So, I've been out here in Japan for a week and a half or so. Tokyo was pretty crazy. Looking out the 27th floor hotel room window, all I could see in every direction was skyscrapers. Tokyo really is huge. And I could only see a small part of it. My last night there, I met up with Brett Gilbert, who was in my ward back in Provo before he moved away. We went to the train station to take a train towards his dad's house in Meguro, and boarded a train. The monitors throughout the station and the train itself showed three of the Tokyo lines being shut down because of "accidents". Trains generally don't have too many accidents. Jumping in front of trains is a pretty common way for people to committ suicide here. It happens just about every day. The government will usually send a bill to the family of the deceased as a deterrent. Seems kind of crazy to hold others liable for another's mistakes. It adds a lot of pressure to families that are already going through quite a bit.
Due to the lines being shut down, our train was packed. The train stopped after going for a few minutes (long enough to take us so far away from our starting point that walking was not an option). A message came over the P.A. system saying that the signals were malfunctioning, and that our train would have to stop. We waited for about 15 minutes, after which the conductor announced that the train would be suspended indefinitely. Some people continued to wait, but we and many others jumped out and walked to another terminal. For about 20 minutes, we and thousands upon thousands of other people, all walking shoulder to shoulder (not my shoulders, of course), shuffled through the tunnels out into the rain and to the other station. We bought another ticket and got on the subway. We finally got off and walked to Brett's dad's house.
In the middle of a dimly lit Japanese suburb of Tokyo (still not very suburban), there stands a normal looking Japanese home (though larger than most) with almost no distinguishing features. Once you step inside, you notice a difference. You take your shoes off, just like in any other Japanese home, but then you step on--wait for it--American carpet. It's the only house in the area with carpet. It's something I may not see in Japan ever again. Also, the house has central air conditioning. Also the only house in the area.
It was pretty nice. Not a spectacular mansion in the U.S., but a very nice place for Tokyo. Brett told his dad, Kent, (who was watching a Japanese teeny-bopper drama) that we wanted to drive past the Tokyo temple and through a few popular areas of Toyko, but Kent refused to let him take the car. Perhaps he was afraid that Brett wouldn't get it back without dents and scratches. The streets are barely wider than the cars here.
Kent is a celebrity in Japan. After serving his mission here, he came back and appeared on Japanese TV. Since then, he's been on all sorts of shows and even done voice work. Everybody is surpised when I mention that I know him. While I've only seen him once, I have seen an eery Kent Gilbert mannequin in the basement of his Orem home.
Kent volunteered (he left us no choice) to drive us around to the places we wanted to see. It was kind of strange to be with someone that everyone would recognize, without everybody knowing he was there. We drove past the temple, which was small, but pretty. We drove through Roppongi, one of the infamous parts of town, and through the big Times Sqare area of Tokyo that you see in all the movies. Tokyo really is an amazing place. I wouldn't want to live there, but it's amazing how they can have two four-lane highways on top of eachother, the bottom one on top of a train, with a subway running under the train, and a four-lane expressway under the subway. At Shinjuku, you may be impressed by the amount of shops and people, but then you realize that there are two floors of shops underground. They have to go either down or up, because forward, backward, left, and right are taken.
I got back to the hotel at about midnight, which was a stretch for me with all the jet lag. I had to get up at 5 the next morning to leave for the airport. I was worried that my bags were too heavy. They didn't even mention the weight of my bags at the airport counter, so I was relieved. I'm here in Uoshima now. Next entry, I'll write about my first week here.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Finally in Japan
Friday night in Denver, after all the pre-departure meetings, I went back to the hotel to try to sleep. I got to bed at about 10:30, knowing that I would have to get up at 3:20 the next morning. Most of the JETs at the hotel (about 80 in all) went out to party in the local clubs, so it was nice and quiet when I went to bed.
