We Have Arrived

After a long flight from Chicago via Kansas City, we arrived in Tokyo three days ago. Since then, its been a whirlwind. We attended conferences, speeches and welcoming ceremonies, and skipped conferences, speeches and ceremonies to catch up on some much-needed sleep. We've met many of the people who will also be working in our prefecture (like a state in the States), a list that includes people from Australia, Ireland, South Africa and Canada. Many of them are very young, though not all, and seem to be operating on a kind of euphoric high that you feel having recently graduated from college, started a new job and being in a new country. To a point, its been good to be around. But I think we're both ready to leave the party-atmosphere of Tokyo and head to what will be our new home, Akita City. There are actually many people in our area who are our age. And we've already have multiple babysitting offers. Now all we need to do is get that baby over here.

A large group of us went out for eating and (some) drinking the first night for a get-to-know you event. Highlights for me included being able to successfully ask for the restroom in Japanese, and being told by an extremely inebriated young JET, "That facial hair on you is really sexy." I'm not sure that was a highlight for Tricia, who was sitting right next to me.

The next day we got up a four a.m. and managed to negotiate the subway system through Tokyo (with much assistance from a couple of new Japanese-savvy friends) to the the wholesale fish market, the largest of its kind on the world, which was definitely a highlight for all us.

There is more, but that is all for now. In a few hours, we are off to Akita City, where we'll be living and working. Some photos are posted below. Talk to everyone soon.





Early on in the flight ...



... 12 hours in.




Jason checking himself out in a Japanese robe.

The welcoming ceremony at the JET orientation in Tokyo.






On the way to fish market via the subway around 5 AM.