ALT: Assistant Language Teacher
JET: another name for ALTs
Yesterday was quite eventful. We left the lively city of Tokyo. All of the anxious, excited and nervous JETs headed out to their assignments, with their prefecture group. Some traveled by airplane, others on bus, and some by train. The Hyogo Prefecture JETs and I rode on a bus to the Tokyo train station, took the bullet train, or the shinkansen, to the Shin-Osaka train station, and took another bus to the Prefectural Board of Education, where we were finally picked up our supervisors or teachers.
I was picked up by two English teachers from my base school, Itami Nishi Senior High School. We talked on the car ride to the school, and they asked me about my family and me. I was glad that they were so easy to talk to, and of course, polite. Japanese people are very polite and nice. When we arrived at the school, I met some of the other teachers and saw my desk/working area. We then picked up my luggage, and we left to go see my apartment.
The apartment. We drove away from Itami City and into Amagasaki City. My apartment is only about a fifteen minute ride from school. At one of the main intersections, the teacher turned into a smaller street. I was nervous to see what my apartment would look like. We started slowing down as we approached some pretty apartment buildings, and I kept thinking to myself, “please, let those be it...” To my dismay, we drove right past them. Instead, we arrived in front of this older, gray colored set of apartment buildings. Although I was not impressed, I did not allow myself to react negatively. I remember that I wasn't very impressed with my apartment building in Lyon (technically Villeurbanne), but fell in love with the spacious apartment. With that in mind, I entered the apartment building and we lugged my heavy bags up to the second floor, and I held my breath as I opened the door with my just-handed-to-me set of keys. The door was heavier than I expected, and when I finally got to look inside, I must admit, my heart sank. It wasn't the extremely small size that made my heart plummet, it wasn't the ancient appliances that disappointed me, and it wasn't even the lack of furniture that made me want to cry. Simply, the apartment looked so lonely and so empty, and that made me want to sit in a corner and cry.
Yet, I didn't cry, and that was because there were two teachers ready to show me how everything in the apartment worked. They showed me how to turn on the gas for the shower and the kitchen sink, and they showed me how to work my washing machine. I just noticed today that I have no oven, and that I forgot to ask them how the single stovetop works... Anyways, after leaving my giant suitcases in the apartment (which made it look smaller haha), they took me to the grocery store. One of the teachers was proudly showing me the wide selection of fish, and which ones Japanese people think are the tastiest. I had told him that I was a vegetarian, but I think he forgot. However, I took note for those of you that plan on visiting me. :) I told them that I would do grocery shopping later, but that I wanted to get some items for breakfast. He looked very puzzled when I chose milk, yogurt, bananas, a grapefruit, and cereal. I caught him looking at the basket, and I repeated that I was choosing foods for breakfast. He then said, “Ahh, it's because you are a vegetarian!” I wanted to giggle. Yes, I eat cereal, fruit and yogurt for breakfast, because I am a vegetarian... He seemed enlightened and led me to the bread section to show me pastries that I could eat for breakfast. I asked him for his favorite, and he recommended an apple pastry. I just ate it as a snack, but if he asks, I will tell him that it tasted delicious in the morning with my milk, fruit and cereal =D
After the supermarket and after we dropped off my groceries at the apartment, they took me to a Udon restaurant. They bought me a giant bowl of cold Udon, with vegetable and soft boiled egg tempura on the side. DELICIOUS! One of the teachers explained to me that whereas it is impolite to slurp in America, the Japanese slurp while eating soup. They set the example, and when I tried to imitate them, the closest I could get to slurping was a whistling sound, and I still managed to “slurp” soup broth all over my shirt. Note to self: must ignore most important rule of eating soup in the United States, and master slurping. I could really get used to this...
The teachers were so kind to me, that it made it even more difficult to hold back my tears. I felt so grateful to them. They had just met me, and yet, they were going out of their way to help me and make me feel welcomed. I wanted to cry as I got out of the car, but instead I thanked them and smiled. However, once the car was out of sight, the tears came out at full force. I climbed the steps, and in front of my door, one of my American neighbors, whom I had gotten in contact with before coming to Japan, had dropped off some silverware, some shower towels, and a heater. When I read the little note she had left on top of the pile, I started crying even harder. I don't know what it is about kindness, but it has its way of making me so emotional. I started unpacking my things, but I didn't know where to start. I had no closet to put my clothes in, and no desk to start organizing my papers.
Then, I was really “a mess”. At orientation, a former JET gave a speech about his experience in Japan. He spoke about the emotional roller coaster that most ALTs go through, and the common experiences. He shared a story about moving into his new apartment. He had had a similar story like mine, where the teachers picked him up, took him grocery shopping, and then left him at his apartment to get settled in. As he unpacked, he was listening to a CD that one his friends from home had made him. It was mostly techno music. However, the final track on the CD was, “You've Got a Friend in Me,” from the movie Toy Story. It was such a silly song, one that he and his friends joked about and almost made fun of, yet, when it came on, he started crying for the whole three to four minutes of the song. For this tough, and tall American, that was a large display of unexpected emotions. So, when I finally got myself to stop crying, nevermind the fact that my episode lasted twenty minutes, I thought that I was finished crying. Wrong.
I wasn't being very successful in unpacking, so I decided to go introduce myself to the other ALT in my apartment complex. She had renewed her contract and had started her second year. I rang the doorbell and when she answered the door, I introduced myself and asked if I could come in. She let me in and as I started to ask her about herself, I started sobbing again. I tried to stop myself, but it didn't work. Poor girl, I wouldn't have known what to do if I had been her. This is somewhat how the beginning of our “conversation” went:
Me: Hi! I'm Kelly, I sent you an email.
Her: Hi! Yeah, I was wondering when you would come by.
Me: smiling May I come in?
Her: sure!
Me: So, where do you come from? I suddenly started to cry
Her: Ohh... ummm... well, my family lives in New Jersey...
Me: still crying Nice! Is that where you lived before you came here? Pitiful attempt at trying to stop myself from crying. Crying continues. Sorry, I don't mean to cry, I just moved in, and it's a bit hard to arrive to an empty apartment. I sort of stop crying. So yeah...
Her: Looks really concerned, I can tell she's trying to decide if comforting me will only make it worse. Oh, well I was born in Southern California...
Me: Oooooh, where? Crying starts again...
Our conversation went on like that for about five minutes, until I finally stopped crying. I deserve an award for “The Most Dramatic Performance”. Only, I wish I had been acting, and that it hadn't happened in front my new friend. What a way to make a first impression... Either way, it was nice to have company, and I honestly felt better after talking to her, errr and crying. I stayed over for about an hour, used her internet, and excused myself for the umpteenth time for crying. She helped me carry a bag of cooking utensils that my predecessor had left with her, including a rice cooker that is so efficient, that apparently it can almost launch itself into space. I look forward to using said rice cooker.
On second thought, and after seeing how she had decorated hers, my apartment didn't seem so bad. In fact, I look forward to decorating it and making it “so me.” Since it is so bare and small, the possibilities are endless...
My apartment was cool when I entered, since I had turned on the air conditioning earlier, but I felt the need to shower, since I was sticky from the humidity and the day's travel. My new friend had told me that bugs were not a problem, but I still closed the windows. Yet, as I drifted off to sleep, I still kind of felt itchy... scratchy, scratchy.
