Week 1

I'm here in Date, Hokkaido, Japan where the gorgeous gardens are everywhere, everyone is incredibly kind-hearted, and everyone on the street is a little shy of the gaijin (The gaijin is shy of them too, so I imagine anyone observing would be rather amused- still, watching an older gentleman who has probably spent his entire life rigidly bowing to stern and imposing social higher-ups timidly dip his body to acknowledge an awkward 19 year old girl who doesn't know a thing- it's interesting).

A few observations I've had in the last few days (I arrived on 5/30, so I've been here a mere 5 days, but cut off from english and having only limited reprise from a highly polite, professional atmosphere, it's felt like... oh gee, I dunno, MY ENTIRE LIFE AAHH):

Things I think are pretty neat:

-Garbage is handled very smartly over here. Things are separated into different categories- Burnable garbage, food waste, oversize garbage, etc.. I have always thought American garbage was a very messy business.
- There is a much greater emphasis on eating food fresh. There must be fewer preservatives in the food, along with the greater seafood content of the Japanese diet, because man, if you ate bento from two days ago, I think these people would freak out. (Bento in this case is a pre-made microwavable dish that can be purchased from any of the neighborhood conbinii- convenience stores. The one closest to me is Sebun iirebun. Good old 7/11. )
- Nature is bloody everywhere. I will begin taking pictures of all the gorgeous gardens as soon as I grow a spine.

Things I had never....

- There's a bird out by one of the elementary schools i'll be assisting at with a very odd cry. I'd never heard it before.

-The vast majority of the cars and trucks, too, are very small and boxy.

-The washer in my room is apparently very old and uncommon in Japan. I have never seen anything like it. What the heck.

- Looking through an elementary school english textbook, I realized that english is probably actually very difficult. I'd never thought about how using spaces, commas, periods, and capital letters might be a new experience.


Specific experiences:

- I had my first bowl of Japanese Ramen, courtesy of a wonderfully kind gal who works in the next office over, Yuki-chan. We ate together and I laughed with her, probably the first time i'd loosened up since getting on the plane from Missoula. That means more to me than I think I can express to her.

- At the elementary school I visited today (Kogane Shogakko), probably the nicest old lady in the whole world talked with me about studying language and getting kids motivated and interested in learning. She spoke lovely english and even recognized that my last name was spanish. She was so kind and understanding of my poor jet-lagged self that I couldn't help but blubber a little. She gave me a nice little tissue holder and invited me to her house the next time I go out. I think I could cry all day over this gesture of kindness so far from home. How fortunate I am to meet someone like her!


Things are going well, i'm learning loads, and I will continue to report. There's loads of stuff here I want to buy up and send to everyone in the mail, but i'm still a little shy about what kind of impression i'm making, so I'll probably hold off for a bit more. I also won't receive my first paycheck for a little while, so the yen I brought with me is gonna have to last.