My new home in Kagoshima, Japan

Well, well, well, what a difference a week can make. I am now in my new home town, Kagoshima, Japan.

After my update on the 2nd, I went down to Miami for a pre-departure orientation and reception. We spent the afternoon asking questions and getting information about Japan. The reception took place at the home of the Consul General of the Japanese Consulate in Miami. He had a nice home and about 100 guests for our going away party. I met his daughter, Reiko. She will be coming to Kagoshima to visit her boyfriend soon.

On the morning of Saturday the 3rd, I went down to Miami and flew to Minnesota. Even though I did not leave the airport in Minneapolis, I am counting this as the 48th state I have visited. After lunch, we boarded the plane Japan. Because we left in the morning and were flying northwest, the entire flight took place during daylight. We flew over western Canada and Alaska. I was able to see 50 mile long glaciers and mountains. I recognized many of the places from my tour leading days up there. We passed just south of Anchorage and had a great view of Mt. Denali/McKinley. It would have been nice to stop there for some hiking, but that was not the plan.

Around 5:00 pm, local time, on Sunday the 4th, we landed in Narita Airport near Tokyo, Japan. I am here as a member of the JET Programme (Japan Exchange and Teaching Program). The JET programme is very well organized. We were met by a bunch of people and taken to our five star hotel in downtown Tokyo.

Nothing was planned for that evening and I went to bed early. The next morning I woke up early and explored the city a little bit. The park next to the hotel had a large homeless population. The park's inhabitants had very neat and organized tarp covered shacks. They were up early sweeping the dirt and cooking breakfast. The one's without a shack slept on the pavement on a piece of cardboard. They left their shoes next to them, just like they would at a real home. I have seen many shanty towns in my travels, and this one was the cleanest and most orderly one I have ever seen.

That Monday, the 5th, was taken up with lots of speeches from important government ministers and such. I was in the second orientation. Our group had 1300 people. In all of Japan, there are well over 6000 JETs.

On the 6th, I went to some lectures on teaching in the Junior High Schools. After lunch, I went to a few lectures on adjusting to life in Japan. The US embassy had a raffle and I was one of the 96 lucky winners. I was invited to the Deputy Charge d'mission (DCM) house for a small party. He has a nice home and good food. Some former JETs and current foreign service employees were there to talk to and two of them had lived in Kagoshima. It was nice to talk to them. The DCM seemed very excited for all of us and wished us luck, before making a small recruitment speech for the US foreign service.

On Wednesday, the 7th, I flew to Kagoshima in far southern Japan. With Chris and Dana, my two fellow group B Kagoshima city Jets, I visited the office at the Board of Education. I met some bosses and co-workers and then went to my new home in the Satsuki Mansion.

Mansion is the Japanese word for apartment building. I have a great place. It is at least four times bigger than the van I have lived out of for much of the previous seven years. I measured the floor space. I have nearly 200 square feet all to myself. You walk in the front door into a three foot by three foot entrance way. There you take off your shoes and store them in a small closet before stepping up into the apartment proper. Now, on the right is a closet with the washing machine. Straight ahead a few steps is the kitchen/hallway. On the left side of the hall is my two burner gas stove, sink, cupboards and a really, really tiny refrigerator. On the right is my 16 square foot bathroom. The tub is well under four feet long. The shoulder end is almost two feet wide, but the feet end is only about a foot wide.

After passing through the six foot long hallway, you enter the ten foot by ten foot living space. The walls were recently painted white, so it looks very clean and shiny. I have tatami (reed mats) on the floor. In the room I have a small table and a comfortable chair. That is it. Nothing else. So, when I put the table in the corner and the chair near the rear sliding glass door, the place looks pretty empty. It is great. There are lots of closets, so all of my stuff is put away out of sight. At night, I take my futon out of the closet and set it down on the ground to sleep on.
I have a 36 square foot balcony in the back. I am on the fifth floor, so I have a decent view of lots of buildings. If I stand in the right place, I can catch a glimpse of the bay. I am hoping to get a few plants to decorate the balcony with.

Across the bay is Sakurajima volcano. There is a building blocking my view, but I can still see the sides and top of the volcano. It is usually covered in clouds, but quite often smoke comes out of it. I have only seen the clouds so far, but I will keep looking.

I think that is about it for my place. It is certainly large enough for me, but it is in a city center. It is a five minute walk to the bay and also a five minute walk to a small park with a hill to climb and lots of stray cats.

So, after being shown my home last Wednesday, I was done with work for the day. On Thursday I went to work and applied for my Alien Registration Card. I also received my Inkan. The Inkan is a stamp with my personal Japanese symbol on it. Here, they do not sign documents, they stamp them. So, without a stamp, I would be unable to sign contracts. On Friday I went to the bank and opened up an account. In the afternoons I went back the office and tried to look busy. My desk is in a block of eight, butting up against my neighbors and facing others on the other side of the desk. It is very strange for me to wear nice clothes and go to the office each day. When I get there, I follow the local custom and shout out "good morning" when I get to the door. This is accompanied by a bow. In the afternoon, when I go home, I bow again and shout out "Excuse me for leaving before you".

On Saturday we had a small city orientation. Yesterday I took the 15 minute ferry over to the Sakurajima Volcano. I walked around for about nine hours and found some nice spots. School does not actually start for a few more weeks, so I will be spending my days at the office on the computer or studying Japanese.

I do not have to be at the office until 8:30 in the morning, so I have a few hours each day to explore the city before the sun gets too hot. I wake up at 5:30 and either run or walk around town and see a new bit each day. After work I have time for looking around some more. I hope to find a soccer team and some other afternoon activities soon.

So, all in all, I am keeping busy, enjoying the local food and attempting to make the adjustment to living in a city. I am now very motivated to learn Japanese, so that I can use the buses and trains to explore more of the countryside.

I live downtown, near the big shopping area. There are lots of restaurants to try, so I am happy about that. The cool kids hang out in the shopping area and they all have dyed hair. It is a reddish blond and is very noticeable in this land of black hair. The really cool guys get the hair teased so that they look a bit like Einstein in his famous pictures.