My New Home

I have had a good and really busy time since I have arrived in my new home in Shimanto. Everyone I have met so far is really nice and I have had no lack of places to be or fun things to do. I have already eaten out at yakiniku (Korean bbq), conveyor-belt sushi and other awesome traditional food places. I even got to try some of the local specialties. I like my main high school so far and am looking forward to starting classes in a few weeks. The students I have met so far were very enthusiastic. I've gotten to meet some of the other JETs in the area as well as some other foreigners living in the region. A group of us camped out this weekend near one of the surfing beaches. I had a lot of fun jumping in the waves and might even try surfing sometime this year.



Hata Agricultural High School



The Ushiro River which runs near my apartment




Irino beach



Irino beach at sunrise

View from my hotel room of the city and the Tokyo Metropolitan Building.

landing in Japan after 13 hours in the air.

Alaska from the air.

Tokyo

I'm having fun in Tokyo; it is an amazing city, though I don't have much time to sight see since I am in meetings all day. The flight was exhausting. I sat next to someone from Jamaica which was really fun. She had never been to Japan before so we had some good conversations. I was next to the window but it was overcast for the majority of the flight it was overcast. The clouds did clear as we were flying over Alaska giving us a fantastic view of the mountains. My row mate was very excited because she had never really seen snow or mountains. It took us almost four hours to get through the airport and drive to our hotel so I was too exhausted to go out into Tokyo. Some of the other groups arrived earlier and were able to have a free day. Japan greeted us Sunday night by giving us an earthquake at about 3 in the mourning. It wasn't very big but it woke me up though not everyone felt it. I am enjoying Tokyo orientation. I love being able to meet all of the incoming JETs I have met many people who I feel like I will stay in contact with even though we may be going to other parts of the country. It feels really international here I have meet people from Jamaica, Ireland, Australia and South Africa and its amazing to think that we all chose to be here in Japan. The view from my hotel room is fantastic. My window faces the Tokyo Metropolitan Building which is right across the street, and after the haze cleared up you could see the mountains in the distance. It is hot and humid here but it hasn't been that bad so far because I have been in the hotel for most of the time and it is air-conditioned. I also cools off at night. I was able to go out last night for karaoke with some people who will also be working in my prefecture. This evening we are having events by country the US Ambassador will be coming for the first time, so that's kind of neat. Afterwards I plan on going out with a few friends and then tomorrow I fly to Kochi!

Kochi and JET

I will be teaching in Japan as part of the JET Program. The JET Program hires English speakers from around the world to become assistant language teachers throughout Japan to promote cultural education and teach both students and teachers alike better conversation skills. I will be teaching and living in Shimanto, Japan (also known as Nakamura.) Shimanto is located in Kochi prefecture on the Island of Shikoku. Kochi is known for its natural beauty as well as having the cleanest river in Japan, the Shimanto River, which unsurprisingly flows right through the city of Shimanto. Shimanto is a small city with a population of around 36,000. I will be teaching at 2 high schools in the area which means I will be working with 6 different English teachers, have 11 different classes and something like 500 students. So the whole thing promises to be both challenging and fun. My trip begins on July 23rd when I will be flying to Tokyo I will be there for a few days for heading to Kochi. I will try to post again and put up pictures but I don't know how frequent my internet access will be until I get it set up in my apartment. In the mean time here are some websites to keep you busy.

http://www.jetprogramme.org/index.html
http://www.from-kochi.jp/about_japan/shikoku.html
http://www.travel-around-japan.com/k83-05-shimanto.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimanto,_K%C5%8Dchi_%28city%29

Site Moving

This website is now my travel/Japan blog. My poetry blog (which used to be at this web address) has been moved to www.poetpaige.com please feel free to follow both pages. I plan to be posting in both with relative frequency.