Akashi: Home Sweet Home!

After a sometimes gruelling week of training for my new job as an English Language Teacher, I have arrived in Akashi, my new home for the next year! Judging from my reaction of sheer giddy laughter upon spying the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge on the train ride into town, I was very excited to see Akashi in person for the first time.

Before I get into the details of my new home, I will briefly recap my busy week of training. Busy hardly seems to encompass the quantity of work, planning, teaching, revising, and self-assessment involved in the training process. At times it definitely felt like being back in university, but with a distinctly accelerated pace to most of my Education classes. Besides the lesson prep, I also had to become accustomed to a lot of rules of the Japanese office/English classroom. Here are a sampling: no crossed legs (especially for women), no crossed arms, no elbows on the table, no sitting/leaning on furniture, no sitting sideways in chairs, nothing goes on the floor (it’s dirty), no pointing (only whole hand gesturing), no whistling (you will be attacked by snakes), and no slouching. Some of these may take longer than others to get out of my system.

I think my turn around point during the week was on Wednesday when we finally got to teach actual Japanese students. We had become familiar with teaching each other, but teaching Japanese students is the reason we’re all here and it was exciting and a bit nerve-wracking. The students were all really kind and it was good to see a sample of what levels we would be working with in the real classrooms. However, I mistakenly broke one of the rules of the classroom and realized it pretty quickly. When I asked my students to put some scrap paper they had used earlier onto the floor, the looks on their faces said it all. By the reaction, you’d have thought I’d asked them to rub their faces on the “dirty” floor. Thankfully, I recovered quickly from this mistake and carried on with a productive lesson.

Altogether, from the training process one thing became apparent; mutual suffering leads to friendship. In the case of my training group, we definitely grew closer during the more intense moments of training and we all have plans to meet up throughout the year.

Now for Akashi! Akashi is a fairly quiet city right by the water, and I am looking forward to checking out all the beaches and spending lots of time near the water. Plus, there’s a castle here! How cool is that? I think the best way to tell you about Akashi right now is with the pictures I took on my first afternoon here.

Akashi: The Beginning VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The joy of Japan!

I have finally arrived in Japan! After a long day… or days of travelling and flights (with a stop over in Beijing, China) I came to Osaka Kansai International Airport! Shortly after arrival I was picked up at the airport by the local trainer and also met several of the other trainees. The trainees are from all over: one Brit, one Aussie, one Kiwi, three Americans, and two Canadians (including myself). I have to admit that the trip from the airport to the place we are staying was a bit of a blur. We took a train and walked through some subways with our luggage, which was a bit of challenge with my suitcase and all the stairs. The group of us went out for some food and wandered around our neighbourhood in the evening.

After being awake for countless hours (and the 16 hour time difference for me from Victoria), my roommate and I crashed around 9pm. However, I woke up suddenly at about 3:30 am, I’m guessing that was my body’s way of telling me it’s going to take a while to get acclimatized to this new time zone.

Today we had a short training session from 10 am to 4 pm. We have a day off on Sunday and start up with our full days of training on Monday.

I am loving everything about Japan so far! I am definitely finding the learning curve quite steep with the cultural customs and, of course, the language! I am learning so much already, and just taking it all in.

I won’t write much more for now, I’m sure I will have more adventures to speak of by the end of the training week. I will leave you with a few pictures of the hotel/apartment my roommate and I are staying in, and of me in my business attire today. Enjoy!

Japan First Day VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Down to the wire…

I’m officially under the two week mark. In fact, I only have ten sleeps to go!  I’ve slightly adjusted my countdown, as my flight leaves in the very early hours of May 5th, and I will be at the airport late the night before. So, technically there will be no sleep that last night in Canada. At the realization of my quick moving countdown, I have to admit to a slight pang of anxiety surrounding the state of my packing and obvious procrastinating over the last few weeks. 

So, you may ask, what is there to do in my last two weeks in Victoria? Well, as I’ve mentioned many times before, the packing process has been on-going, but there is still much to be done before take-off. I have a funny feeling this job will continue right up until the last possible moment. 

