My First Day at Work
At 7:45 this morning my supervisor, Chiaki-san, picked me up and drove me to work. Keep in mind that the town office is less than a five minute walk from where I am staying now. I'm not sure why I needed a ride, but apparently I did. During the two minute car ride, I managed to find out that Chiaki-san's favorite dish is Agli y Olio (sorry DeResta - I know I spelled it wrong!) That seemed a bit bizarre to me: Small-town Japanese lady likes an Italian dish that I didn't hear of until I started working at Abruzzo. Turns out she's been to Italy three times.
First thing this morning the entire staff, maybe 130 people, filed into the meeting room for two things: mayor's speech and Temira's speech. When I say filed, I mean filed. They lined up in that room like an American army: twelve or so lines of ten or so people, equally spaced, standing at attention. Mayor's speech was long and nobody laughed. The only thing I understood was that he was glad the town had been spared by Typhoons this year. Temira's speech was short, in English, and a bit nerve-wracking. I haven't been in front of that many people since I lip-synched the Star Spangled Banner at assembly in High School.
The rest of the day was filled with a variety of activities. A meeting with the mayor was followed by an elementary school visit, which was followed by lunch, which was followed by a lot of doing nothing. The day went quickly, except for the 40 minute elementary school visit, which felt like it lasted for hours and took enough energy for a Bikram class. Or two Bikram classes. I'm trying very hard not to panic over having to teach English to these kids. The current teacher, Mary, is amazing. She keeps those kids so busy that they don't have time to cause any trouble. Well, I suppose I'll get good at it after a while, and for now, I'll suck!
This evening I went to Koshogawa city to meet all the local Gaijin. Most are young, right out of college, but they're a fun, bright group of people. I rode to the 'party' with a local JET, Kevin, who happened to mention that he studies Aikido. My new best friend! So, we're going to Aikido class on Thursday. Yes!!!
It's eleven now. Maybe I'll sleep past 5am tomorrow. If not, I guess I'll go for a run and look for Otagawa-san walking his Burnese Mountain Dog. His abunai (dangerous) Burnese Mountain Dog... And no, I didn't believe him when he told me it was dangerous. Maybe if I greet him by name (Otagawa, not the dog), he'll let me pet the puppy...
