One month in already!

It won't come as a surprise to those that know me well that's its taken a little bit of time and a couple of delays for this first blog to get published. The largest obstacle to my first post has so far been the lack of mobile internet that my computer has been able to receive so far in Japan. A very, very frustrating situation and one that needs a fixin'....working on it! The second most difficult obstacle has definitely been the minor writing block that has befallen me in these first few weeks. I don't know whether its just that I've not written anything longer than an email in over 7 months or what but I've been finding it difficult to put my thoughts on "paper" so far. Because of this struggle, I will test a different format for this entry which will highlight some of the main and probably more exciting points.

Went to the airport, got on a plane, passed in and out of minor coma for the first 9 hour flight. Sat next to a business man from who-woulda-thunk-it Minnesota, we talked in between my battles with narcolepsy, he told me about life, love, and pursuit of making boatloads of money selling microchips to Asia. Sounds cool I thought, wonder where he got his suit......

Off the plane in Tokyo, the staring begins, looks of wonder and fear from the locals... mainly fear lol.
Through customs quickly, almost too quickly, guess I have a trusting face.

Flashforward to Nagoya airport, talked with some marines stationed at Futenma, interesting folks but not too thrilled to be going back to base. Tell them I'm an english teacher and in turn receive looks that say WHY?? I say why not.

After fairy ride to Tsu, picked up by my employers, Tsuyoshi and Naomi, married couple who own and run OBC. Great people, nice to talk to, too. Its raining but all I can think is its probably a nice relief from the summer heat....had no idea how right I would be. Get to OBC and then apartment that would be my home, catch up with Sarah and Peter, meet Angela for the first time. Spent the first night playing wii and drinking beers. Not a bad a start.

First week of teaching, lots of listening and observing, feels like dusk til dawn in fact. Anxious to get my hands dirty teaching....terrified of little kids ( It's okay I'm sure the feeling is mutual), adults are endlessly entertaining, and middle school kids seem not to care mostly not surprisingly. First week is done, learning the ropes I thought, but actually teaching is another story.

Weeks 2-3, Andrew and I are now teaching most of the classes while others observe. Sweating through my shirt not only from the nerves but the CONSTANT and I do mean CONSTANT heat. Humidity is constant and invasive in this country, changing my shirt many times per day. Actually carrying around a sweat rag to wipe the clean the giant canvass that is my forehead. Speaking of foreheads, mine hurts a lot , could be stress but more likely the # of times I've hit my head on the top of the door frame in classrooms made to exclude people over 5'11, lucky I have hard head I guess. Good news, learning new things on an hourly basis. Lesson planning...meh, not my favorite but necessary for the job. Enjoying getting to know my students.

Weeks 4-5 On our own teaching classes, taking names, and whooping asses. Sorry Mom and Dad it just fit the rhyme scheme, had to be done. More to come about school later.

Social life, two words----> Melting Pot, aka itiban bar in Tsu, owned by a very cool American guy named Mark and a wonderful woman named Machiko who runs the bar along with Mark. Mark's gf, Miyuki, also a mainstay at the Pot, love em all to death already. Details; small bar, djs playing lots of house music and all the whiskey and beer a young man could need on a given friday or saturday. Lots of dancing, meeting lots of cool folks, and most importantly attempting to bring the Piano Man tradition to Japan.

Much more to talk about, pictures to share, too. To everybody back home, all my love. Thank you for your support and friendship, god bless and more to come soon.