Yo From Tokyo!

Konban wa (good evening) from Tokyo!

It's my last night here before I head to my new home in Miyazaki prefecture and I must say, it's been a surreal and exhausting few days! The Miyazaki JETs and I are all waking up at 5:00am tomorrow to fly out to Kyushu tomorrow, so I should probably be sleeping. But before passing out tonight, I couldn't resist putting a few pictures of what I've been up to lately! It's just been such an insane journey, I can't believe it's already time to head out.

After our San Francisco Orientation, where we listened to some awesome JET alumni talk about their experiences and attended a reception at the Consulate General of Japan's house/mansion, we shuffled luggage around and boarded the plane to Tokyo. The flight was just under ten hours and the airline food wasn't too bad. It didn't even make me want to vomit! Success!

Our tower of luggage was as tall as Mt. Fuji.

This was my first glimpse of Japan from the plane!

The next morning, we woke up jet lagged and bushy-tailed for the first day of Tokyo Orientation. And might I say, it was quite an ordeal. The speeches were interesting and informative, but all the new ALTs were exhausted, so I'm not sure how much information we actually absorbed.

One of my favorite parts of orientation was getting to meet the other Miyazaki JETs and talk about what we expected life to be like in Miyazaki. Apparently we're having a lot of monsoon rains right now and the heat and humidity are off the charts. Gotta love that tropical weather.

Aren't we a good looking bunch?

After the panels and speeches were finished each day, we were able to do some real Tokyo sightseeing. We mostly stayed in Shinjuku since we knew we'd just have to wake up again early the next morning, but it was still quite a treat to eat, explore, and karaoke our way through the city. One night, we karaoke'd so hard, I actually lost my voice for the whole next day! Damn those power ballads and my incessant need to sing like Steven Tyler!

Debbie and I enjoying karage (deep fried chicken) on our first night in the city. 

My Tokyo Orientation roommates (who also happened to be SF JETs) and I going out for some serious noodles. 

My first Japanese noodle dish, an oily pork noodle bowl. It was out of this world!

I even had an opportunity to meet up my friend from the states, Alisa, during one of our lunch breaks. Her family lives in Tokyo, and luckily, we just happened to be in the same place at the same time. She took me to an amazing observatory right across the street from the hotel and the view of Tokyo was incredible!

You can even see Tokyo tower!

I've loved my time in Tokyo, and so far, I'm enjoying my time in Japan. Though I wish I had studied Japanese a bit more before showing up here. There are so many opportunities to practice and I want to understand people so badly! But I know I'll have more time to learn in Miyazaki, and I'm sure I'll figure things out quickly. 

No regrets! I'm ditching the fear and anxiety and embracing this opportunity! Live in the now!

Though I must say, I do regret the fact that I'm leaving the Keio Plaza Hotel's magical heated toilet seats. That's a Japanese invention I will always think of fondly.

As you can see, I'm very inspired, but also very sleepy. I have to wake up in six hours.

Goodnight! Talk to you soon!