My first full day in Japan

Side note, sorry these have taken so long, I still do not have internet on my apartment, just on my phone and it is too difficult to type this all out on the phone.

My first day I woke up at 6am walked to McDonalds had a coke, then walked around a little bit. I new that my supervisor and another ALT were going to pick me up around 10 so I needed to be ready. They picked me up and we headed to the City Office where I had to fill out paper work to get my Gaijin Card, Gaijin means non-Japanese or alien. There I received my Hanko, which is a Japanese name signature stamp, so essentially it is a stamper with my name written in katakana. It is pretty neat and they have neat little holders for them at different stores. While in the city office we went up to the 2nd floor where the Board of Education office is and I met my superiors. I had to learn how to say watashi no namae wa Emily desu. Which is basically my name is Emily. One of the leaders, my supervisor, the other ALT and I went out for lunch. We had houtou which is a thick noodle that is well known in Yamanashi (the ken in which I live). It was pretty good. They also had me taste a delicacy that is supposed to make you healthy here, so I tried it and it was super pasty in my mouth and I said I do not think I care if I am healthy...haha. They told me it was chicken guts....ewww. Not again.

We then headed to the bank where I had to sign up for a bank account and promise that when I leave Japan I will close my account. Yes, that is right I have foreign accounts now I feel so scandalous...haha. Anyways, more paperwork to fill out and then they were going to send me my bank card in the mail. The bank card works in the atm, but it is not a credit card, so that is different than the U.S. We were there quite awhile and I had to try and learn my new address and how to spell my full name in katakana. Thankfully the other ALT was there to translate, but still I was jet lagged and did not understand anything being said around me, I am pretty sure it just made me more tired.

We left there and went to D2 which is kind of like a wal-mart a little bit just because it has about everything. The other ALT needed to pick up the curtains she had previously ordered. We walked around a bit, I was overwhelmed not knowing how to read anything. When we walked out we got a snack, I dont rememeber what it was called but it was in the shape of a fish had a waffle like outside with red bean paste on the inside. Red bean is much sweeter and in my opinion tastier than the black bean paste that they put in deserts too. It was pretty yummy.

From their we headed across the street to Seria, which is a 100 yen store, basically like our dollar tree, where everything really is a dollar unlike stinking dollar general. They have a ton of disney stuff for super cheap, you would not get that in the states. I bought a key ring in the shape of Stich to put my apartment key on. I also picked up a honku holder.

We then headed over to Fred`s apartment. Fred has been in Japan for about 7 years and tries to help the new ALT`s get things taken care of. He already needed to help another ALT get their phone so they had decided to have me go and get mine as well to essentially save him time. He said he thinks that I hold the record on the ALT to get their phone the fastest from when they landed to getting their phone. Just under 24 hours. We headed to the cell phone store I picked out an HTC phone that has the Android OS system. It has been my life saver has it has some internet and most of all skype on it. I pay $7 a month for unlimited calls to the U.S. it is amazing!

After we got the phones we went and picked up another ALT so we have myself, Fred, Brittany, Matt, and Kelsey and we all go out to sushi, it was really cool because it was conveyor belt sushi where you can order it fresh or grab it right off the conveyor belt as it comes by. When you are done the waitress comes and counts your plates and takes into account the color of your plates to know your bill. I was severely jet lagged at this point and did not eat very much, but it was very good what I had.

The other ALT`s wanted to stop for desert so we went to Mister Donuts. I didn`t get anything as I was super tired and kind of nautious. I was trying to be a trooper for all of them though, because they had all been there for over a week and had recovered from their jet lag. We left and dropped Kelsey and Matt off then they dropped me off. I was so tired I just went in and passed out, however I did wake up at 5am the next morning. I woke up early for like the next week, but it was ok.

Thanks for reading sorry it has taken forever.

The flight and arrival

My last day in the states was on Wednesday August 10^th. I was able to enjoy breakfast at Perkins with some awesome friends and family and then most of us headed to the airport (one had a doctor’s appointment ;) haha). My mom, brother, Bethany, Grandma and Grandpa Hack, and the female Heintz’s visited with me at the airport until I said my good-bye’s/see you later’s and headed up the escalator to go through security. I missed them all the second I could no longer see them. The one thing that made it worse was knowing that I could not even call or text any of them while I was waiting for the flight. My flight from Des Moines to Minneapolis was quick and easy. Once I got off the plane and started looking for my next terminal I was reminded again of how I could not call/text anyone that I had made it safely to Minneapolis. I started heading to my next terminal but was stopped by a candy shop where I got a caramel apple, which was delicious. My two hour delay went by rather quickly and before I knew it I was boarding my one way ticket flight to Tokyo.