It didn't stay that way. At about 1AM, I was awakened by the echoing voices of people starting to come back from the clubs and bars. I didn't fall asleep again. Having slept only a few hours the night before, I was bombed. We departed the hotel at 4AM and headed to the airport, where we got in line to check baggage. At the self-check in computer, I noticed that there was an option to change your seat on the plane. I pulled up the Los Angeles to Tokyo leg of my trip and saw that there was one exit row seat available. In addition, it was a window seat. I'd be able to sleep with so much leg room and the ability to lay my head against the wall.
I didn't sleep. But the plane ride wasn't so bad. I did have a lot of leg room, though there actually wasn't a window where I sat. I tried to sleep at the beginning of the flight, and actually did for about ten minutes. When I woke up from the short nap, I was exhausted. I turned on a movie and started to watch it, but quickly grew bored. I got the laptop out and worked on Rory's website for about three and a half hours. Even though I had about a half hour of battery life left, I was ready for a change of pace. I read a little and played with the DS. Four other people brought their DS, so we played some WiFi Mario Kart. The time flew by. Even though I was exhausted, I made up my mind to stay awake until it was 8PM in Japan. Having only slept a few combined hours over the past couple nights, I knew that I'd have no problem sleeping once in Tokyo. Waiting until 8 to sleep would help me overcome the jet lag.
The plane ride was comfortable, but not without some little issues. I've often complained about some weird dreams that I always have where my teeth are falling out. I've read about those dreams (apparently a lot of people have them), and they supposedly signify fears of falling short or embarrassing yourself. I have a different theory. I was awake, but I had the same feeling in my mouth that I have during my teeth-falling-out dreams. It really felt like my teeth were a little loose. I'd bet that those dreams are a way for your brain to incorporate a real-world stimulus into your dreams. Like when you dream of a certain song, and then wake up to find it's playing on your alarm clock radio.
At one point on the plane I decided that I would try to rest. When I leaned up against the wall, something jabbed me in the side. I looked over and saw that the girl behind me had taken off her shoe and put her foot on my right arm rest. I couldn't lean up against the wall. I nudged her inconspicuously until she withdrew her foot. Even though I didn't try to sleep after that, I felt I needed to stand up for my personal space on the flight.
I was hoping to get to see how the baggage shipping service works, but they were pushing us through the terminal so quickly that I didn't get to. They asked me which bags were going to be shipped and took them from me. I'll have to ask around to see how we'll ship stuff when Stef gets here.
It's humid in Tokyo. It felt and smelled almost exactly like Guatemala. This morning, I dried myself off after my shower and threw my clothes on. When I looked at my arms, I saw that my sleeves were soaked. Almost immediately after drying off, I was covered with sweat. It wasn't even hot! The humidity's just that strong.
We hopped on a bus from Narita to Tokyo, which took almost two hours. I sat next to Jen, a girl that went to Utah State University and had interviewed at the same time as I had in Salt Lake. We talked about the new Batman movie, which she didn't really like. We discussed some of the themes of the movie, like the idea that most people will remain good even through adversity. It turned into a conversation with a few of the people sitting around us, and one of them shook her head in disgust at the idea that people could be intrinsically good. She wanted to see people kill other people. I pondered her position for a while. I can't believe that people can be so antagonistic towards anything that suggests that humans aren't completely governed by their environments. That people have no control over their actions or that people don't have a disposition to do good. Oh well. At least I know better.
We got to the hotel, where we grabbed a packet of stuff and checked in. I was ravenous, so I decided to brave Tokyo by myself and look for food. I ran into three guys from Chicago who were doing the same, and we wandered around until we could find signs that we could read. Most were written in kanji (except Sizzler, but we wanted nothing to do with that), but we found one in hiragana that said "Yakitori", which is skewered chicken. That sounded good, so we followed the signs to the restaurant. When we got there, everything was in Japanese. We all could read a little, so we went in and ordered, doing everything in Japanese. It was a neat first night. It cost about $22 for a plate of twelve chicken kabobs, but it was filling. We stopped at Lawson, a 7-11-like convenience store that was next to our restaurant. I bought a drink and a pastry for a couple bucks, in case I got hungry or thirsty at night.
