Dear America, Meet My Mistress Named Japan

Dear America,

Parting is such sweet sorrow. We've been going steady for 23 years now; in that time I've only been away from you for 4.5 weeks! If that is not commitment, I don't know what is! You nurtured and raised me. You gave me one too many valuable life lessons. You taught me how to read, how to write, how to speak. You've been a great lover, indeed. But the time has come for me to move on; to start from scratch once again.

This is not to say that I won't miss you (well, parts of you at least)! And so to you America, I list all the things about you that I will miss:

• All my family and friends
• The English language
• All the bad food I know I shouldn't be eating
• Your amazing weather - Yeah, I'm talkin' 'bout you California... you cutie
• The English language
• Your amazing highway system without tolls
• Deodorant and good toothpaste
• The fact that I NEVER carry cash because I can use my credit card everywhere
• The English language
• Central heat & air + insulated housing
• The American Dream

Just don't start tootin' your horn too loudly, America. There are a lot of things about you that I'm not going to miss. Things like:

• Crime
• The "fight the man/society" complex that plagues you
• Litter
• Your economy
• Angry/mean/rude/pathetic customer service
• The "macho man" complex that plagues you
• Your lack of public transportation

Despite these weaknesses, and despite my betrayal with this mistress named Japan, you know that I will be back. It will be at least a year, perhaps five at most. In the meantime, please work towards fixing your issues. Most importantly though, please remain the America that I have always known and loved. Try and stay out of fights, and remember to walk regularly and eat lots of fruit. 

I will return to your warm embrace when the time is right. And though I may not return to you exactly as I left, I know that you will welcome me back regardless of whatever changes might occur during our break from each other.

And so, America, I say one last farewell to you... Know that I will always treasure our relationship and think on you with fond memories, warm feelings, and a special place in my heart.

Your kind and loving companion in life,

Jordan

PS: Tell California I love her!

I Have Done Nothing + Updates + Pics

Uhm... there are only about 3 weeks left until I depart for Japan and I have done nothing. I still need to sell my car, I still need to cancel my cell phone service, I still need to figure out what I'm taking and what I'm not... The list goes on.

Yesterday marked my last day at work though, so that was nice. Today I've done.... well, a whole lot of nothing. I can tell you all about progress! ;)

I've learned a lot more about my placement since my last post. My predecessor has been wonderful in answering my questions about my tiny town. First and foremost, I will be teaching at 5 elementary schools and 2 junior highs. Three of them (2 elementary, 1 junior high, + BOE) are within walking distance from my house. Yes, house. Rent is only 3,500 yen a month (~$50 USD). There are a few drawbacks though - the biggest being the toilet.

Basically, I have a western-style toilet, but it does not flush. You simply do your *filing* into a hole in the ground (I wonder if it goes all the way to America?). Oh joy, the smell. Next, we have the shower. The shower is not actually attached to my house. Instead it looks to be about 2-3 feet away from the house. I dont really have a problem with this on paper, especially considering the shower room appears huge and *has a window*, but you know, this could change once I'm there. Finally, we have the bugs. Big, scary, gnarly bugs all the way from the moon. Maybe I'll get a cat. If not, a bed net for the win.

I also mentioned in my last blog that I wont be needing to drive, but I'm beginning to question this. If it gets to the point where the one-two punch of the toilet/shower combo is too much for me to handle, I might be moving (assuming my BOE is okay with it). If it comes to that, I'm thinking I'd probably go to the next town just to the south called Owase. My commute would be 25 minutes max to my farthest school.

This is not to say that I am already dead-set on moving. Criminey, I'm not even there yet. It's just something I'm keeping in the back of my mind. Going into this, I want to stay as long as possible (obviously subject to change) so something like housing is critical for my own comfort/sanity/nose-hairs.

More on my town: the population is around 10,000. Fishing is big. There is one convenience store and two grocery stores. There is a train station, though service is infrequent (read: every 1.5 hours, give or take). One of my elementary schools has a table tennis club, so you can rest easy knowing I'll have 10 year olds schooling me.

I'm pretty darn ecstatic. Bring on the adventure, good company, and great eatin!

More pictures (click to enlarge):

A beach-side park about 20 min from my house by car. There are some nice tennis courts nearby.

My largest Junior High. About a 5 minute walk from my house.

One of my elementary schools (not the one I live next door to). 

Pretty sure I'll be doing some hiking. This leaves me speechless.

Can you say %^&#@*!! Beautiful beach about 25 min from my house by car.

Thats my town way out in the distance. Just below is a pretty nice camping site.

Stay tuned - more to come!

JET Program Placement!

On Wednesday, June 15th I found out my placement. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect location. I will be living and teaching (for at least the next year of my life - hopefully more!) in beautiful Miyama town, Kihoku city, in Mie Prefecture! (A prefecture is basically a state)

Here, let me show you:

Here you can see all of Japan. The "A" Marker is my town.

Then we zoom in to the Osaka/Nagoya area. As a prefecture, Mie snakes down the coast.

Here we get a little closer. Owase is the next biggest town just over the mountain to the South. Aiga is the name of my train station. The actual town is called Miyama.

