What an overwhelming experience. Being in Japan is amazing. The town is always active, and people are everywhere. The Japanese seem to have a different take on everything that I take for granted.

Today I went across the street from the hotel during a break to have lunch with another JET. We (literally) ducked into a small (and I’m talking small) restaurant, and proceeded to order by pointing. My Japanese language ability was enough to get us answers to some questions (is that meat? fish? is that so? thank you!), but soon afterwards we are eating several dishes of food that neither of us could identify. The food was excellent, and the service is better than most American restaurants, and you can’t even tip to reward the great service.

Perhaps the most surreal part was that we are in a restaurant where nobody speaks English. Outside people by the hundreds are walking by, and very few if any speak English. It really makes you realize that you are on your own, and you need to use your wits, flexibility, and money to get you through simple everyday situations.

I ate breakfast today with some Midwestern-Americans, and a Canadian. I had a great conversation with some people from the UK, and there are some really nice Irish folks here, too. It’s been great talking and associating with people from such varied and unique backgrounds. They bring a new perspective to events around the world, and it feels good to expand your thoughts beyond your own country.

The orientation today was pretty good. There was a bit more of a focus on the teaching aspect of your job, and some of the lectures went a bit long. We watched a great movie showing a JET in action in several different schools. Some of it was painful to watch, but it looked like a lot of fun. I think the teaching will be difficult at first, and then become more second nature soon after. Also, they had put together some optional seminars, but I was pretty disappointed. They are presented by current JETs, but they seem heavier on the anecdotal than on the practical.

Tonight is the big reception, and tomorrow is another day of presentations. My roommate and I are considering going over to the electronics part of town to look at all the brand new goodies in Tokyo. Neither of us are looking to buy anything, but we heard that it’s a must see. We also were looking at “Kirin City”, a beer garden on top of a department store downtown. I’m trying to pick out memorable things to see and do, because very soon I’ll be leaving for my prefecture, and it might be a while before I make it back to Tokyo.

I’m in Tokyo, writing this from a Kinko’s next door to my hotel. The trip went really well – the JET program is pretty organized. I’ve been spending my time wandering the streets of Tokyo, and trying to stay awake as long as possible to avoid jetlag. I’m attending the orientation today, and it will be cool to see all the new JETs in the same room.

First impressions of Tokyo – cooler (temperature-wise) than I thought. Hardly any foreigners. Plenty of places to eat. Everyone is very polite. Not many smiles outside the hotel, however.

I’m off to the orientation, but I’ll write more in the next couple of days!

My parents and I stopped in at the Westin LAX and moved my considerable luggage to a room. I had heard that the rooms were to be shared between three people, but as I write this, no one else has shown up. It’s a little hard to get comfortable in a hotel room when you don’t know if the door is going to open and have a total stranger walk in. I figure I’ll deadbolt the door before I go to bed.

I said goodbye to my folks, which was more difficult than I thought it would be. They’ve been so supportive, it’s going to be tough to get out on my own again. I hadn’t realized how much I relied on their advice and support over the last year. They were heading north up to coast, to perhaps stop at a beach or get a hotel near the ocean.

As for the orientation, it was pretty boring. The coordinator that moderated had trouble keeping things moving, and it really became a big Q&A session. I thought it was interesting that so many things that they had told us before had changed, and I ended up spending about an hour repacking some things between suitcases. My favorite speech was by one of the consuls, who told us “not to have sex with students”, called on us to “not use illegal drugs”, and various other common sense type things that I guess must be said anyway.

After the Q&A session, we had a reception outside, where several VIPs, over the sound of landing airplanes, gave short speeches urging us on to great things. The beer was free, though, and we even got a run through a buffet line with Mexican food. While I was in the food line, the consul that I interviewed with stopped by to say hello. He said that he remembered me during the interview, and he wished me the best of luck. He said he remembered me as a “businessman”, and hoped that I enjoyed the upcoming experience.

I spent most of the time with a guy I met back in the pre-departure orientation, William Williams. He was fun to talk to, and he had an amazing amount of information to pass on. He’ll be living in Saitama, near Tokyo, so I’ll have to get out there to visit sometime. He talked about setting up a microbiology lab in his apartment, which sounded pretty crazy. If anyone was to do it, William Williams sounded like the guy.

Tomorrow I’m going to head to the airport fairly early, as it sounds like a real chore to get through security. I’m wondering what items are going to cause the most stir during the customs search.

Had a great visit to San Diego. The drive down went really well, and we traded off spots in the back seat, the front seat, and the driver’s seat, so everyone helped out.

When we arrived we had some drinks at Nancy’s, and then went right to bed. On Wednesday and Thursday we spent time with family. We got to visit with Susan, Neil, and Leigh, and Neil and Leigh’s whole family – Gage, Jamie, and Griffin.

The kids were a lot of fun, and they really put me through the paces. On Thursday we went and saw Pirates of the Caribbean, and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Afterwards, we visited my grandparents, and then took them to dinner at Olive Garden with Susan.

It was great to see everyone – a cool visit. On Friday, we said goodbye to everyone, and then drove north to Los Angeles, and I said my goodbyes to Mom and Dad.

With a CD packet full of The Doors, Taj Mahal, Van Morrison, and yes, even Willie Nelson, we’re hitting the road to San Diego. I’m going to be out of touch until I get to Japan, and once I arrive, there may be a little delay while I look around for internet access. Thanks to everyone that made this trip possible. I’ll talk to you once I get there!

