Wheh, i finally have some free time! 
This week my school is doing counseling so regular classes are canceled and i don’t have as many lessons to prepare ^_^ YAY!! Also, i have a lot of free time, so i can prepare my lessons for the next TWO WEEKS! 
Thats gonna make things pretty sweet for me for the rest of the month!!
AND!!! I can FINALLY make a post about my time in Japan
It has been just a little over three weeks since i arrived in Tokyo and i have been a huge jumble of feelings about everything
The first week was spent in Tokyo at a training center where all the teachers stayed for the week. It was like living in a residence, so needless to say everyone got really close and we all tried to spend as much time exploring Tokyo together as possible
The training itself was pretty intensive, and we were constantly being tested on our presentation abilities and practicing our teaching lessons. Two of the days they even had a bunch of Japanese students come to the center and we got to practice teaching them, which was probably the best thing they could have done to make us feel more comfortable with the material.
So then after the training was over we all went our separate ways on Monday, me and one other guy from my training are the only ones who left Tokyo and he came to Sendai as well, but we have not spoken since we arrived because he works at a different school here.
So, on Monday we did all the paperwork type things, got my cellphone, opened a bank account, went to city hall and completed my alien registration paperwork and stuff like that. And then i got to see my new apartment 
I am actually pretty happy with it. I am on a corner, so i have lots of windows on each wall, and i can open them up and get a pretty good cross breeze going One of the things i noticed about Japanese buildings is they always have LOTS of windows, and usually, you can open ALL the windows ALL the way! Unlike in Canada, i noticed in a lot of places you will have a full wall of windows, and only really be able to open a small square in a bottom corner somewhere, which is never enough to let good air in Also my windows have very heavy curtains on them, so my room can become nice and dark when i want to sleep
I also have a HUGE closet, and can fit just about everything into it that i need I dont have many hangers though! haha need to go buy some more
My room itself is pretty long, and i will post some pictures so everyone can see.
My apartment came with a fairly decent kitchen, i got a small fridge, a pretty large sink, a gas grill with two burners and a small little baker underneath, just large enough to slide maybe some fish or chicken breasts into, and also it came with a toaster oven As well as a lot of cooking utensils and plates and dishes and all that stuff So i am pretty set and happy with my little kitchen In my living room i have a tv, a small bookshelf, a cool foam couch thing that the previously teacher left behind, and then my futon bed and a small table. The only annoying thing about my living room is these two light fixtures that hang from the ceiling, they are so low i hit my head on them, so i am trying to find a solution and make them hang higher so i can walk under them without hitting them. Its bad enough i have to crouch a little to go under any door frames
So all and all i am very happy with my apartment, it is ideal for one person, and if people came to visit there is easily room for 3 more people to stay, assuming they put their bedding away when they wake up Kind of like camping!
Also, right next to my apartment is a Ramen shop, and it always smells so good! ahaha I also have two shrines just up the street, just like the ones in anime ^_^ And i am about a 30 minute walk from my work place, or i can take the subway and it takes about 15 minutes, and my work pays for the subway, which is sweet!! Within 5 minutes of me is a 7/11 which is 24 hours, as well as a 24 hour grocery store, so i am pretty set, and both of them i pass on my way home from the subway so it is really easy to swing by and grab some groceries I am trying to avoid eating out unless its some kind of a special occasion and then i can save LOTS of money Food isnt AS expensive here as people say, except that the Japanese serve food in MUCH smaller portions, so i can see how someone would buy a lot of extra food trying to get their fill
As for my school and students, i have some mixed feelings about it All my students are just amazing. I am ONLY teaching adults, people around 20 years of age and older. Most of the younger students attend the big university here, and by talking with them i have been blown away by their educations. I have Law Students, aero space engineers, chemical engineers, medical doctors, even one woman who is a sugeon in the Japanese army! Its crazy! Like, who am i to be teaching English to these people who have way better educations than me?!?!? hahaha But they are all great people, and they love to talk about their work and research, i have learned a lot of interesting things from them so far The one thing i have been told by the current teachers is that the small relationships i make with the students is what will make this job worth it, and i can see why, i find myself looking forward to certain classes now because i know certain students will be in it, and we will have chances to talk about what they have been up to
