Ok, Ok, I apologize to those who’ve been whining that I haven’t written. There’s just so much, I don’t know where to start. I guess I’ll start with the pictures. This is my apartment…like I said, about as small as a dorm room, but very cute, and the floor-to ceiling windows in my bedroom are amazing, not to mention I have a great view of a mountain through them. The picture of the building is at Segewa Jr. High School. Yes, I finally started working. This is what you see from the baseball field, and the building is the school itself. It’s very small, only about 75 students for 7th, 8th, and 9th grade, but I’m glad for this, because hopefully I’ll get to know all of the students. I will be at a different school on Wednesdays and Thursdays, Funehiki Junior High, which is absolutely huge, so it will be nice to have some variety. So, maybe I’ll just go in chronological order from this point. Last Monday we did our rounds through the town and met the “most important” people for us to know. First we met the mayor (logical). He told us to come and visit if we got homesick…the exact place I’m sure I’d run if I missed my mom = )…just one example of saying something that’s not exactly true to be polite. Next, we met the policemen of the city (all 5 of them)...not quite AS logical, but I guess still important, then we went to the train station to meet the manager (getting weirder) and then finally to the post office to officially (bows and all) be introduced to everyone there (yes, we're officially out of Kansas, Toto). It was really nice to feel cared for by Mr. Maki, our boss, though. He's the cutest (and very well-respected) old man I've ever seen. He's about as tall as me and his whole face smiles. I'm glad to be working for such a cheery person. Tuesday we continued our introductions, this time to our new school principles and the board of education (insert scary music here). We all donned our best suits and were driven by bus to this huge fancy building. We bowed, and bowed, and bowed, and when we heard our names called out amidst a slew of Japanese words we didn’t understand, we bowed again. The scene, without understanding the politeness and emphasis on respect in the Japanese culture, would have been quite comical. We met the chairman of the board of education in a separate room—which turned out to be a kids’ play room, tumble toys on the floor and everything. Since it had carpet, we had to take off our shoes, which was interesting because I had a huge hole and run in my stockings. So, we all lined up and said our “Yoroshiku onegaishimasu”s (I humbly place myself in your care) in unison—over, and over, and over again. Occasionally we got a chuckle as they were introducing Nate as the “co-di-na-to”, probably because he’s “co-di-na-ting” 10 girls. Maybe it’s good we didn’t understand everything… Anyway, after our tiny tot room intros were done, we headed to a huge room that looked like it was used for some sort of performances or something—the floors and walls were all wood, and there were contraptions on the ceiling that looked like they were used for accousitcs. We met all of the principles and the teachers we’d be working with, after, of course, the 1 ½ hour introductions in Japanese. (Again, we obediently bowed whenever we heard the Japlish versions of our names called out). The best part of the afternoon, however, came toward the end of this hyper-formal meeting when—in the middle of the bowing and the “Yoroshiku onegaishimasu”s, everything went completely black. (Too many Americans in one room, the system couldn’t handle it?) It was, of course, fixed in a hurried and efficient way, but it was nice to have something to lighten the mood. Ok, must sum up at this point. Wednesday I started at Segewa Jr. High. I’m working with one teacher there (the only person in the building who speaks fluent English) named Tamaki sensei. She’s a really sweet lady who just turned 30. She’s already asked me to go to dinner with her sometime, so I’m excited. My first days at Segewa are, honestly a blur…so many new things, but to be remembered are: the best question I was asked and the dumbest mistake I made. Best question: Can you drink Japanese water? Dumbest mistake: After work you’re supposed to say gokoro sama deshita (thank you for your hard work), well, I mixed it up with, and decided to tell Tamaki sensei “Gochiso sama deshita” (Thank you for the feast you just served me). She was a little confused…. And then there was Tokyo. This weekend we went to Tokyo to see sumo wrestling and “experience the city.” I was surprised how seriously they take this sport, but they definitely do. It was interesting to see how much of the culture could be observed just from sitting in the arena. Sunday we went to church (much different, very small) in Tokyo in a dual-language service, then went to Ueno Eki (park) to the Tokyo Museum of art. It was really interesting, but exhausting. We got home just in time for the last train from Koriama to Funahiki…..whooo! This week I started school at Funehiki Jr. High. It’s huge. The kids are great, though, and Tammy and I (she works there every day), had many chances to make the kids laugh including saying my name….apparently “Holly” when pronounced with a Japanese accent sounds an awful lot like “Harry” which in turn leads to “Harry Potter! Harry Potter!” Well….I figured out a costume for when we teach Halloween. And then there was today. Today was a national holiday (what it was, I do not know), and we went to Aizu, a nearby city, to watch a samurai parade. It was amazing. We also went to a memorial place/ burial ground where several young boys committed mass suicide (an honorable thing in the culture…see The Last Samurai to understand better) when they thought the castle was on fire. Apparently it wasn’t, so it was a huge tragedy. Either way, young boys committing suicide in my eyes is a tragedy in itself. There is so much about the culture I will never understand. Well, my head is swimming from so much in one day. The thing about being in a new culture is that you never stop thinking. Even simple tasks like taking a shower are arduous (such as reading the Japanese to figure out which one’s shampoo and which one’s conditioner!) I have managed to learn Hiragana and Katakana, the two phonetic alphabets in Japanese (Hiragana is added to Kanji—modified Chinese characters—and Katakana is used for adaptations of foreign words, such as sha-nm-pu). This has proven extremely helpful. The Kanji will take longer. But, day by day, I have to remember to be patient. Being misunderstood and not understanding is ok. Life will always be a learning process, no matter which country you’re in. You’re just more aware of it away from home. Sorry this is so long….I’ll update more often, I promise!