The flight was set to be around 12 hours long and I was planning on sleeping most of the way. The seats weren’t that bad, however the guy in front of me had his seat on permanent recline and liked to move around a lot, so it just seemed more crammed than I had expected, but it was not the end of the world. They actually fed us quite a bit on the flight too. I had pretzels and peanuts within thirty minutes of take off. Two hours later we had dinner, which was rather tasty. We had another sandwich about 4 hours later and then about an hour and half before landing we had breakfast.  Once we landed it seemed a little crazy at first but I just started heading to baggage claim hoping that someone would be around there to greet me. I had to fill out some sort of form showing the Japanese government how long I intended on staying and then had to give them my fingerprints (which creeped me out just a little bit). Then I headed to baggage claim put my bags on a cart, then had to fill out another sheet for customs. Once I was done with that I headed through the doors and looked and saw “Dear Ms. Emily (eighth note) Welcome! Koshu, Japan”. I was then greeted by Tezuka(my supervisor), Brittany(another ALT who came to help translate), James(the other sister city ALT), and Leader(the third in charge at the board of education.) They all very graciously began to take my bags as we headed to the car. When we walked outside I was engulfed by humidity. I did not know that it was possible, but I think it may have been more humid than Iowa.  As we walked to the car I asked Brittany why there was an eighth note on the sign, she proceeded to ask Tezuka and said it is just a symbol in Japan.

For those of you who do not know I have an eighth note tattooed on my wrist in memory of my step-father Doug Zook. He loved music and his business was in the music industry. He died on the eighth of September so my mother and I got eighth notes tattooed on us on his birthday a year after he had died. My brother also got one a few months later when he turned 18. The eighth notes that we have are dotted (even though there is no such thing as a dotted eighth note) because when you dot a not it means you hold onto the note longer and since we will be holding on to him forever we got those in memory of him. I am telling you this because it gave me a sense of comfort seeing that on my sign.

We drove the 2-3 hours to Koshu(I napped a lot of the trip) and they brought me to my apartment, (which I found out was different than where I thought I was going to be.) We dropped off my luggage and then they took us and dropped James and I off at his apartment so that I could use the internet to get ahold of some of my family to let them know I had arrived safely.  When I was done James walked me back to my apartment which was about a 5-10 minute walk. I put a few things away and crashed, it was already close to midnight by then. I woke up off and on from being in a new place, but then around 3am I woke up and thought my bed was shaking. I thought in my head did I just feel my first earthquake? No, it couldn’t have been. I decided I wasn’t even going to ask anyone the next day because I did not want them to think I was a crazy paranoid American thinking that any little thing was an earthquake. However, it came up the next day and sure enough I had felt my first earthquake. It only lasted about 10-20 seconds and it kind of felt like my bed just rumbled a bit. Anyways, that was my first night/flight.

Dinner with the Coulter's

Once again my postings are behind however I am trying to catch up a bit. Last weekend I was given the opportunity to have dinner and hang out wit the Coulter's. They all lived in Japan roughly eight years ago I believe. One of there sons is working at the camp that I have worked at for the past several summers this year and it is just incredible how God works those things out. I went over to there house and was treated to some yellow curry, which is not a dish with it's origin being of Japan, however they said the Japanese really enjoy it over there. It was very tasty then our main dish was yakisoba which yaki means meat and soba means noodles. There was also some cabbage in it I believe. It was also delicious. I practiced using my chopstick skills and they told me that I wasn't doing too bad, which I was very pleased to hear. They put "bulldog" sauce in with the yakisoba as well which is very tasty. Towards the end they got out the pickled ginger and were having it over rice. They told me I needed to at least try it, so being a respectful guest I did. Oh my goodness I thought I swallowed some sort of cleaner and apparently it was written all over my face. We had a good laugh over it and me describing it as a different flavored/scented pine sol. I don't think I will be having much of that in Japan. They showed me lots of fun pictures and we chatted for awhile. They gave me some great advice and told me just to have an open mind and try and soak up everything I can.

