Starting All Over Again

Earlier this month there was a death in my family. I was able to go home because my employers are awesome. I was allowed to go home for two weeks, which was necessary because of the circumstances at home, but I won't go into all that here. What I wanted to talk about was my return to Okinawa. I don't think I realized just how much I went through in adjusting when I first arrived here. I guess that's because it was all new, but upon my return this time, I've had to make all those same adjustments all over again. I'm having to try to relearn all the new Japanese I had picked up. I have to get used to seeing everything written in kanji and not being able to understand it. I have to try to get back into my routine, which seems to be really hard as I didn't realize just how long it took me to do the first time. Hopefully, it'll return quickly.

Hurricane Ike

I had to come home for an emergency this month. I left Okinawa just before a typhoon was scheduled to hit and landed in Houston just in time for Hurricane Ike. Yea. It was nice being home again even though the circumstances were far from ideal. 

I stayed the first two nights at my parents' house in Cypress. The hurricane hit and we lost power some time in the morning. My sister's power came on first so we went over there where several of my relatives also came to stay. The next night the power was back on at my parents' house so we went back over there. Unfortunately power didn't come back on at my place until Wednesday. Fortunately, the water that overflowed the bayou and filled Memorial under Shepherd didn't reach my place. Close, but not quite, which was wonderful. We were so worried that we would be flooded that we spent a couple of hours putting everything up before the hurricane hit. Unfortunately we forgot to get rid of everything in the freezer so when we returned home on Wednesday, the whole place reeked of rancid chicken. I hope the smell dissipates by the time I return home for Christmas.

My parents' home didn't suffer much damage. A baby fig tree was uprooted and a small citrus tree fell over, but other than that, they were fine. My sister's house had a little more damage. A part of her fence fell over and the baby gate around the pool came loose. My dad and grandfather were easily able to fix the fence and I think the baby gate was okay after all. We were lucky. 

(By the way, I was told the typhoon in Okinawa was uneventful.)

Welcome Party

My base school's welcome party last night. The invitation should have been my warning.

14:30-16:30 Yakiniku (BBQ) There are restaurants here where you pay one price and it's all you can eat all you can drink (yes, alcoholic beverages as well). the party was seated at a long row of picnic tables at the head of which was a barbecue pit, and next to that was a tub of raw meat. The obligatory cabbage salad was nearby. (Cabbage takes the place of lettuce here.) There was also miso soup, and, of course, rice.

All you can eat means just that. They keep bringing you raw meat until you say stop. The all you can drink is a self-serve bar--not bottles of alcohol, mind you, but a beer keg and a chu hai machine (think margarita machine, only it's filled with a different kind of fruity alcoholic drink). There's also a soda dispenser, tea, and water. Did I mention the great thing about yakiniku? (I mean besides the all you can drink aspect.) Women pay less than men--by three to five dollars depending on the restaurant. It's pretty cool. 

18:30-20:30 Bowling

Apparently bowling is bowling no matter where you  go. Well, except for the Hello Kitty lanes--ostensibly for little kids (but I really wanted to play on those lanes). 

(Here's where it got scary on the invitation.)

21:00-??? Karaoke (That's exactly what the invitation said.)

No, Karaoke is not the scary part. The scary part is that whoever made the invitation knew most of us would be plastered by then as they had put a little drunk smiley face in the bottom corner next to this third section. I didn't even know drunk smiley face clip art existed. It was true, though. Everyone was drunk. Start at 1 p.m. at an all you can drink, move on to a bowling alley with beer vending machines and from there move on to karaoke where all you have to do is pick up the phone to place your next drink order. Yeah, everyone was feeling pretty good as they passed out. (Karaoke rooms are pretty comfy.)

The Madanbashi Matchbox

Before I left Houston I made a few new friends, and one of them was a JET about ten years ago. She warned me that the apartments would be small. I had been informed of this while doing research before I applied for JET. I knew what I was getting into--or so I thought. My new apartment is small. Really small. Think of a dorm room and then shrink it by about ten percent. 

If I walk the apartment heel to toe I can take about twenty steps from the front door to the back patio door. Across it's about eleven steps. It has a teensy tiny washer. There's no dryer, but I can hang my clothes on the clothesline outside like everyone else does (except during rainy days when I can walk across the street to the coin laundry). 

In the kitchen area there is one burner (induction heat type) and one sink. I read a comment, more of a complaint, asking why the Japanese haven't gotten onto the garbage disposal bandwagon and I completely agree. There's a lot to clean in these sinks in a place where mold grows very quickly. I have a little dorm refrigerator. I'm told I'm lucky because I have what passes for a tub in my bathroom, but that's only if you go by a strict definition of a tub being a receptacle for holding water. I've used it once and it wasn't very relaxing. It is deep, though, which is nice. The toilet has an interesting how to sticker:

Really, though I think my apartment will be perfect for me--and me alone. 

Imminent Departure

Less than twenty-four hours to go and I think I might be ready--almost. I don't think I'll ever be ready to leave certain people behind. However, just knowing that they'll be here when I return makes my life easier. I don't know about theirs, but I do hope their friends will take good care of them while I'm gone. The other thing that's odd is I think I've gotten a sliver of a glimpse of what it's like to know that one will die soon. I go to movies and watch previews for movies that open after my departure and I think, "oh, I won't be here for that. I'll. Be. Gone." A bit morbid, I know, but that's kind of how it feels. I'll leave behind the friends who watched it with me and they'll still be here and they'll probably go to see it without me, carrying on their own lives without me. Wow, I'm getting kind of selfish. I own that. I've even made up songs about it.

And one note to anyone thinking about applying to JET:

START SAVING YOUR MONEY NOW. It's incredibly expensive to move. I've spent a lot in the past few weeks and that's not over yet. Next week I'll probably spend another $2000-3000 just getting set up in Okinawa. Ah...my island paradise. I can't wait.

The Maiden Blog

Here it is: My first blog. I've often thought about creating a blog, but I never did as I felt it would be too time-consuming to do properly--until now. My thoughts about the amount of time this blog will need to be done properly haven't changed. What's changed is my situation. In 97 days I leave for Japan to start my job as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) for the Japan Exchange Teaching Program (JET).

This is the second year I've applied for this program. The first time I applied was two years ago. I was an alternate that year. Apparently not enough people said, "no, I certainly do not want to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. Let an alternate candidate go in my place." So I did not get to go. This year, however, I made it onto the short list. As such, several people have asked if I would keep a blog about my experiences so they could live vicariously through me. The answer, quite obviously, sits in front of you now. I hope you enjoy it.