Ive been in the country for 2 weeks thus far, and well, I won't say it has been an all joyous two weeks, but I am not complaining either. Japan has always had a sort of nostalgic feeling for mi - kinda like the same feeling I get when I go home to Nigeria except in this case, the anticipation and excitement of seeing family is not present. Its more 'I lived here in a past life' feeling if you get my drift.
I digress.
So first week in Japan was intense training - where I learned that having a psychology background does help you develop a rather peculiar sense of humour, which saves you in times where you have to deal with BS activists (those who propagate BS) with a smile. Had the utmost displeasure of having to spend two of the 5 days at training listening to one of the most arrogant self loving humans I have ever met. Funny enough, I found him interestingly consistent. Have to applaud him. Regardless of when or why he was speaking, he always managed to get the topic of discussion to revolve around him and his rather awesome self (by his definition of course).
Anyway, aside from that, training was a huge wake up call. I realized for one thing I had no idea how to teach students English as a second language, and it was much much more different (is that grammatically right??) than past experience. I also came to discover that rather than my previous conviction, I would much rather teach elementary kids and bellow than anything above. Also that the thought of High School students scares the crap out of mi (something to do with past traumas I imagine).
Anyhu.
After the long week of training, I was moved to an apartment near Tokyo, which is where I currently reside as I await my final placement. I did get a near placement at a site which I was most pleased with, but it got canceled. Why they did not wait to tell mi about it after I it was settled rather than raise and dash my hopes, I would probably not want to understand, but either way, whats done is done. So I've been in this place for a week now. As a lot of people know, I get bored quite easily. So imagine mi in a house for a week with no set schedule....good thing is as alternates, we get placed with people near us, so I get people to talk to and all that. Thus far, the neighborhood here has re-solidified my view of Tokyo/Tokyo area people seeming (I wont say being least I get called out for generalization) cold. For some reason, the country has a different air than I remember - granted coming to school and work seem to have two different implications. But I'm sure this is just my thought cause I haven't settled in yet.
In brighter news, I discovered http://www.thekanert.com/ today. A friend sent the link to mi. Happens to be the blog of this guy from work (well one of our facilitators so I should probably have some 'sempai' attached to that but we all know I'm not one for formalities). I totally love his writing style and I can see myself turning into his cyber stalker if left unchecked. Added to that is the fact that he is kind of a hottie (kind of is not necessary though)....in a different life I would have fallen for him but I don't do adultery so....lol. Anyway, I'd be doing that to occupy myself, also attempting to study for my GRE as well as find a way to start studying psychotherapy to help with out with PhD. Did I mention that the boredom in this country can be charged for first degree murder??
In other brighter news, I finally cooked my first meal since I got here - with all the spice and everything nice. So since this is not my final location (BGG), I didn't want to buy kitchen utensils as yours truly has no space for anything extra in her luggage. But after a whole week of Japanese bento convenience store food - and having to choose between some form of ramen or white rice - and pressure from family and friends, I finally gave in and stocked up my kitchen. Cooked my first meal and it was awesomely delicious. Can't imagine how people eat spiceless food really.
On that note, I would end my first, and hopefully not only, blog about my trip to Japan....ciao.
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