We walked back to the hotel and I hit the hay. I woke up a few times, but I got a good 9 1/2 hours of sleep, waking up at 6AM. My hotel room is on the 27th floor. Our window looks out over Tokyo, which is, like they say, a concrete jungle.
This morning, we had a big buffet-style breakfast. I ate about three times what I needed. Looking at the veteran JETs, it may be the last time I ate that way for quite a while. They're all gaunt. I didn't see a single person that looked like he or she had any extra weight on their body. I'll probably lose a bit of weight out here, which is not a bad thing.
I've got meetings all day. I'll try to write about a few relevant things later.
It didn't stay that way. At about 1AM, I was awakened by the echoing voices of people starting to come back from the clubs and bars. I didn't fall asleep again. Having slept only a few hours the night before, I was bombed. We departed the hotel at 4AM and headed to the airport, where we got in line to check baggage. At the self-check in computer, I noticed that there was an option to change your seat on the plane. I pulled up the Los Angeles to Tokyo leg of my trip and saw that there was one exit row seat available. In addition, it was a window seat. I'd be able to sleep with so much leg room and the ability to lay my head against the wall.
I didn't sleep. But the plane ride wasn't so bad. I did have a lot of leg room, though there actually wasn't a window where I sat. I tried to sleep at the beginning of the flight, and actually did for about ten minutes. When I woke up from the short nap, I was exhausted. I turned on a movie and started to watch it, but quickly grew bored. I got the laptop out and worked on Rory's website for about three and a half hours. Even though I had about a half hour of battery life left, I was ready for a change of pace. I read a little and played with the DS. Four other people brought their DS, so we played some WiFi Mario Kart. The time flew by. Even though I was exhausted, I made up my mind to stay awake until it was 8PM in Japan. Having only slept a few combined hours over the past couple nights, I knew that I'd have no problem sleeping once in Tokyo. Waiting until 8 to sleep would help me overcome the jet lag.
The plane ride was comfortable, but not without some little issues. I've often complained about some weird dreams that I always have where my teeth are falling out. I've read about those dreams (apparently a lot of people have them), and they supposedly signify fears of falling short or embarrassing yourself. I have a different theory. I was awake, but I had the same feeling in my mouth that I have during my teeth-falling-out dreams. It really felt like my teeth were a little loose. I'd bet that those dreams are a way for your brain to incorporate a real-world stimulus into your dreams. Like when you dream of a certain song, and then wake up to find it's playing on your alarm clock radio.
At one point on the plane I decided that I would try to rest. When I leaned up against the wall, something jabbed me in the side. I looked over and saw that the girl behind me had taken off her shoe and put her foot on my right arm rest. I couldn't lean up against the wall. I nudged her inconspicuously until she withdrew her foot. Even though I didn't try to sleep after that, I felt I needed to stand up for my personal space on the flight.
I was hoping to get to see how the baggage shipping service works, but they were pushing us through the terminal so quickly that I didn't get to. They asked me which bags were going to be shipped and took them from me. I'll have to ask around to see how we'll ship stuff when Stef gets here.
It's humid in Tokyo. It felt and smelled almost exactly like Guatemala. This morning, I dried myself off after my shower and threw my clothes on. When I looked at my arms, I saw that my sleeves were soaked. Almost immediately after drying off, I was covered with sweat. It wasn't even hot! The humidity's just that strong.
We hopped on a bus from Narita to Tokyo, which took almost two hours. I sat next to Jen, a girl that went to Utah State University and had interviewed at the same time as I had in Salt Lake. We talked about the new Batman movie, which she didn't really like. We discussed some of the themes of the movie, like the idea that most people will remain good even through adversity. It turned into a conversation with a few of the people sitting around us, and one of them shook her head in disgust at the idea that people could be intrinsically good. She wanted to see people kill other people. I pondered her position for a while. I can't believe that people can be so antagonistic towards anything that suggests that humans aren't completely governed by their environments. That people have no control over their actions or that people don't have a disposition to do good. Oh well. At least I know better.
