rawk awesome boss who hardly speaks english but is awesome) gave me a drivers test where in the only words i could understand were migi (right) and (hidari) left and i kept turning the windshield wipers on instead of the turn signal..because they are switched. lol. he just laughed really hard at me and was like ooooooooohhhhhh wiper!

when i got here wednesday they (keith the 4 year JET and zushi sensai) picked me up from the airport and drove me to eat ramen (which is not out of a plastic bag) then we went to the office where they gathered all 30 some people that worked there and i had to introduce myself in japanese... BAHHHHH. i did ok and they were all like OOOH SUGOI!! which means great..　and apparantly they were impressed with my pronunciation.

then i went and paid lots of　money to a very shy litttle japanese man and went to my amazing apartment. keith took me to the store to buy food and whatnot then we went out to eat with all the other new ALTs one of which i ended up being really good friends with at the DC predeparture thing.. Ironically we were the only 2 ALTS from dc going to Kagoshima and come to find out he lives like 15 min from my apt. AMAZING! His name is topher and he just got out of the peace corps in africa... haha... anyway... we all went to dinner where i met the really helpful canadian girl Allee:who i:ve been talking to forever and she actually picked topher up from　the airport. wha!

yesterday was my first day in my office (its in the shibushi city hall - which sounds big and is not). everyone who works around me is super super nice and generous and i keep giving them american coins as presents bc i keep forgetting to bring them some.. haha.. i got my car yesterday and did the driving thing and ran some errands.. then went to the cell phone place to see how it:s done (i still dont know when i:ll get one of those either but i think itll be maybe next week) but i wetn to see the other JET, cassie, get one.. except it took like 3 freakin hours bc she was getting an iphone.. f that. those are expensive. then we went to this restaurant that:s like a japanese denny:s .. it:s called joyfull... yes .. with 2 Ls. hah. am,azing.

Then i went home.

Today I came into the office hella early bc i was driving and i had no idea how long it would take. I basically worked on learning japanese the entire morning.. then these 2 super cute little japanese girls were like... hey you want a lunchbox? so i waslike.. yeah ok i:ll eat whatever.. and they kept bringing me over translations in english that i have no idea where they had gotten it from.. but i think it had to do with whatever food was going to be in the lunchbox... it was like -mackrel miso rice cup lunchbox.. so i just pointed to something. im trying all these new foods so im not turning anything down or being picky at all. 　it:s all really really good food so theres no need to be picky. i just ask whats your fav alot and get what they reocmmend. they do have raw chicken at this toher place though and i dont think that:ll be quite as delicious.

so i ate lunch then this really sweet woman named Katagawa san who sits behind me and speaks no english was like.. come with me and bring your things (but she typed it out bc i think she translated it from her translator .. aww) so i ended up at the library with all these older teacher ladies doing arts and crafts and making some bear slash squirrel things and talking to an amazing lady name Midori (green) her name was Green. It sounds so much better in japanese though :)

and now i drove my car here and i:m at the internet cafe. and that:s what ive been doing! hehe :) so i hope this is an ok update for you and i love you lots and im doing ok. the man at the internet cafe said free drink and handed me a cute little cup of coffee... omg i love this freakin country. it:s so perfect! im going for a bicycle ride on the beach now! lots of love mom!

MM!

Tokyo

Meetings, meetings, meetings.  I'm glad that when I am teaching I don't have to sit on my butt all day bc that is crazy not cool.   

I've learned alot about teaching small children and believe it or not.. I am actually excited about it.  If you know me at all you know that me and gross runny noses and screaming do not go well together.  However, my perspective is turning a bit and I look forward to playing games everyday and doing fun after school things.  :) yay!

Dave and I were talking about starting a DanceJET group... hmmmm..  I think this is a schweet plan.

Here is a pic from the hotel:

DARAFT BEER. :) Hello Tokyo!

 TOKYO HERE WE ARE!

Hello my interested blog friends!

You'll be happy to know that I safely arrived in Tokyo at around 4pm Japan-time and 3am America-time.  The broken coccyx is quite a bit tender but will triumph nonetheless. 

I found out about my fabulous car and the expenses... and for future JETs that could possibly ever stumble upon this blog... know that if you have to purchase a car, you will, in fact, be in debt.  I paid over $3000 to start.  Lame.  Now I still owe my rent deposit of 37,000 yen and my key deposit of 72,000 yen.   Moving on to more exciting things... IM IN JAY-PAN!!!!

It's so hard to believe I was in Washington, DC yesterday.  Pre-departure orientation was quite entertaining.  Sa-rah and I met up with Jack (our special friend we met at the interview) and instantly knew it was going to be an amazing day.  They showed us how to act in a Japanese house when you're invited for dinner.. and how to act at work parties.  Have Slippers... point them towards the door and make everything look super neat... and say arigato gozaimasu alot.

some fun things from tonight 

Pics:  Top - JET friends in Tokyo, Saying byebye to Leslie (MMDANCR) my beautimous car, Crazy Taiko drumming video game for 200yen, japanese CRACKAS, The WESTSIDE on American Street, and the coolest vending machines that you can find everywhere!

YAY! I'll try and keep posted. 

BTW the toilet in my room is ridiculous.  It has a heated seat, a bidet (which shoots water straight up your butt), a thing that shoots warm water around your butt, and it also circulates water while you're on the toilet.  The flusher is not on the toilet but where the toilet paper is.  WHAT?  My room key is magnetic something or another where I don't have to insert it into anything.  I just hold it up and it unlocks.  My roomates are really cool bc they're letting me stay on my computer while they sleep.  I had a double espresso from Starbucks because I wanted to walk around and I was about to fall asleep walking.. 

sleep now!  

It's 1:30AM wow.  Jet lag anyone?