Alright, don't know how far I'll get tonight. I just got back from dinner with one of the teachers I work with, Mr. Yazaki from Yuda high. Went to school today and he asked if I would be able to come to the "chat room" again this afternoon. I said I could. So I showed up and the girls, he, and I went over some stuff during which he asked if he could take me out for sushi after we were done there. Not gonna turn down sushi. So we went and got some. Damn good. I know I haven't talked too much about the food over here, so maybe someday I will. But let me say this....I love Japanese food. I have no idea what's in most of the things I eat but man, do I love it. I am not starving over here, that's for sure (at least not when I go out). I thought I'd miss some of the things (Mexican, BBQ, etc) that you can get in California that you can't get here, but so far, I don't. There is just too much good stuff over here to try.
Anyway, to continue the first school day thing...
Thursday I headed to the Aviation Academy. For this school I must ride down to the Kencho, drop the bike off there (safer due to a guard), walk 2 minutes to Kofu train station, and hop the train two stops west, then usually I will walk about 15 minutes to the school, although this day Ms. Ito (head of English) came to pick me up at the station. All went well except for the part where I was supposed to get on the train (just a small detail). You see, my directions from Alaina were for catching the 9-something am train. But Ms. Ito had requested that I get to school earlier on the first day. So I thought I'd just catch an earlier train and otherwise follow her directions. Well, I went down to platform 3 like she said to do but almost instantly I had a bad feeling. Seemed to me I was on the wrong side of the tracks (so to speak). Good thing was that I was 15 minutes early and had time to figure things out. So I walked around the platform a bit looking at signs in Kanji and looking for the right time for my train. It wasn't there. Then I looked at some other signs and they seemed to be telling me that trains on this side of the tracks head east, not the direction I wanted to go. So I decided to ask someone for help. But if you know anything about the Japanese, you'll know that they almost never make eye contact. So I'm looking for a friendly face to ask about my situation and I am gettin nothing. Meanwhile a train pulls up on the other side of tracks. I looked at my watch, about 5 minutes till my train is supposed to leave. At first I thought that that train over there wasn't mine, but it sat there and sat there and sat there. 3 minutes till my train. "Maybe that is my train," I wondered. "Damn, do I run over there and risk missing the right train over here? Or do I stay put and risk that being my train?" Time is ticking fast and I decided to just walk up to someone and ask. I picked a young guy, maybe 20, and walked up to him (I figured maybe he'd remember something from his high school English class). "Sumimasen," I said and pointed to my paper with the name of the station I wanted to get to. I motioned towards the number 3 and said the station name as best I could. Now, if that wasn't the easiest thing to understand I don't what is. I look lost, I am a foreigner, and I am trying to pronounce the name of the train station I want to get to while pointed to the sign that indicates platform 3. I mean, if some foreigner came up to you at a train station or a bus stop and said "Ros Ahngeres," while looking lost, wouldn't you know what was being asked? But this guy just looks at me and gives me the international sign for "I don't know," two outstretched arms with palms raised and a shoulder shrug. I thanked him anyway and ran back up the stairs to the ticket checkers/takers. Up there I asked one of the ticket-guys in the exact same manner I had asked Mr. Huh and he was much more helpful. "Ichiban," he said, "Number One!" "Arigato, arigato," I said as I ran off and down the stairs to jump on that train that had already been there 5 minutes.
I made it on and about 15 seconds later the doors closed and we were off. And in the right direction, too. Close call that was.
So with that disaster averted, I made it to the station and got off to find Ms. Ito waiting for me in the parking lot. I told her what had happened and got almost no response. It was if she was indicating that I had indeed made the right train, so why talk about it. "Hmm," I thought, "no sympathy here."
We drove on in to the Academy and she showed me to my desk while mentioning that I'd be meeting the chancellor and the principal of the school. "Ok. Been meeting all the big wigs at each school this week. I can handle another two." So she shows me to my desk in a large teachers' room and then takes off for the emergency teachers' meeting she had been told of upon our arrival. What an emergency teachers' meeting might consist of, I have no idea. She told me to sit and that she'd be back in about 10 minutes.
30 minutes later she comes back apologizing to me for being gone so long and then we were off to meet some people. I met the chancellor first, nice guy but not overly so, then the principal, all smiles and handshakes, and then various people around the office. Then she takes me into another room and I meet the international division's people. This is where I am. And it turns out that my desk is actually in here. I just got confused earlier due to the emergency teachers' meeting. Nice people in the international division and they all speak pretty good English. So she tells me to sit, gives me a piece of paper and says that she will be back later. She also mentioned that due to the emergency teachers' meeting I would not be giving my short speech to the entire school. No time for the entire school to gather, I guess.
Looking at the paper she gave me I noticed that I was off the first two periods and in the third period slot was written "tea ceremony." "What the hell is this?" I thought, "Do I have to teach a class in tea ceremony? I know nothing about tea ceremony. Beer ceremony. Now there's something I know about. But tea ceremony? What could that mean?"
Well, I ended up finding out but I'll have to continue this tomorrow. I need a shower and I have to do a little research for Friday's classes before I go to bed. Goodnight.