August 2

Well, here it is already! The DC Orientation was OK. There was a good bit of useful info, but also a lot of repeat stuff as well. But, getting a hold of the plane ticket ($1400!!!) really made it feel official. Excitement Excitement!
The family in front of the hotel we stayed at	Mom and Jackie goofing around

August 3 (USA) - August 4 (Japan)

LOOOOOOOONNNNGGGG flight - 14 hours, tired, hot, goin to bed..... Oh, by the way, that's a picture of the inside of the Dulles International Airport on the right.

August 5-6

Life in Tokyo is hot, fast paced, humid, bustling with people, hot, humid, did I say hot yet? Cause it's hot! I share a room with Travis and John, two other JETs from the DC area that will be living in Hokkaido. On Monday morning we opted out of the optional AJET workshops and went for a little walk around Shinjuku (the area of Tokyo where our hotel is). It was only 9:30 AM and it was already too humid. We saw a lot of cool things, including a Shinto shrine, a Buddhist temple, and random back alley stuff. It was a lot of fun.

When we were in Orientation, we spent a lot of time just walking around Tokyo. We also ran into a rather large park with a manmade waterfall and some random people praying or meditating or plotting the overthrow of the Japanese government, I couldn't decide which. At night, the neon lights are out in full force. While Shinjuku is a predominately safer area in comparison to others in Tokyo, there still were plenty of strange seedy places that one could stumble into. It was easy to get lost in Tokyo, one neon filled street runs into another until before you know it you are in the outskirts of downtown surrounded by construction workers in flashing uniforms so that they don't get hit by oncoming traffic.

The next night, the Hokkaido JETs all went out together to a Nomihodae (all you can drink restaurant). It was a lot of fun. It was a great way to meet the people who will be a part of your social network for at least the next year. The makeup of Hokkaido JETs is about 38% from the US, 26% from Canada, 13% from the UK, 10% from New Zealand, 8% from Australia, then a few more from Russia, Jamaica, Brazil, Korea, Ireland, Singapore, Finland, China, South Africa, and Germany. So not only is this program a great way to meet and get to know the Japanese, but also a way to explore numerous other cultures from around the world. There are too many pictures from Tokyo to put them all up here, so be sure to check them all out at the pictures page.

August 8

Well, today was my first day at the Kamikawa Board of Education in Asahikawa City, Japan. Shimuzu-san, who works for the General Affairs section of the Board of Ed met us this morning to walk us to the train station. My apartment is at 8-jo 15-chome and the closest station is at 4-jo 14-chome, so it's fairly convenient.

Everyone at the office has been very nice to Julianna and I. We spent some of the day getting aquainted with the office, and some of the day traveling around, taking care of a few odds and ends. One of those chores was telling us about our inkan (also called hanko). In Japan, signatures are not the norm for proving who you are on official documents. In Japan, stamps (inkan) are used. For example, you need your inkan to open a bank account, to "sign" for a package, etc, etc. Its actually a pretty cool thing, except that mine is mispelled - it says "Dakurasu" (Ducklas) instead of "Dagurasu" (Douglas). Oh well, as long as it works, I can be Duckless. ;-)

August 10

With my bare hands...

...and these simple tools...

..I was able to turn this broken down chest of drawers left by my predecessor...

...into this magnificent specimen of modern carpentry! :D

August 13

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!
Today I turned 22. Woohoo! Um, I guess :D Actually, today turned out to be a very busy day. After work, Julianna and I checked out ComicLand, a manga/bookstore that had an Internet Cafe inside. It was very reasonabley priced, so we stayed for an hour and then trekked to the train station to return home.
I actually wasn't going to make a big deal out of my birthday, but Julianna found out and decided that we should go out. After leaving the office that day, we walked around Asahikawa for a while and ran into a Bon Odori. The Bon Odori is a dance performed in Japan during the Obon Period. Obon is a period of remembrance for the dead which has its roots in Buddhism. During the festival, there is a special dance that is performed to a specific Japanese song and the sounds of Teiko drumming. The drumming was excellent. In these pictures (sorry about the blurriness) you can see the high school students who were doing the drumming and the adorable children dancing around them.
After watching the Bon Odori for a while, Julianna spotted some flashing lights on top of a building and thought that it might be a bar. It turns out it actually was called "Star Dust Sky Bar." We went up there and had a drink or two just to celebrate my birthday. The bartender then pulled out a Karaoke catalog and invited us to sing. Julianna sung a few songs and then managed to coax me to sing one. There a re a few pictures of this following. Also, the sky bar actually rotated on around as the bartender decided to show us after the singing.

August 14

The office today was fairly uneventful, but Toyo-sensei (my advisor), Shimizu-san (the man in charge of our stay in Asahikawa), and Hayashi-san (another General Affairs worker) invited us out to an izakaya (traditional Japanese pub and restaurant). It was great fun, and we also ran into a group of young Japanese who were studying English and were eager to talk with us, and get their pictures taken.

August 19 - August 27 (Monday to the next Tuesday)
Sapporo Orientation

Well, for eight crazy days the Japanese government put all of the first year Hokkaido JETs up in the Keio Plaza (Sapporo) Hotel for two days of training and then six days of language instruction. I had a blast. It was great to see all the JETs again, but this time it was in a little more relaxed atmosphere, since there were fewer of us, Sapporo is smaller than Tokyo, and we we eight days to hang out instead of three.
Training was a little boring, but it was ok because we were finished both days with plenty of afternoon and evening left to walk around and explore Sapporo. Sapporo is a beautiful city which posses the charm of a small town, but the hustle and bustle (and the convenince) of Tokyo. With over one million people living in Sapporo, there is planty to do and see. A few blocks south of the main train station, there is Odori Park, which is a long series of fountains, statues, benches, food vendors, flower displays, breakdancing teenagers, and a TV Tower. In the daylight it was beautiful, but at night it comes alive with the younger crowd and the view from the TV Tower is excellent. Every February, Sapporo has its Yuki Matsuri, which is its major snow festival. I will definitely make the effort to come out and visit it this winter.
Language training was a lot of fun. During the orientation, they had us take a Japanese Language test which was used to place us in our respective classes. I ended up being in the D1 class, which was for people with some conversation skills and basic Japanese vocabulary and some writing skills, but still need some work. It was the perfect level for me. Nothing taught in it was new information for me, but a lot of it were things that I had forgotten since college because I never used it. Our days consisted of conversation and grammar practice, as well as language games, making postcards and then practicing our Japanese at the post office, and a field trip to Sapporo Factory, a shopping mall, to practice our skills some more.
The new 2002 Hokkaido JETs (scary, isn't it?) Click for the super huge version
Be sure to check out the Sapporo Pictures page for the complete listing of pictures from this conference.

August 29

Well, today was my first day teaching in Japan. I went to Higashikawa High School, about a 35 minute bus ride from downtown Asahikawa.

August 31

The Asahikawa International Committee Friendship Party took place today. It was a chance for the citizens of Asahikawa to welcome all those who are new to Asahikawa, including its foreign residents. I had a great time. I met several new people, had great fresh Hokkaido food, played lots of silly games, and made myself at home. Afterwards, Julianna and I paid a visit to Ikuyo Uemura, a Junior High School English teacher, at her apartment next door to the party.