A Broad {Teaches} Abroad: Let's Start at the Very Beginning, Part 1 (of many)

Where to start? I wish I had been able to find the time (or wherewithal) to start this blog a month ago. So much has happened. The good, the bad, and the UGLY.

Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.

Wait. Different country, different story.

Arriving in Japan
Entry in to this country is pretty effortless. They are super efficient and make it easy to find your way through a sea of foreigners.

Jet lag is a beast no matter how far you fly. This time change is 13 hours from VA so you get your days and nights mixed up. Luckily the first night I was sooooo tired I slept like a baby. Each day/night got a little easier.

The school put all of the new teachers up in a hotel near a main train station.

It was convenient, small, clean, cramped, etc. I had 3 large suitcases piled on one side of the room and took up one of the single beds with all my CRAP. From this command central we attacked an overwhelming conglomerate/menagerie of shopping, searching, exploring, eating, and everything else that it takes to set up a life in a new city.

The following 2 weeks included finding an apt (more on that in a later post), learning how to navigate a Japanese grocery store (which is often in the basement of a department store), eating new and exciting foods (udon, soba, sushi, shabu-shabu, yakitori), shopping for furniture to fill an entire apt (IKEA and I are not friends right now), learning some basic Japanese (don't ask me to repeat any of it...my database consists of about 6 phrases...thank goodness for Google translate!), visiting a Japanese Costco, making new friends (feels like an instantaneous family), seeing my classroom, learning the train system (thank goodness for helpful apps), and observing this new culture and taking it all in.

Stay tuned for the next installment...In the meantime here are a few pics to tide you over.