My trip to Chicago

After finishing up my apt at around 1:30am and not getting to bed until at least 2:30am I woke up at 5:30am to meet my mom in Des Moines to travel to Chicago to go and pick up my brother and go to the Japan consulate to get my work visa "signed" or so I thought. While sleep deprived I try and keep my mother company on our journey to Chicago which is just over a five hour drive. Once we arrive in Chicago and finally get to where Andrew lives I decide that while they are packing up the van I will take a taxi to the consulate to save us the time and headaches of traffic through downtown. I hop in the taxi which is a little strange because there was not a divider between the front and backseat which isn't a big deal however the driver kept sliding his arm back to the backseat as though he was looking for something. Not really that big of a deal just a little interesting. Once at the building I walk around and finally ask the security guard where to go. He told me to take the elevator to such and such floor and it will be right there. I go up and walk in have to walk through a security device then get directed to the "visa" window. The guy asks me if I have filled out the visa sheet. I of course knew nothing of the sheet, so I begin to start filling it out and he asks if I have a passport sized photo with me. Once again I do not and the sad thing was I had sent an extra one with my information to Japan because I did not know I would need one for this. My extra was because they come in two's and Japan needed three of them. The guy tells me there is a Walgreens just around the corner and they should be able to take one there. I then leave go to Walgreens to get my photo and there is a lady in front of me who is insistent that she needs to fix her hair before she gets her photo taken because that picture will be there for ten years. As she goes to fix her hair the lady asks me if I need to fix my hair or if I am ready. Mind you I have my hair pulled back am tired and could probably use a shower. I just say let's get this over with. She of course chuckles and lines me up next to one of the white pillars in the middle of the store for the backdrop. After about ten minutes I pay another ten bucks for my two new photos and head back to the consulate's office. Once I get there I try an fill out a cryptic form that I do not know all oqf the answers to. The guy just tells me to try my best. I give him the sheet with my eligibility from Japan, picture, passport and form. He then asks me if I brought an envelope to mail it back to me. Well of course I didn't I was under the impression this was an instant signature thing. He then hands me a fed ex form to fill out with a spot to pay with credit card. I a ring it back and he says this will probably be mailed back to you within a couple of days. I ask do I get my passport back he looks at me like no duh that's where we put the visa. I walk away a little baffled that I just left my passport with a stranger but oh well I guess.

I catch a cab back thinking wow that took way longer than I thought and just thankful that I had remembered to bring my passport. Since it had taken awhile I expected to get back and that Andrew and my Mom would be waiting for me. Nope they had been held up a bit as well. We end up leaving a bit later than we had thought and still needed to take Andrew's stuff to his friends. We get there and his friend lives on the third floor of some of the steepest windiest lethal stairs you could imagine. I help him with two trips of stuff and he takes Mom up to see the place. We eventually start heading out of Chicago just in time for rush hour traffic. It's stop and go and hot and busy and the van starts acting a little funny almost as if we have a flat tire. We pull oqff to check and look and there is nothing wrong with the tire it just looks like it is smoking just a little bit. We cannot tell if it's because it is hot or what so we get back on the road and it seems to be going fine for a bit and then it starts acting funny again. We are near a gas station that says asit is a service center too so we pull over wondering if something is wrong with the breaks. Since it is a about 5:45 at this point the mechanic has alreadygone home they tell us to go down the street to Firestone. As we start to leave the parking lot the van makes a weird noise. I hop out and look at the tire no hub cap so I look back and it is back a little ways on the ground. I runback to get it try and pick it up but it is super hot. I am laughing and Andrew runs back and has to use his flip flops to pick it up. At this point we look at the other side of the hub cap and the hub caphad literally melted off of the tire. When we get to Firestone it is 6pm. They close at 6 and tell us they can't help us but to try pep boys 6 miles back. We get ahold of thm and they are open until 9pm. We head that way and can't get us in for 45min. They check it out the brakes had went bad and locked up which got really hot and melted the tire. This is extremely unusual since it is a 2009 van with about 17000 miles on it. It ends up taking another hour to fix and 450 dollars late we are finally back on the road. I got back to Ames around 3am.


Let's just hope jot all of my adventures having to do with Japan are this eventful.

Sorry so long just had an eventful long story to share.

Packing for Japan

Packing, ugh as if it is fun when you are moving across town, state, or country, it is even more blah when you are moving to another country entirely. I think the hardest part is that I am such a pack rat (thanks Grandma) and I get so sentimental about things. It doesn't help that when you have those things that are totally "throw" worthy that you got them from your aging grandmother who "branded" them somehow. When I say "branded" I mean she literally wrote Love Grandma with the year or something of the sort. It makes it even harder to throw away when you are leaving the country because there is that chance that something could happen to her while you are gone.

Anyways, I have my luggage purchased and a pile of "this is going to Japan" stuff strung out on the couch. I should probably pack that soon it would make it easier to see the space and feel the weight of it. Well I just wanted to try and start a new blog, be patient with me on this thanks.

Emily