First Impressions

What a strange new world I am living in. Life in Japan is definitely different than that in the U.S. Different, yet, fantastic. My first week in Japan was a whirlwind of flights, conferences, meetings, paperwork(stamping this and that), shopping, and greetings- a continuous stream of “Hajimemashite. Nicole desu. Doozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu.” (How are you? My name is Nicole. Pleased to meet you) with the accompanying bow and appropriate degree bend.

….and now that the dust has settled a bit…I am loving the life here. I love how, since coming to Japan, there is a renewed focus on hospitality and customer service. People here will go out of their way to help me. The language barrier isn’t an issue. I can’t speak very much Japanese and most of the Japanese people can not speak much English (or don’t let on that they do), but we get by just fine. If I need something and ask a question…I will get help. I’m not ignored. A lot of the time in the U.S. people will just walk on by me on the street while I am struggling and desperate for help or I will ask a question and they’ll brush me off, saying that they “don’t know” or that they are “not from the area.” This is not the case in Miyazaki, Japan. The people will help. If they don’t know, they will get somebody that knows. It is so nice. For instance, when I got my new iphone (a three and a half hour ordeal), I needed the internet and other features to be set to English. The employee, at fist, said that she thought that only the menu could be set to English, but she worked together with another and they checked some internet websites and figured it out. Like I said…..super customer service. In America, a simple answer of “I don’t know,” or “call the tech support line” would have sufficed.

Wow……follow through…imagine that.

My first night in Miyazaki was spent in the home of another English teacher named Numaguchi sensei. (I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t know her name at first. I met so many people in such a short amount of time, it was hard to keep straight. Plus, the Japanese names are so foreign to me right now. Strange names….strange land. I hope to learn the names for my students and coworkers, but this will take time) The English teachers at my school thought it was best if I didn’t stay at my apartment for the first night due to the fact there was a lack of even a scrap of furniture and no air conditioning (the humidity will melt you). I agreed and found myself staying in a strange place in a strange land. I met her son, Ten, who fell asleep at the dinner table later and I played Mario on the Wii with her daughter Tamaki (super cute). We ate a home cooked Japanese meal of okonomiyaki (a pan-fried cabbage pancake with all sorts of goodies inside) and young tuna sashimi. The food was oishii (delicious).

okonomiyaki

. I finally got to spend the night in my apartment the second night in Miyazaki. My apartment is actually public housing for government workers so many teachers and their families live in my complex. My apartment, although small by American standards, is set up for a typical Japanese family, so it has three bedrooms and a dining/kitchen area (3DK). I was told that my apartment building is on the highest hill in Miyazaki City (this is good for flooding purposes-as it is typhoon season). It takes about 20minutes by bus to get to the heart of downtown from where I am living. Also, it is about another 25 minute drive (45 minute bus ride) to get to the beach (yayyyyyy). Here are some pictures I took when I first arrived. The place is barren and I’ve been working to change that, so stand by for updates.