In Which the Toilets Outsmart Me

I am here!

I just arrived in Sasebo after countless hours of flying and three days of orientation in Tokyo. My day on Saturday started around 8am at DIA. After flying to LAX, I boarded an 11 hour flight to Tokyo's international airport. After arriving, we took a bus to a hotel in the middle of downtown Tokyo. This hotel was enormous! I had two roommates who came from Denver with me. The room was very nice, there was a flatscreen TV and a very technological toilet! The seat could be heated, and whenever I sat down, it told me to "standby". I had no idea what to do! What could it possibly need me to standby for?

Anyways, I went to meeting after meeting during orientation, and was bombared with a ridiculous amount of info and pamphlets. I met a lot of people who were going to my prefecture, and after orientation one night we went out to sing karaoke. Karaoke in Japan is much different than in the States. You get a room for your group to yourselves. There is a phone you can use to call in drink orders. Singing along with your group of friends instead of in front of an entire bar is a lot more fun! Karaoke is widely popular in Japan, and I think I will go often! I also got a chance to explore a bit of Shinjuku (downtown Tokyo). It is an amazing place to visit, but I am glad I don't live there!

On the last day of orientation, I took a bus to the domestic airport, and flew to Nagasaki airport. The airport was actually made on a man-made island. It's really small, I left the gate, and walked into the next room which was baggage claim. Once I grabbed my bags, I walked into the next room, where my predecessor Rachel and my suppervisor Itose Sensei greeted me.

I have only been in Sasebo for a few hours, but it's becoming more familiar already. I will try to update more on Sasebo in a few days when I am able to get my bearings...