As for the actual classes, at first i was freaking out On the first Tuesday i just observed other teachers giving lessons, and they have all been there for at least 3 or 4 years, so they know the material inside and out, so it was pretty intimidating! Then on Wednesday i observed classes again, and taught one at the end of the day. That one went horribly because i was so nervous 
And then the next day i had to teach 6 LESSONS!!! So when i went home that night i was having a total freak out, and it was the first time since i arrived where i really didn’t think i had what it took. So needless to say, i sacrificed some sleep to get all my lessons plans worked out, and went in and actually ended up doing a fairly decent job. By the end of the first day i was feeling much better about the job. I then had to teach a full day of lessons on Friday and Saturday as well. I also have some classes that are for very high level students, which are discussion classes. One is a time magazine class, where the students pick articles out of Time magazine and bring them in and we read them over and discuss them I have two other classes like that to, but the articles are pre selected by the school, but they still have been some of my favorite classes. Basically my job is to just guide and mediate the debate/discussion between the students and answer any questions about phrases and vocabulary that they don’t understand
There is only one other thing about my office that bothers me, and thats that a lot of times i will be out in the lobby area having a conversation with a student, and then one of the Japanese teachers or managers will come out and start talking to them in Japanese. So needless to say i get completely lost in the conversation and it is a LITTLE frustrating only because we are told that the office was suppose to be an english speaking environment. So its not a big deal, just irks me a little Its not enough to make me not like my job and leave or anything like that
One thing i am happy about is that the majority of the information that was given to me, when still in Canada, about housing and accomodations and things like that was true. I was worried i was hearing one thing from the recruiters in Canada, and when i got here it was going to be ALL different, like lower pay, higher rent, those kinds of things. But in truth, everything has been exactly what i was told from the start and i have not been tricked or lied to, so that puts me at ease with the company.
That Saturday night we had a going away party for the departing teacher (the person i am replacing) and a welcoming party for me. It was held at a bar and about 50-60 of the students ended up arriving! It was crazy meeting so many people at once!! And it was open bar! Actually the way a lot of things happen in japan is if you have a group, you can pay a flat rate to rent out a room for a period of time, and included in that rate is snacks and all you can drink alcohol!!! ^_^ YIPPEE!! haha And in Japan because places are set up like that, they usually have 2 or 3 parties in one night, where you start at one bar, drink, then move to another, and then another. I ended up being out until 4 am!!! The night ended at a karaoke bar!! Which would be the 4th time i have been to one since i got here! hahaha Also with unlimited drinks And i guess Japan really is the “Land of the rising sun” because sunrise is at 4:30 am! I was walking home from the Karaoke club and it was sunny out already! haha Totally was not expecting THAT!
The shopping here is pretty cool, they have lots of 100 Yen stores, which are like our dollar stores, and some of them are massive, like our Dollorama’s I got all kinds of little things i needed to make my apartment more livable, like more pillows and little baskets and stuff to organize things into Now i feel much more at home I still have not gone shopping for any kind of clothes, i doubt i will even bother! ahaha The chances of finding anything in my size is very rare!
I learned there is a place here, its a center for people visiting or working abroad in japan, and they can offer me all kinds of help. So if i need help getting my internet, or setting up an account somewhere or getting around town i can call them and they will do what they can to assist me, they also offer courses for free to learn basic Japanese! So once i feel a little more confidant with my work, i will sign up for some of those and get going on learning the language, cause it is REALLY starting to bug me not being able to communicate with people here. Especially at restaurants. Most of them are good, and have lots of photos so tourists can see what they are ordering, but it would be nice to be able to at least say what i want to order
I also picked up a book at the city hall that is a huge guide to the city and how things are done here, like garbage pick up day, and how to pay bills and all that fun stuff and its ALL in English ^_^ Its full of maps of the city, all the bus and subway times, and also has maps of the popular hiking trails here so i can go out and do some walking if i wanted! ^_^ It has been very helpful for me
Ok, that is all i am going to type for now, i hope that is enough information to keep everyone happy! hahah, i didnt really mean to type out so much! Over all, everything is going good, a few moments of home sickness and what not, but getting the internet back has pretty much fixed all those problems I have seen some really cool things here, and i will post a bunch of pictures in the next post, i am just too exhausted to do it now It takes a lot of clicking and moving of stuffs and things, and yeah, just not happening
Until Later!!