My second job of late has been attempting to learn some Japanese. I have a Japanese phrase book and grammar book, and am slowly learning some of the basics of the language. However, despite the fact that I’m learning the pronunciation of Japanese words, I haven’t managed to learn much about the kanji (or characters). I wasn’t sure how big of a deal this would be until I was looking for an online movie rental site in Japan, only to find that all of the top recommended sites have nothing but Japanese characters. Granted, I don’t know how indicative of Japanese signage and advertising this is, but it sure made me think about learning the Japanese characters. This is the first language I have studied that isn’t based on the Roman alphabet, and I’m not entirely sure about that best way to approach this. However, I’ve always found it easier to learn a new language when I’m immersed in it. I’m hoping I am learning enough of the basics to get by on arrival, but I’m sure I will learn so much more by necessity once I’m there. 

Of course, there have been lots of little logistical jobs to do as my timeline gets shorter. The all important work visa has been stamped in my passport and delivered safely to me. I have to say I like this one much better in appearance than my British visa, as I was not just allowed, but encouraged to smile for the picture this time. I also ordered some Japanese Yen, which came in the form of crisp new banknotes in amounts that make me feel wealthy! 

With all the big tasks to accomplish before take-off, the most important one for me has been spending time with friends and family. After living away from Victoria for the better part of the last few years, it’s been great to be back for a few months now. I’ve tried to see as many people as I could, although circumstances haven’t allowed me to see them all. I’ve enjoyed every minute of my time at home, but I’m getting psyched and ready to go on the next exciting chapter of my work and travels. 

I hope I’ll have time to put in one more post before departure day, but if not I will definitely have lots to say once I’m settled and working in Akashi! Until next time… 10 sleeps and counting!

Packing: The Next Generation

This week is all about starting my least favourite process of moving and travelling: packing. One of the benefits of booking my flight with Air China is that they do not seem to have taken on the new regulations limiting checked luggage to one piece, no matter how far you are travelling. However, I started off in England with two pieces of luggage and by the time I was packing to come home the regulations had changed for the airlines offering flights back to Canada. I am hoping to pack efficiently and only bring one big piece of luggage.

Along the way, though, I have been hearing about several things I have to think about packing that weren’t on the list for England. At the top of the unusual things I have been told to pack with me is North American deodorant. Yes, apparently all deodorant is not created equally, and I have heard from different sources that most North Americans who have moved to Japan find that the local brands just don’t do the job, especially in the humid Japanese summers.

The next thing on the list of bring-from-home items is basic clothing items. I’ve been told that I may be able to fit into some of the largest sizes of clothing in mainstream Japanese shops, but that I can’t necessarily depend on all the shops having a range of sizes similar to Canada. Apparently the sizing of clothing in Japan is also much different than here. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to bring as much in the way of clothes this time around. My wardrobe grew during my time in London, and I assumed it would be similar this time around.

One thing I was used to having readily available in London was English language books. As an avid reader I was hoping to save some weight in my luggage by looking for books on arrival in Japan. However, I am hearing now that it’s not very easy to get English books or magazines in most parts of Japan, and if you do you will pay a premium. So, I’m hoping I will have some space left for books amongst my other belongings.

So, these are some of the unusual items I will be stocking up on, and until the transporter is invented for real (hence the Star Trek reference) I will endure the packing process.

The countdown clock now sits at 25 sleeps and counting….!

New blog, New adventure

It's hard to believe that it was almost three years ago that I started my first blog before my departure to London. And here I am, a month away from embarking on a new adventure! I'm now in the final stretch of preparations for my move to Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. I will be leaving Canada on May 5th and flying to Osaka, via Beijing.With many flights across the Altantic under my belt, I'm excited to be venturing across the Pacific for the first time. I'm feeling a sense of deja vu as I'm currently in the process of applying for visas, buying plane tickets and researching my new home. One thing that is definitely different than my preparations for London is the process of learning a new language. Despite learning languages in school and during my time in Bolivia, I have to say that Japanese is a very different language from any I have encountered. I know that this is going to be a more challenging adjustment in a lot of ways than moving to London. In a strange way that makes me even more excited to be taking this leap into a new world of language, culture and work.

With the terrible aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the related nuclear troubles, I have been answering lots of questions about where I will be moving to. As I mentioned already, the city I will be living in is called Akashi and it's located in Hyogo Prefecture. It is on the main island of Honshu and the closest large city is Kobe. Akashi is south-west of Osaka, and is was not affected by the March 11 earthquake or tsunami, and has not been affected thus far by the nuclear problems. In Akashi, I will be teaching English at a private school to children, college students, and adults.

With a brand new endeavour I thought it appropriate to start a brand new blog to share the stories of my experiences to come.