We got to the hotel, where we grabbed a packet of stuff and checked in. I was ravenous, so I decided to brave Tokyo by myself and look for food. I ran into three guys from Chicago who were doing the same, and we wandered around until we could find signs that we could read. Most were written in kanji (except Sizzler, but we wanted nothing to do with that), but we found one in hiragana that said "Yakitori", which is skewered chicken. That sounded good, so we followed the signs to the restaurant. When we got there, everything was in Japanese. We all could read a little, so we went in and ordered, doing everything in Japanese. It was a neat first night. It cost about $22 for a plate of twelve chicken kabobs, but it was filling. We stopped at Lawson, a 7-11-like convenience store that was next to our restaurant. I bought a drink and a pastry for a couple bucks, in case I got hungry or thirsty at night.
We walked back to the hotel and I hit the hay. I woke up a few times, but I got a good 9 1/2 hours of sleep, waking up at 6AM. My hotel room is on the 27th floor. Our window looks out over Tokyo, which is, like they say, a concrete jungle.
This morning, we had a big buffet-style breakfast. I ate about three times what I needed. Looking at the veteran JETs, it may be the last time I ate that way for quite a while. They're all gaunt. I didn't see a single person that looked like he or she had any extra weight on their body. I'll probably lose a bit of weight out here, which is not a bad thing.
I've got meetings all day. I'll try to write about a few relevant things later.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Denver
This morning, I opened my eyes and looked at the clock. 3:25. 5 minutes before I was planning on getting up. I showered, got dressed in my nice new clothing, and had a small bowl of cereal. Stef and Nate rode with me to the Oakland airport. Nate took the car as Stef and I waited in the lines to check baggage.
I waited for my 6AM flight, which got to Denver at 9:15. I was expecting to meet up with the Salt Lake City JET Program participants to ride together to our hotel in downtown Denver. I was told that they would be arriving at around 11:25, so I grabbed something small to tide me over until lunch while I waited.
10 o'clock rolled around. 11. 11:30. Not seeing anyone with some obvious connection to JET, I started to worry. I hauled my heavy bags back and forth between the flight schedule monitors, the baggage claim area, and the landing area for the inter-concourse trains. 10, maybe 15 times. Dark, wet circles began to accumulate in the underarm portions of my nicely-ironed, brand-new dress shirt. I began to wonder if I'd see anybody at all.
Noon arrived, and I knew that I needed to act fast in order to make it to the hotel by 1 PM. I withdrew some cash from the ATM, paying the $2 fee, and headed out to the shuttles. I boarded a shuttle and hoped that the driver would know where my hotel was. Almost exactly at 1PM, we arrived at the hotel, which is right in the middle of downtown Denver. Denver's a pretty town with clean, old fashioned architecture to compliment the more modern designs of its many sports stadiums.
As I waited in line to check in, I found that some other JETs were waiting in the lobby. I chatted a bit with one of them and found out that we were supposed to meet back in the lobby at 1:45. I took my stuff upstairs and met my roommate for the night, Kemper. After talking a bit about Japan and JET, we made our way downstairs to the lobby. I made a passing comment about how hungry I was since I hadn't eaten for a few hours, and one of the JETs informed me that we wouldn't be eating until about 6:30 or 7.
After some instruction, we loaded into a bus and drove out to the Consulate General's house for an orientation and reception. The orientation consisted of some important information about getting ID cards and other necessary things. Unfortunately, it was long and dry. There were some funny moments, and I truthfully would have enjoyed it much more had I eaten something. My stomach growled for a good 4 hours.