And here it is! The striped black/white line is the train. There is one convenience store in town.

It looks as if I will be living in paradise. This photo was taken from a mountain in the bottom left corner of the photo just above.

I have briefly made contact with my predecessor, so more details will come later! I know for a fact that I will be teaching at Junior High and Elementary schools, and by looking at maps, I suspect that I have 2 Junior High Schools and 5 Elementary Schools. This may sound like a lot, but I suspect that the elementary schools probably have no more than 30 kids each, and I can't see the JHS's having any more than 150 each.

It's also looking like I won't be needing a car, which is awesome! As far as travel, I am ~5 hours from Tokyo by train, ~4 hours from both Osaka and Nagoya, and ~2 hours from Tsu/Ise (some of the bigger cities in Mie to the north). One other JET from SF is going to Mie with me, and he/she will be going to the town of Kumano (a 45 min train ride south of Miyama). I will be meeting this person on Sunday, and I suspect that we will become good friends!

Six weeks from today, THIS is where I will be living! Life is way too good right now!

Stay tuned for more updates!

Jordan

Something's Gotta Give

My parents got an email this morning from some old neighbors. The email said that one of the men in the neighborhood suffered a heart attack yesterday and died. He was 35 years old, had a wife and 3 kids, and was in excellent shape.

I really only met the guy once, but it's still very sad. To pass away at such a young age is devastating. I can't even imagine what his family is going through right now.

And it got me thinking: I'm in terrible shape. I've probably gained 10 lbs in the last year or so, and when I look in the mirror I am ashamed. Lately I've been telling myself that my habits are okay for now because I'm moving to Japan soon. My mind was of the thought that I will move there and instantly start losing weight and be in much better shape. But assumptions and expectations alone are not enough to make a difference. It takes action.

This in mind, I have committed myself to working out everyday up until Japan - and hopefully beyond. I've already cut soda out of my diet (haven't had one since 09 March 2011), and I'm looking to ingest less food in general. Lately I've been eating to levels of uncomfortableness... so no more of that.

I'm not sure if I'm going to start jogging or riding my bike, but I am definitely going to take up one of them because my current lifestyle is unhealthy. I am oftentimes lethargic, sore, and my overall complexion is somewhat dull and lifeless.

All I know is that I cannot continue on like I have been. Something's gotta give.

My Japanese Hit List

Not to much to share this time around as not too much has happened. I purchased a suit case finally and got a pretty good deal on it. It is kind of a dark orange (I got this one on purpose: so it will stand out in the sea of black luggage) and it was only $85 at Target. It is one of the ones that has 4 wheels so it can swivel in any direction (this was a must for me).

But that's not really that interesting. The main purpose of this blog entry is to keep track of all the things I hope to accomplish while I'm in Japan. Obviously, since I do not yet know my placement I can't really guarantee that I will be able to do all this. Nevertheless, here are the things that I hope to accomplish during my time in Japan on the JET Program:

• Pick up a working knowledge of the language (enough to speak and listen effectively - I probably wont even try to read and write anything beyond hiragana and katakana. Sorry to say, but Kanji is just ridiculous).
• Be the best teacher I can
• Attend as many of my students speeches/club competitions as possible
• Climb Mt. Fuji
• Operate an English club after school
• Join a Table Tennis club at school or in the community
• Join a Taiko club at school or in the community
• Visit Takeya at least 4 times a year
• Save at least $15,000 USD a year
• Get in shape
• Get a Japanese girlfriend?
• Go to every single Enkai or work party (barring sickness or extreme exhaustion)
• Muster up the guts to go to an Onsen - nude
• See sumo at every venue (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka)
• Document as much of my adventure as possible (be it blogs, vlogs, or photos)
• Ride the Shinkansen or bullet train
• Do (not) become a Pachinko addict
• Visit as many Japanese theme parks as possible
• Keep my apartment clean and tidy

I will probably come back later and add more to this "hit list" as I think of things.

I'm still waiting to hear back about my placement results. Rumors abound on the internet that JETs leaving this year have started receiving the documents/applications that we new JETs just recently submitted. I should find out once the contracting organisations and prefectures make their decisions about which JETs will be going where. I expect to hear by June 3rd at the latest.

To finish up this blog, here are some photos I've taken with my spiffy new camera!

The new suit case I purchased

My cat Callie who I will miss dearly

A simple shot of the backyard - pretty in spring

The Ups, the Downs, and the In-Betweens

Talk about an emotional roller coaster.

You know, applying to the JET Program takes a lot of patience. To be a serious applicant, one has to begin the preparation for applying in probably September of the year before departure. You have to get all your ducks in a row and really fine-tune the application (less than 20% of applicants make it in), but you don't actually know if you've made it until April (a whole 6-7 months later).

I thought THAT would easily be the most painful part of waiting. However, now that I've made it in, I can safely saying that KNOWING you've made it - but having to wait 3 long months before departure - is absolute torture. I suppose it doesn't help that I'm completely miserable with where my life is at now: my job is dull, I live with my parents, being single isn't as spectacular as I remember, and I don't have any real friends here in Livermore.

