Alright! My first blog in Japan and as its being written from a computer within the main branch of Joytalk (that is to say, a Japanese computer) I probably wont be doing many apostrophes as that requires two button presses instead of one and as the shift key has halved in size I fail to want to make the effort.Punctuation aside ill begin with my flights! Ill just say that the flight to Singapore was the best flight I have ever had in my small amount of experiences flying. Krisworld, the entertainment system, was really good (name notwithstanding) and I shamefully found myself watching Twilight half drunk on a toxic Singapore Sling and a half-half concoction of Bourban and coke which the guy next to me was drinking and that made me want some. I also watched Doubt with Meryl Streep, shes so awesome - but I didnt really overly enjoy the movie as much as I thought I would though ... hmm... The flight was also amazing as I had fire escape seats which equals infinite leg room and it also meant I would have to walk past anyone to go to the toilet.
The keyboard mysteriously just turned into typing Japanese but I have successfully changed it back.
The second flight was the same (fire escape seats etc) except this time I had to sleep which was never really going to happen so I instead remained motionless for a while and then ended up watching Slumdog Millionaire which made me want to listen to M.I.A, which I then did so for a while until arrival. From the airport I was to catch a bus which was very simple so it all went down without a hitch and I was picked up smoothly from Utsunomiya City no problems at all.
We drove for some time until we arrived in Sakura City which is where Joytalks main branch is and I was introduced to a few people and was shown to my hotel which I was DELIGHTED to see was in the style of a traditional Japanese room with tatami mats and everything. I set up my futon and put on my lightweight... thing (Similar to a summer kimono but very thin) and I slept, read a magazine and just as I was thinking of sleeping again I recieved a phone call to my room from a manager at Joytalk inviting me out to dinner and drinks with his friends which I of course accepted!It was at a close by place called Shinkos and I tried several new Japanese foods including natto which I believe the link describes pretty acurately. It was mixed with raw egg, squid and seaweed into this bizarre mixture that smelled exactly like it tasted. I tried to drown the taste with soy sauce but I couldnt ... I just couldnt. Which was fine as apparently not many foreigners like it and they enjoyed watching me squirm but the rest of the meal was great! They also wanted me to try Sake which I have actually never had before and it really wasnt that bad. Its sort of at that level below pure spirits in which your body doesnt want to swallow it so it sits in your mouth and makes you shudder. It was at that level where my mouth goes 'hmm, its not AWFUL so alright. I give you permission' (note apostrophes, they were necessary). They asked me several questions about English and asked if I could tell the difference between Japanese and Chinese people, instead of discussing the intricacies of ingroup/outgroup homogeneity I answered simply that it was a little difficult for me.
Of course being a traditional style Japanese hotel it meant that the bathroom/shower facilities were traditional also. I wont explain what it entails but lets just say its more public than Im used to and although I wasnt disturbed about it I did sort of felt a little awkward being the only person in this massive showering area. But everyone is super nice here and although salesman dont want to make the effort to sell me anything and Im never quite sure when and who to say hi to its all going quite well.
So thats pretty much me up until right now writing this. I have training beginning tomorrow and once I meet with the Board of Education then Ill be slapped into a school(s) so until then I might not have very steady internet access and no real handy way to put photos up. I do have photos though! So once I have my craptop up and running Ill edit this post - put in punctuation and put relevant photos up.
Byeeeee