After the orientation, we had the reception, where we listened to four speeches before having a toast and eating dinner. I'm already getting sick of people talking about making the best of their experience. Dinner was prepared by the Consulate General's personal chef, who's from Japan and doesn't speak English. He made all sorts of sushi and tempura. I hadn't ever had real sushi before today, but I can say that I was pleasantly surprised. I ate a lot of raw fish and actually enjoyed it. Of course, my enjoyment of it might have been affected by my hunger. Who knows? At least I'm starting out on the right foot.
After eating, I mingled with some of the other JET participants, including some of the married ones, but I was mostly content to just sit around and absorb everything. I have a lot running through my mind right now. Doubts creep in, and I wonder what I will do once I leave the JET Program. Then, I remember that I prayed about this and felt strong confirmation that it was right. I also remember that Stef, Kelsey, and I will be having an incredible experience--one that few people get. I remember that I always have banking as a safety net, and that I have gotten the distinct impression that I will get a better idea of what awaits our family while we're in Japan. I must not let doubt drag me down. My confidence got me here and will continue to push me to new heights.
Perhaps my emotions wouldn't be so strong if Stef and Kelsey were here. Today is the first day of a three-week period away from them. I'm definitely not looking forward to missing them. I already do.
I waited for my 6AM flight, which got to Denver at 9:15. I was expecting to meet up with the Salt Lake City JET Program participants to ride together to our hotel in downtown Denver. I was told that they would be arriving at around 11:25, so I grabbed something small to tide me over until lunch while I waited.
10 o'clock rolled around. 11. 11:30. Not seeing anyone with some obvious connection to JET, I started to worry. I hauled my heavy bags back and forth between the flight schedule monitors, the baggage claim area, and the landing area for the inter-concourse trains. 10, maybe 15 times. Dark, wet circles began to accumulate in the underarm portions of my nicely-ironed, brand-new dress shirt. I began to wonder if I'd see anybody at all.
Noon arrived, and I knew that I needed to act fast in order to make it to the hotel by 1 PM. I withdrew some cash from the ATM, paying the $2 fee, and headed out to the shuttles. I boarded a shuttle and hoped that the driver would know where my hotel was. Almost exactly at 1PM, we arrived at the hotel, which is right in the middle of downtown Denver. Denver's a pretty town with clean, old fashioned architecture to compliment the more modern designs of its many sports stadiums.
As I waited in line to check in, I found that some other JETs were waiting in the lobby. I chatted a bit with one of them and found out that we were supposed to meet back in the lobby at 1:45. I took my stuff upstairs and met my roommate for the night, Kemper. After talking a bit about Japan and JET, we made our way downstairs to the lobby. I made a passing comment about how hungry I was since I hadn't eaten for a few hours, and one of the JETs informed me that we wouldn't be eating until about 6:30 or 7.
After some instruction, we loaded into a bus and drove out to the Consulate General's house for an orientation and reception. The orientation consisted of some important information about getting ID cards and other necessary things. Unfortunately, it was long and dry. There were some funny moments, and I truthfully would have enjoyed it much more had I eaten something. My stomach growled for a good 4 hours.
After the orientation, we had the reception, where we listened to four speeches before having a toast and eating dinner. I'm already getting sick of people talking about making the best of their experience. Dinner was prepared by the Consulate General's personal chef, who's from Japan and doesn't speak English. He made all sorts of sushi and tempura. I hadn't ever had real sushi before today, but I can say that I was pleasantly surprised. I ate a lot of raw fish and actually enjoyed it. Of course, my enjoyment of it might have been affected by my hunger. Who knows? At least I'm starting out on the right foot.
After eating, I mingled with some of the other JET participants, including some of the married ones, but I was mostly content to just sit around and absorb everything. I have a lot running through my mind right now. Doubts creep in, and I wonder what I will do once I leave the JET Program. Then, I remember that I prayed about this and felt strong confirmation that it was right. I also remember that Stef, Kelsey, and I will be having an incredible experience--one that few people get. I remember that I always have banking as a safety net, and that I have gotten the distinct impression that I will get a better idea of what awaits our family while we're in Japan. I must not let doubt drag me down. My confidence got me here and will continue to push me to new heights.
