Tokyo is My Friend

Shibuya is so fun!

My purchases

Outside the Sky Bar in Asakusa

New Friends

The club we went to

In the Park in Harajuku

A traditional Japanese wedding we saw while in Harajuku

So I finally now have a chance to write about last weekend in Tokyo. It was amazing and I had lots of fun for sure. Starting out I traveled part of the way there with one of the Japanese teachers that I work with. I took local trains all the way there, which cost half the money and took a little over a half an hour longer than the Shinkansen (bullet train).

When I arrived in Tokyo I stayed with eight other teachers that I met while at training. We had dinner (at a pretty good Italian restaurant) and walked around Asakusa for the evening. The next day I woke up early and went to a huge fish market with my friend Sandy. It was raining a lot, so we didn't spend too much time there...of course I don't think I would have wanted to spend much time there anyway. So we left there and then took the train (I'm becoming more and more impressed with my train taking abilities) to Shibuya. There is some pretty great shopping there, so I felt right at home :) I got a couple c.d.s, some adorable boots, and the greatest hat ever. I'm still excited with my purchases even a week later. After shopping and meeting up with the some of the others of our group we took a monorail to this giant Ferris wheel (which was at one time the largest in the world). It was very pretty seeing Tokyo at night and we had a great view of Tokyo Tower from up in the Ferris wheel. Afterwards, we went and got ready to go clubbing. We met up with some other friends and then headed to Roppongi, which is where one must go to go clubbing in Tokyo. I (always loving any excuse to dance) enjoyed myself immensely of course. We stayed out till six in the morning...as the trains stop at 11 PM and don't start up again until 5:15, but we had a great time just the same.

At 11 AM we had to check out...which took some serious effort. We then all put our things in a locker and headed toward Harajuku, which is a must if only for the crepes that they sell there...so good. It was pretty crowded, but it was a national holiday here in Japan, so it is to be expected. After looking around the park and such we all went our separate ways and took the train home. It was, or at least it felt like a long trip home to one sleep-deprived girl...but the weekend was totally worth it. I will have to make another trip at some time in the near future.

Cleaning and Transportation

My Bike マダリーン(Madeline)

The View From My Apartment

Airing Out the Futon

I rode my bike for the 1st time this past Tuesday (it needed some repairs)...it was scary. I seriously tipped/fell over three times. Once on the way to work...actually that time I rode into a ditch/pit/rain gutter...they're huge here...and the other two times on the way home. I actually had my purse fall out of the basket in the back...I have a basket in the front and the back of my bike. Luckily, the purse was at the scene of the latter spill and I found it quickly...it's not easy finding a black purse in the dark with no light. Needless to say...I have to work on this. I find that I am okay if I think about it like I'm driving a car...then I'm fine for some reason. It's only when I freak out because someone (or something) is too close and I'm afraid that I might hit them that I mess up (don't worry, I haven't hit anyone/thing). So now my purse always goes in the front basket and I don't think I will be wearing heels...even small ones to work for awhile...it appears to help the situation. Granted I think I need to find some new shoes as mine keep falling off while I ride...my co-workers think I'm hilarious.

Today I played housewife and cleaned my apartment. It's incredibly easy as there isn't much to be cleaned. I love the vacuum cleaners here! They work amazingly well. I also aired out my futon...on the balcony...since that is what you're supposed to do here. I think tonight I will go to that movie I meant to see last weekend, but we'll see.

The training is over...

A random shot of a crane I took last week

Well, my training has finally come to an end. Now I have to teach all of my classes on my own...which is exciting and little scary all at the same time. No worries, though. I know I will be fine and in a few weeks it will all be old hat. Today is my day off so the manager and I went around town getting errands done. So I now have a bank account and a bike... yay! I almost got a cell phone also, but unfortunately they now have a lot of new rules for foreigners in getting cell phones and I have to wait till my health insurance card comes in...strange, but I guess they really want to be sure I'm not leaving the country any time soon. So I will have to wait a bit longer on that one. Yesterday I went to the movie theaters, but I misunderstood that the times showed on the list are both starting and ending times...so I missed the movie I wanted to go see. Hopefully, it will be still showing next weekend (it's been out for awhile). I did go explore the local 100 yen store, which is great for school supply things. I have a feeling I will be visiting that place again in the future...it's very useful in my line of work. I suppose that's it for this week. Ja ne!

Working in Japan

Dinner with other teachers during training

My room mate during training (Sandy)

My first night in Numazu (spent with my co-workers)

My apartment

The rest of my apartment...that's about it though :)

Yes, I am officially working and living in Japan. I am almost done with my first week working at my school and it has been a lot of hard work in planning lessons and teaching. Last week I also worked hard during training in creating and doing different lessons for different levels of students. I made a lot of friends along the way. I am now keeping in touch with the other English teachers that I met while training through the internet. My co-workers in Numazu are also incredibly kind and I have enjoyed spending time with them. So far they have taken me around the city and gone karaoke with me (bowling fell through sadly). I am probably going to go look around more this weekend on my own, and maybe catch a movie as well (Hana Yori Dango Finale...for those that are interested). I have been extremely busy with work and trying to keep tabs with everyone, so I hope that this blog will be helpful. Enjoy the pictures of my life in Japan so far :)