到着

The title of this entry says 'touchaku' which means arrival. It's a bit misleading because I've been in Japan for over two weeks already, but I only just yesterday got my Internet access at home so I can finally make posts on my own computers!

Unfortunately I have to be brief with this one but I will try to hit all the major points. Tokyo Orientation went from 8/1 to 8/4, with that first night in Japan spent going to Kabukicho, since we were staying in Shinjuku. Sadly I have very, very few pictures of my time in Tokyo in general, maybe because I had a bit of a "been there, done that" attitude. At any rate, the orientation went well though it was a bit bittersweet because the other Hawaii folks are all very far away. A few budding friendships are going to be tough to maintain with the physical distance.

Fortunately the ALTs here in Yamagata seems pretty tight-knit. I arrived here on 8/4 and met my supervisor and the rest of the Kawanishi Board of Education staff. In the interim I've mostly been adjusting to life here and getting things squared away, as well as hanging out with the other ALTs in the area. We went to a fireworks festival last weekend and witnessed some Bon-related activities this past weekend. So far though I haven't really done much in my own town since everyone else lives in other towns/cities. Hopefully I'm not missing out on opportunities to weave myself into Kawanishi, but I also feel obligated to get to know the other foreigners in the region as well.

I can't prattle on much longer because I need to go for a run (more on that stuff later) and prepare for a 3-day trip to Sendai (definitely more on that later).