Last night the family went out to play mini golf in Sonoma, and after 18 grueling holes, Susan pulled out the win. The stakes were high, and that night, Susan got to drink for free at Murphy’s.

We went out to Murphy’s afterwards, where I was able to enjoy two last pints of Murphy’s Stout. Today I’m running a few last minute errands. I need to get some contact lenses to take with me to Japan. After I run out, 1-800 Contacts is going to hook me up with more via international shipping. I can tell already that my time in Japan will be greatly improved because of the internet.

I heard some more from my predecessor, Andrew, and the first week or so in Japan is starting to firm up a little bit. Looks like after two days in Tokyo for orientation, I’ll be getting aboard the Shinkansen, the Bullet Train, and heading to Osaka. I’ll meet Andrew there, and we’re off to have a drink with my Master Teacher and get acquainted. That night I’ll get set up in my apartment, but for a week or so I’ll be sharing it with Andrew. That should work out great – he can show me how everything works, and we’ll figure out the local things to do.

Tonight we had a bunch of folks over to say goodbye – Victor and Lisa with Alexander, Rico and Sherri with Nico and Dino, Mark and Susan, Neil and Terry, Marc Johnson and Betty Jane.

We ate sausages, had lots of desserts, and visited with everyone. We got a ping pong game going, but I consistently lost. As you can see in the pictures above, Nico and Dino really had fun with the ping pong paddles. They were “helping” us play.

We ate some sushi and hot dog rollups for appetizers – East meets West 🙂 Just a week until my flight – Tuesday we hit the road for San Diego.

Just found a special release, New Belgium Brewing’s Porch Swing. My dad and I were over at Safeway to buy a case of Fat Tire for Nancy, and found this quite unexpectedly. I’m drinking one now, and it’s very good – kind of a cross between the Abbey Ale and the Fat Tire.

I haven’t had any Japanese beers in a couple of months. Considering that they will be the only kind of beer I’m drinking for a whole year, I figure I’ll get my fill.

Last night’s poker game was a lot of fun. I haven’t played in a while, not since I was in Richard Nichol’s poker group in San Diego with Masa and Ryu. We had 7 guys playing, and we pretty much played every game that they knew. I ended up ahead for the night, and that’s gotta be a good thing.

Today I’m cramming things into suitcases to see if everything has a sporting chance of fitting in my luggage. I predict some packing trauma in the near future, however.

Today my dad and I split wood for an hour, and then went into Napa to visit my grandmother and run some errands. We took grandma out to lunch, and then we went to Target, Mervyn’s and 31 Flavors.

She was doing really well today, and twice she broke into a big laugh – something she does rarely since she had her stroke. I’d never seen it happen, but I felt lucky to have been involved in some big smiles, and it’s a great way to remember her before I leave the country.

Tonight is poker night, and I’m joining the big game. I hope I don’t lose my shirt 🙂

So I’ve heard that I will in fact be taking over the apartment from Andrew, my predecessor in Japan. I’ve only heard from him, not through “official channels”, but he says that it’s official on their end. He sent me some pictures of the apartment earlier, and you can check them out here. Just click on the individual images to see a larger version.

It’s twice as big as the normal Japanese apartment. More than enough space for me. I had some great practice living in tight spaces when Haven and I lived in Scripps Ranch down in San Diego.

Yesterday the place cleared out, with the Birches heading south to visit their niece, and the Kirkendall’s heading back to Vegas. We went into Sonoma and did lots of touristy type stuff on Friday, and hit a couple of my favorite spots.

One of those spots was Murphy’s Irish pub. We sat around and had a beer. The pub was a big contrast from last time, when it was like a scene from Cocktail. Anyway, we also went to the Cheese Factory on the plaza, and Vella’s Cheese off the plaza. We did a quick walk by the mission, and then off to my mom’s winery – Gundlach Bundschu. After all of that we went back into town for pizza at Mary’s Pizza Shack. As an added bonus, they had Fat Tire beer available in 22 oz. bottles there.

Today I’m off to town to see if I can dig up luggage for my trip. The trick is buying the right luggage – as soon as I get to Japan I won’t really need it anymore for at least a year, so I don’t want to get the Samsonite stuff. I’m going to dig around Wal-Mart and Target instead. Japan is less than two weeks away. Time to get serious.

I was rooting around on the website for Takasago, the town where my high school is located. I translated the hiking page and got this. Online web translation has a long way to go. My favorite hike is the one at the bottom – “Handle forcing Fragrance of home”.

Just got off the phone with my Master Teacher in Japan, Mr. Hayashi, and also my predecessor who is there, Andrew. The conversation went pretty well, and it was exciting to talk to people so far away. It was amazing – there was no delay on the phone conversation. I used to talk to my friend Vishnu in India, and the delay was pretty distracting.

Anyway, they were taking lunch and decided to give me a call. It’s looking more and more like I’ll take over Andrew’s apartment in Futami, but it’s not for sure yet. That means a pretty big apartment, and hopefully the rent is reasonable.

Every time something like this happens, the excitement starts building. I probably won’t be able to sleep tonight 🙂

My dad mentioned that he was thinking about a poker blog to keep the rotation going for his poker group. I’m going to maybe fool around with that the next couple of days while the family is up north. They are staying at the Pt. Arena lighthouse, and doing some winetasting and fun stuff in the area. I’ve got some great beers to drink here, and I’m working on negotiations with my predecessor in Japan to buy some of his furniture.