First Impressions

Are, generally, not my strong suit. I'm working on this.

Of the things that are bad to do in Japan, being late is high on the list of no-no's. So, what do I do on my interview day? Arrive two hours late to the interview with the board of education. I got lost on the train to get to the city the job is in (Fukaya, Saitama, Japan), didn't know about the transfer, had to backtrack, and then had trouble calling my pick-up. But, I did eventually get there.

And the interview went fairly well, at least after I explained how I got lost and it'll never happen again. Important cultural learning experience to be sure. Mostly I have to remember to talk slower and not use my extensive vocabulary. These are, after all, junior high students and I don't want to lose all of them the first day. So, I've got some homework already.

For Friday. I start Friday. Holy crap!

So, things are moving quickly. I'm trying to finish up anything else I'll need here in Tokyo (as much as I can manage) before heading out to Fukaya. The agency that helped me get the position has already found me a place to move into on Friday and will be fronting me the key money from my future salary, so that's pretty cool and nice. All I have to do is find a bike and a bed. I am pleased.

Otherwise, doing well. I did loose my wallet last week, which is the other reason I've been busy. I need to call the lost and found places again to see if it's shown up since, but so far no luck. Could've been picked, could've fallen out. Hard to say. Luckily I still have my passport and nothing entirely vital was lost. So that was fun.

And, along with the balloon thing from last post, in Yoyogi park the same weekend, there was also this rather extensive dancing display (Super Yosakoi Festival). Several dozen ameteur dance groups gave street and stage performances, much like the one below. It's an odd mix of modern and traditional stylings, I figure at least. Some were pretty decent, though some were quite ameteur. Enjoyable nonetheless.



My apologies for the video quality. I had to hold it above my head and it was hard... ;-) Does anyone else have trouble with the audio synching? The fans should pop out on the music cue if anyone is wondering.

Well, I'm off to check out a used english book sale (yay 30% off half-of-cover-price... needs stock up before I leave town... foreign books are expensive here), buy some more business wear, find some shoes, and a belt.

Oh, and on other notes, if anyone is interested in chatting me up online, right now I've got gmail and that's about it (schinji@gmail.com). And, if you'd like a postcard from Japan, just send me your address as well. I'll let ya know when I get set up for a Skype account.

Later!

Yes... King of Mouse! Not to be confused with the Rat King...