That said, Japan is the perfect opportunity for me, or for anyone for that matter, to get a reset on life. I can make whatever personal changes I'd like and no one will know the difference. I see it as a true opportunity to really become a better person.

So yeah - those two thought processes describe the roller coaster of emotions pretty well. On the one hand there are the up-days: where all I can think about is Japan and what it will be like and the people I will meet and the friends I will make and the adventure it will be. But on the other hand there are the in-between days: where life goes on as normal and I pretty much don't even spend a second thinking about any of it. And of course there are the down days: where I worry about my colleagues not liking me, my students not being interested, and of course the current radiation concerns in Japan.

These bad days tend to be the days on which I end up buying something to take with me (perhaps I get comfort in buying things lol). Just recently, I purchased 4 really nice dress shirts and matching ties. One of the ties is bright orange, but I like it a lot, and I kinda want to be the odd gaijin with all the crazy ties. No jokes.

In other news, the Consulate of Japan in San Francisco (where I applied and interviewed) will be hosting an alumni-led orientation on Saturday, June 18th. I'm quite looking forward to it. As is suggested by the name, it will be run by JET alumni who will talk about adjusting to Japanese life, as well as the ins and outs of being a gaijin and a JET in Japan. There are so many odd things that run through my mind from time to time - stupid things like "When I first meet my boss, should I offer my hand to shake hands, or should I bow?" or "What do I do if someone offers me whale to eat?" or "How will I operate my microwave... All the buttons are in Japanese!" Haha. But I think that this is the point of the orientation. And despite all these silly questions, at the end of the day, I know I'll survive.

I think the worst part of waiting is not knowing what part of Japan I'm going to. For all I know right now, I could be placed in the bitter cold of northern Hokkaido or way down south on the tropical island of Okinawa. But the good thing is that work has been keeping me busy, and I've just now realized how quickly time seems to be passing. And, at the end of the day, I can only think about how lucky I am to be able to do this - not many Americans go abroad to live. Even if I only spend a year in Japan, I know that it will be completely worth it.

I'm just so darn excited! I'll even admit it... I have a white board at work counting down the days until departure. Yes, I know... I suppose I should just get back to being worried about whether they have cheese in Japan or not...

Be seeing you next time!

Jordan

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

It's been a busy/stressful period these past couple days. The deadline for all my paperwork is May 9th, so I had to stay fairly proactive to get everything in on time. Today I just sent everything off and away to the Consulate of Japan in San Francisco. What a relief!

The title of this blog serves two purposes.

Firstly, and most obviously, its also the title of a book by Dr. Seuss. I don't own the book - at least not yet - but in thinking of things to bring to Japan to teach with, it instantly came across my mind as a must bring item. I know that it will be especially helpful around graduation time (as I intend to read it too all my graduating students each year) but I also think that there will probably be other times to utilize the book in instruction as well.

Secondly, the title of the book got me thinking about my time in Japan. I've only just now realized what an opportunity I will be presented with while living in Japan. Far away places in Asia and Australasia will suddenly be much more feasible destinations for vacationing. When once these places were 13 hours away or more, I will now be able to get there in probably 5 or 6 hours at most. This made me begin to wonder: which countries near Japan do I want to visit before my time on the JET Program is up?

The list that I have for now is (in no particular order):

• South Korea
• China (maybe)
• Vietnam
• Singapore
• Russia
• Thailand
• Australia and New Zealand (maybe - already been to both)
• Hong Kong/Taiwan (maybe)

Shoot - Japan alone will provide me with enough distractions as it is. Perhaps I shouldn't be thinking this far ahead, haha.

This thought process then got me thinking about all the places in America that I've always wanted to go to but have never had the chance to visit. These places are only a few hours away by plane, and its really quite sad that as an American citizen I've never been to them. The places I'm considering visiting before I leave are:

• Las Vegas (this REALLY needs to happen)
• The Grand Canyon
• San Diego (my poor Louis - I'm so sorry I havent made it down in the nearly 3 years you've been there)
• Vancouver, Canada
• Portland, Oregon
• Seattle, Washington
• And I've still never been to Mexico - but I can't decide if I want to go or not

In other news, I've been powering through my Japan prep by buying even more stuff. The big ticket item is a new 13" Macbook Pro, which will become my one and only computer while I'm over there. I've also bought a nice guidebook to Japan made by LonelyPlanet. It lists some pretty good places to visit in Japan, and a lot of them are places that would normally be hard for someone like me to find in the first place - so thats nice. I also got two phrasebooks which I've been trying to skim through each day. Some of the lines in these things are priceless though. One of them has a line which translates to, "Let's go somewhere quieter," and another has a line translated as, "Will you come home with me?" ...uhhh - creepy much? Despite some of these odd lines, the books appear really useful and they are nice and pocket-sized so I can easily see myself carrying them on my person 24/7.

Here's a fun fact: I haven't had any soda since March 9, 2011! Can you believe it? Don't worry, I can't either. But it is true.

Okay. Enough rambling. Have a great weekend and be seeing you next time!

Jordan