We’re finally here! Yes, yesterday…or Friday morning all seven of us packed up our lives and headed to the airport. We flew out of Columbus to Detroit, and then from Detroit to Narita, which is about an hour from Tokyo (so I haven’t seen this huge city yet). The trip was relatively smooth, except for a few unexpected mishaps including Tammy, Patty and I almost missing the flight to Japan because I wanted something to eat. I didn’t know they’d be boarding THAT early! We were very blessed on the flight, though, because for some unexplainable reason, the flight wasn’t full, so we were able to spread out a lot (which on a 13 hour flight is quite appreciated). Despite the space, however, I actually slept more in the first two hours of driving from Narita to Funehiki than I did on the entire flight, so I was thankful to reach the place I’ll call home for the next two years. We did have a few other mishaps, too, including Patty not receiving one of her suitcases. In her words: “I separated my stuff into two suitcases, “things” and clothes. The “things” suitcase is the one that made it.” Unfortunately, she is the worst person for this to happen to, because she is close to six feet tall and not at all likely to find anything but pants that end at her knees here. The good news is that if a Japanese person accidentally took it, it won’t be hard to tell it’s the wrong bag. Hopefully it’ll be returned soon. Perhaps the most humorous mishap was actually in the Narita airport. Thankfully, unlike in the US, the wheel carts for luggage were free, so we each packed all of our bags onto our own carts and started wheeling toward the vans. Unfortunately “to the vans” meant going down one escalator and then up another. As we approached the first one, I sort of mumbled something about being concerned about pushing the cart onto something that would not stop for runaways. I guess nobody heard me, because we kept right on moving. Thankfully Kodo Sensei, one of the teachers at Wakakusa was there at my rescue as I turned out to be not so talented at the escalator thing. However, as we descended, I heard a loud crash, bang, tumble, tumble, crash and then “WATCH OUT TAMMY!” Apparently Cristy had a similar problem to mine as she stepped onto the moving stairs, but she did not have a gracious and more experienced teacher to come to her aid. So…yes, all of her stuff tumbled forward off of the cart, creating an avalanche effect and a traffic jam at the bottom as she scurried to reclaim her life’s possessions. So much for being descrete foreigners. We finally reached Funehiki around 11:15, about 26 hours after beginning our trek. I cannot describe the pain in my shoulders and neck by the time we got here, and the joy that I experienced after seeing my very own deep tub in my new apartment. The apartments are small, slightly larger than a college dorm, but very comfortable. It will take time to call it “home,” but I like them a lot….and all of the random things that I keep discovering of what previous teachers have left here, including a massage vibrator and a whole cupboard of American spices. I ended up turning in around 2:30 and slept like a baby except for being woken up by, drum roll please, my first earthquake. It was super tiny, and I guess those are very common here, so instead of being scared, I was really excited. I guess even natural disasters (when not actually to the “disaster” level) can be fun if you’ve never experienced them before. Well, thank you all for your prayers for our journey. It is wonderful to finally be here. I’ll post pictures of my apartment and some town sights a bit later. Until then, ja mata.

We have good news... Yes, the visas are finally in our passports, and the passports are finally back in our hands. After a slight scare involving the nature of my (and only my) certificate of eligibility, we were all able to travel to Detroit and acquire our three-year working visas. What a relief it was to finally have that done. We had a lovely day walking around the city, stuffing our faces with Greek food at our celebratory lunch, and playing a rousing game of Catch Phrase on the drive back in our loaned full-sized van we affectionately named "The Pink Panther." On a more somber note, last night I said a final goodbye to the house I've called home since I was three. My parents have bought land to build a house closer to my dad's work, and since I'm probably not coming home for Christmas as I had originally planned, last night I carried my digital camera from room to room attempting to capture all my childhood memories in my newly purchased piece of modern technology. Ironically enough, I was also reminded of childhood today while in Detroit. My Aunt and Uncle live in Windsor, and as kids, my brothers and I used to beam with excitement as we passed over the Ambassador Bridge to visit them. As we walked along the waterline this afternoon, I felt an odd sense of wanting to cling to those memories. Perhaps because so much is changing in my family. Perhaps because I'm about to leave all that I know. Perhaps because they're just good memories. Whatever the reason, I know that it will be important for me to be able to carry those moments with me as I step onto the plane Friday; as I enter a new, mysterious world and begin to question who I am and who I am to become. I will strive to never forget where I've come from so I may have a better idea of where I should be going.