Chiba Orientation

This past Monday and Tuesday we had an orientation where all the new Chiba JETs got together to learn more about living in Chiba and learn more specific things related to our situations and placements. It was a cool chance to see all the new JETs together and meet new people and find out more about where others were placed. There really are a wide variety of people that were all brought to Japan to accomplish the same mission: Teach "Engrish" to the Japanese kids!

Anyway, it was a 2 day orientation which started on Monday. It was filled with current JETs giving presentations on Life as an ALT, basic Japanese Etiquette, and how to take care of a Japanese home. While some of these were repeat topics from the Tokyo Orientation, there was some slightly different information that was also tailored to Chiba Prefecture. That evening, there was a "Pizza in the Park" event where we all get together at the park that's in the park across the street from where the Orientation was held. It was fun because that was really the time that we could mingle and meet the other new JETs as well as current JETs from Chiba that had made it up for the event. That lasted for awhile and we all headed to a pub afterward. It was fun to hang out and we had to head back soon because the place we were staying actually locks the doors at 11pm! So much for being a late night...except that we all ended up staying up til at least 1am because there was a "conference/party room" where we all hung out in. The second day was filled with some of the same types of seminars, but there was also a current JET that came in to do a demonstration lesson with a current English teacher at a school. It was fun and a good experience to see what the classrooom environment will actually be like. I've been in Japan for a little over 3 weeks now, but have yet to stand in front of a classroom teaching English. It's nice to now have to worry about classes right now, but they'll be starting soon enough!

The Sunday before, I visited my grandmother who is currently in Kashiwa at a nursing home. She's been there the past 10-12 years, but has been holding steady on her overall health which is great. Considering she's 96 years old, she is still doing very "genki" and is in good shape! I was worried that since I went there all alone, she may not recognize me. She's been showing signs of alzheimer's since being at the nursing home and so I wasn't sure what to expect. But when I got there, she smiled instantly and seemed embarassed that a visitor was here for her!

She definitely recognized me and was happy to see me! We spent the time talking about Noah and all the letters that he writes to his "hii-obaachan" (great grandma in Japanese). She has a folder with all the letters collected in there and enjoys looking at those at her own leisure. We also looked through old albums which my family and I brought last year filled with pictures of us and our different lives. She enjoyed looking through those again and talking about all of us and visiting her in Japan. She was really happy to know that everyone comes to visit....and especially enjoyed the chocolates that I brought her! Haha, I didn't buy her too big of a bag because I know that she'll just go ahead and eat all of them within one day! I guess I get my sweet tooth from her...I definitely am a fan of chocolate and have a sweet tooth for most treats/desserts! As well, the staff at the nursing home, Motherth, are always so friendly and nice. The day that I visited, they were doing a special event in which they were making okonomiyaki and yaki soba. They insisted that I join in on the lunch with everyone and kept serving me plates upon plates of food...sounds great until you've had 3 plates! haha, but after a filling lunch I was definitely satisfied!

The night before this, I attended a festival that was actually held on the grounds of my middle school. There was a lot of people doing different acts and dances at the festival. There were also lots of food stands in which they were selling different foods such as takoyaki, kakigori, yakitori, rice, and other such traditional Japanese foods. The picture I included is myself with the school Vice Principal, Myself, the Superintendant, and the School Principal. Overall, it was really cool to see what types of events go on around the town. As I mentioned before, it's not the biggest city that I've ever lived in...in fact, it might be the smallest, most rural area that I've ever lived in! But, it's all a great experience thus far and the people are all extremely nice. Although I'm familiar with Japan, it's cool to see the side of Japan that I don't know about and to experience it firsthand!

The one thing that I still can't get used to is....THE HEAT! It's still so hot here...hot hot hot! and humid! But anyway, it's fun here and it will cool down here soon enough...I hope!