Perhaps my emotions wouldn't be so strong if Stef and Kelsey were here. Today is the first day of a three-week period away from them. I'm definitely not looking forward to missing them. I already do.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Six days to go!
In two days, I leave Sacramento for Napa. Three days later, I leave for Denver, where I'll attend a pre-departure orientation. The next day, I head out to Japan! I can't believe the time has gone so quickly; I'll be in Japan in six days!
Our last few weeks in Utah, it was pretty easy to keep from stressing about Japan, since there were so many things keeping us busy (moving, etc.). Now that we're out here visiting family, and I no longer have a job in the U.S., the stress is mounting. This a pretty big change. There are also a lot of things that I want to do here in California, but not enough time to do all of them. I find myself being short with people and not having a whole lot of patience. It's frustrating, because I normally don't let things get to me.
Even with the stress, I am excited. Japan is going to be an incredible adventure that my family members and I will never forget. It's not likely that we'll ever be able to do anything like this again. I'm a little bummed about having to be away from Stef and Kelsey until they come out three weeks later. But I'll be pretty busy, and I'm sure the people on Uoshima will do their best to keep me company.
I promised I'd write more about Uoshima. Even though it's been a month, I still will.
Uoshima is a little island in the middle of the Seto inland sea, way out in the middle of nowhere. It takes about 2-2 1/2 hours by ferry (it's actually two separate one-hour ferries with an island connection) to get to the mainland. We'll be making the voyage every week for church, and it won't be cheap. It's going to cost about $100 every week just to travel to church.
Uoshima is a little fishing village (it literally means "fish island") with fewer than 200 inhabitants. We really will know everybody on the island. Ethan, the teacher I'm replacing, only teaches about 5 or 6 kids, so that's what I'll be doing as well. Ethan's also the lead singer of Uoshimax, a 60's brit-rock tribute band. Since he's leaving, I'll be taking his place as lead singer. Rock-n-roll stardom, here I come! Ha!
We'll be living in a two bedroom apartment that's mostly furnished. We'll want to buy a bed, since Ethan's been sleeping on an old futon. Anyway, I'll write more about Uoshima when I get there.
Our last few weeks in Utah, it was pretty easy to keep from stressing about Japan, since there were so many things keeping us busy (moving, etc.). Now that we're out here visiting family, and I no longer have a job in the U.S., the stress is mounting. This a pretty big change. There are also a lot of things that I want to do here in California, but not enough time to do all of them. I find myself being short with people and not having a whole lot of patience. It's frustrating, because I normally don't let things get to me.
Even with the stress, I am excited. Japan is going to be an incredible adventure that my family members and I will never forget. It's not likely that we'll ever be able to do anything like this again. I'm a little bummed about having to be away from Stef and Kelsey until they come out three weeks later. But I'll be pretty busy, and I'm sure the people on Uoshima will do their best to keep me company.
I promised I'd write more about Uoshima. Even though it's been a month, I still will.
Uoshima is a little island in the middle of the Seto inland sea, way out in the middle of nowhere. It takes about 2-2 1/2 hours by ferry (it's actually two separate one-hour ferries with an island connection) to get to the mainland. We'll be making the voyage every week for church, and it won't be cheap. It's going to cost about $100 every week just to travel to church.
Uoshima is a little fishing village (it literally means "fish island") with fewer than 200 inhabitants. We really will know everybody on the island. Ethan, the teacher I'm replacing, only teaches about 5 or 6 kids, so that's what I'll be doing as well. Ethan's also the lead singer of Uoshimax, a 60's brit-rock tribute band. Since he's leaving, I'll be taking his place as lead singer. Rock-n-roll stardom, here I come! Ha!
We'll be living in a two bedroom apartment that's mostly furnished. We'll want to buy a bed, since Ethan's been sleeping on an old futon. Anyway, I'll write more about Uoshima when I get there.
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