Tokyo Orientation lasted 3 days, and on the last day I was hit hard with jetlag. It really sucked, because I was supposed to go out and do something for one last “hoo-rah” in Tokyo.
In order to get to Taiki-cho (located about 40 minutes to 1 hour south of Obihiro, Hokkaido) from Chitose Airport (about 1 hour south of Sapporo), I had to get in a car with my supervisor and drive for 4 hours along the coastline. If I wasn’t so zoned out due to jetlag, I would have taken some pictures because it is GORGEOUS here. The Tokachi Plains remind me of Pennsylvania quite a bit, what with farms and cows and such, but drive an hour south and it’s nothing but fishing villages.
The first thing I had to do when I arrived was greet everyone at the office. I only remember two people’s names…this is a problem. And then I had to go out to the welcome dinner, which was yakiniku. I forgot how much Japanese people can eat, because they ordered SO MUCH food, it was ridiculous. I tapped out after about an hour. Immediately after that, I was driven to the nearest 7-11 and bought breakfast, then was taken to my apartment for the first time.
It’s big. It might be too big. And I so need to buy new towels and air out the blankets because they smell musty. And buy new detergent, because the stuff Aaron (my predecessor) left irritates my nose…I might just buy some Clorox from FBC and go from there…
Today I see the government officials (including the mayor) and my teaching coworkers. At some point I will hand out the omiyage, though they really don’t seem to care about it…Will update tonight with pictures and, hopefully, a better idea as to what is going on!
