Kampai!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Hey everyone, welcome to my Japan blog. Some of you may have followed my Europe blog, and all I can say is that if you're on your SECOND Creighton travel blog...well, your psychosis is charming and appreciated, but also somewhat disconcerting.
They told me in the handbook that we shouldn't blog lest we offend those we work with, but it'd take a lot more than that to keep me from my blogging. So this is now a really cool invitation-only party.
I'm writing from the second night of my three day Tokyo orientation. We're in a fantastic hotel in downtown Tokyo (pictures soon). I haven't been able to go out and explore the city because they don't really give you time to do that. I'll have to take a separate trip at some point to really see what TOKYO is. However, I can definitely tell it's Japan from the super high tech toilets we have. You can warm the seat and can adjust the water pressure for the "Spray" and "Bidet" options. Being the headstrong young man I am, I tried out all the available options, and I can say that the "Spray" button produced one of the most alarming sensations of my life.
View from my hotel room at dusk.
The flight over wasn't bad, just watched four movies, slept a bit, tried to keep my legs from cramping up. Once in Tokyo the huge JET Programme staff took over, ferrying more than 800 of us from the airport to the hotel via bus. The ride in was pretty impressive, with triple-decker highways winding right between skyscrapers.
The main hall for the keynote speech. This is maybe 2/3 of the group, the rest were behind me.
Today was filled with ceremonies, speeches, and seminars. I'm a little OD'd on Power point presentations. I'm meeting a ton of people, but I'm not sure I'll see any of them again except for those in my prefecture, Ishikawa. Wednesday morning we disperse to our "Contracting Organizations" to begin the real work. I'm headed here, to work at two junior high schools. Just about a perfect set up, overall.
The view at night.
2 comments:
Wait until you find a toilet with the "sound effect" button. It makes the noise of a flushing toilet to mask the sound of shy people, well, "doing their business".
I look forward to more entries! Japan'll blow your mind.
I'm honored to be invited to your secret blog. The Europe blog was great. I'm your mom's friend Karen in Seattle. I hope that you have a really great experience. When I was in my 20's, I was in the Peace Corps in Paraguay. It was certainly a life shaping experience. Enjoy all that your year will bring.
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