training, day 1

So I woke up and went to the station to head to Nagoya for training. I again asked for help, because my station is so small, both directions come on the same side. So, I got directions again, and they were much better this time. An obachan and young man helped me, and the young man actually was going my way, so we talked on the train for a bit. He is going to take the test to get into school to become an English teacher. He didn't want to talk to me in English though. He looked like he was 14, but he was probably 18 or 19.

As we were chatting on the train platform, the train going the other way came, and as it pulled away, I saw a skinhead foreigner waving at me. It took me a moment to react, but I waved back, and it occured to me as the train rode away that that was Glenn and he was going the wrong direction! There was nothing I could do, but I did mention it to a couple of people when I got to the youth hall.

I made it through the 2 changes on the subway, and got to the youth hall where we were having training in about an hour from when I left my station. I arrived about 30 minutes early, and got an opportunity to talk with a couple of the other early people. Unfortunately, I realized that I had left my passport at home. grrr. I have to give them copies of my passport and visa, so I'll fax that when I get home. I have a fax at home. I need to find out how billing for that works.

We started training, and everyone was introduced, both from the company and the trainees. There are 26 of us new people, but I am one of about 4 who haven't taught in Japan before. I think Glenn is one of the only ones who hasn't lived in Japan before. He eventually made it to the training about a half hour late.

Training was good. We went over some of the basic info about the contract and stuff. It does seem as though I will have the next two weeks free of job obligations. Lucky! After two hours, we went for lunch. I ended up with the group of supervisors, and we went to a Japanese curry house. I sat next to Utano-san, our president, and Craig, a new supervisor. It was good, and these will be important people to have established a relationship with.

We got back from lunch and started learning about the forms we have to fill out. As we were going through the information, our presenters (Area supervisors) would have us do games, and suggest how these could work in the classroom. Thus I found myself walking around a table with my hands on my head, looking at slips of paper with names of forms on them, waiting for the description so I could grab the slip first. It's called Caritas. We can get subsidies for professional development, and get our supplies paid for, and we get $200/year for the various parties our school throws. I am glad for these things. I feel like I picked a good company.

Then we started talking about the expectations and attitudes of ALTs (us), vs. JTEs (Japanese Teachers of English). We did this by playing another game. It was amusing, because the other teams were horsing around, putting up extra points for themselves, stealing the magnets, and just generally being goofy. We also talked about the differences between Junior high and Elementary schools.

Finally we ended with talk about insurance and apartment arrangements. I found out that although all the stuff in the apartment is for me to use, ALTIA owns it. So I can't sell the stuff, but I was told that i can go ahead and buy some things and ask for reimbursement. I actually found someone who has a rice cooker he doesn't want, and I'm going to trade him the TV for it. I've been asked to make an inventory of the stuff that is in my apartment. I'm highly tempted to not be so honest, but I know I won't do that. Oh well. It's annoying to have these moral things sometimes.

After training, we went and got checked in to our hotel, and then descended en masse on a sports bar nearby called Shooters. It's owned by Chris, the Interlink guy, and is for foreigners. They serve mexican and american food, and the quesadilla I tasted was surprisingly decent, although I had a hard time convincing the Aussie next to me that the "ll" is a "yuh" sound. (I was sorely disappointed last time I tried Mexican food in Japan) We took over the corner by the pool table, and I hung out until I could no longer stand the smoke, then left.

My apartment

I have my apartment and my car. Still no internet connection, and I`ve been told that it will probably take two weeks for that to get done. GRRR I forgot how bad the bureaucracy is here. I:m using the internet cafe, but I:m going to bring my own computer-- the keys are set up slightly differently, and I`m tired of correcting each time I have an apostrophe. I also have my updates that I`ve been writing.

Training starts tomorrow. I am supposed to be near Fushimi station at 10am. I went to the local station to get an idea how long it would take and all, and couldn`t figure it out. They didn`t write down the characters for Fushimi, and I`m out in the country where they don`t romanize everything. The best part was when someone finally came along that I could ask, they couldn`t figure it out. I had four Japanese ladies helping me at one point, and they didn`t know how I should get there. I`m sure I can manage, I at least know the characters now. I`m just wondering how in the world they expect Glenn to get there on his own. Well, I`m sure he`ll manage somehow.

I also went out and bought some of the things that I didn`t have in the apartment. I got a pan, can opener, and some other kitchen and cleaning stuff. My local supermarket, Seiyu, has 100 yen day on Tuesdays, so that`s a good thing to know. The only thing I didn`t get today that I really wanted was a small stool to use in the Ofuro (shower/bath). Oh well, I`ll just manage. I asked at Seiyu, and they said I would need to go into a bigger store in another sectoin of the city.

So my address is Komaki city, but it`s more like Poway in relation to San Diego, if San Diego was the size of Poway and Poway was way smaller. It`s a very spread out city, and I think it`s like one of those incorporated places combining several small towns. I really don`t want to drive, but they`ve provided a car, and it looks as though it may be necessary to use it.

I had lunch at a Okonomiyaki shop. The tables have grills in the middle, and this place had several different styles of things you cook on the grill. I chose Manjuyaki, because it doesn`t have as many steps. I cooked the meat, then added the veggies-- cabbage and green onion. Then there was this flavoring stuff I poured in the middle of the crater I made with it all and mixed it up. On top I put these crispy bits. I let it cook a bit, and then ate. It was yummy.