Ok so the last week since I arrived in Tokushima has been...as you may have guessed...a complete whirlwind. I arrived early afternoon on Thursday where I was met at the airport by Mika..my contact here every step of my hiring journey here. After briefly stopping by my new apartment to pick up the pictures I had included in a package I mailed to myself from Tokyo before going to Taiwan, we headed to the local registers office so I could apply for my alien registration card ASAP. It only took about a half hour, but I was still kind of dazed after my late night and then the plane ride that I made a ton of errors on filling it out. I think the official thought I was an idiot! haha but no worries it`s all sorted out and I get my card on the 17th...ish. Mika took me to go meet everyone at the school then and to show me around...something I thought wouldn`t happen till the 1st...but no, I got tons of names thrown at me while sleep deprived!
Friday started off with a bang. I was requested to come into school so I could observe a few lessons before having to take charge of class by myself. Turns out they had Sankambi practice instead (Mika wasn't aware of the schedule change)...which is for when the parents come in to watch classes for the day...and so I got to participate. It was fun though now that I've done it every day this week too it's getting a little rediculous. I can't wait for the actual Sankambi on the 15th so I can be done with the practices! Today was actually the 1st day where I taught both of the classes I am supposed to have. Because of Sankambi they keep getting cancelled...sigh...it happens again on Monday...grrr! Ahh well.
This weekend I met up with a girl I'd found on the internet when I went searching for people who lived in Tokushima. I'd been penpal chatting with her for the last few months since I found out I got hired by the School here. It was great. All the other English teachers thought it was pretty smart to come already having a friend in town, so YAY!! go me! We met up at about 11 and went to Okonomiaki for lunch and then headed to an Endo style street tourist attraction about an hour outside of town...we ate cheesecake and a strawberry tart while wandering around and then headed back to to town. She decided to show me off to her co-workers so we stopped in the store she works and said hi to everyone. It was a pretty cool shop, I kinda wish it was closer to where I live so I could stop in occationally after work or on the weekends. There was a 100yen (equal to a $1.00 store) and picked up a ton of stuff for my apartment. In case you don't know, 100yen stores unlike $1.00 stores have EVERYTHING, they are simply fantastic places to get whatever you find yourself needing. We then headed out for dinner and then back to my apartment. I think she had wanted me to meet her family, but I kept her at the 100yen store so long that it was kinda late after we emptied her car of my purchases..so instead she came up and helped me put everything away and organize my things! The shelf I bought for my bathroom was a total bust...I couldn't get the suction cups to stick to the walls....oh well, I'll have to figure something else out that wont damage the walls!
And tonight I am to go out with several of the teachers...English and Japanese..to wish Andre (teacher I'm replacing) goodbye and goodluck on his next job (which he hasn't even started looking for yet yikes!). The resturaunt is kind of expensive but it should be fun, thus totally worth it!
Oh! FYI on my apartment...its way bigger than I thought it would be and has an amazing view! The school's baseball field being across the street kinda sucks since the high school is also a baseball academy...so they practice everyday ALL DAY once classes are out..I'm told they do it REALLY early in the morning in summer to avoid the worst of the heat...so sleeping in isn't really going to be very possible...bummber. I'll post pictures later....I'm on the school computer till I get some of my own in my apartment....I decided not having it was going to be WAY to inconvient. darn!
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