The gaijin has landed

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Well, not quite landed. Truth is, I've been here in Japan a week, but haven't really had a chance to sit down and start this blog I've been promising to myself for so long.

To get you (and my future forgetful self) up to speed: I have moved to Japan! After so many years of stalled attempts with the JET programme, I finally lucked out with a company called Interac who are in essence the same thing: offering Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) to schools in Japan. I arrived here last Monday, jet-lagged into oblivion from Hearthrow to Narita via the smoggy Beijing International Airport. With barely one-night's rest for breathing space, orientation week was underway at the Narita View Hotel, where we wereweighed down with stacks of paperwork and thoughts to exaberate the inevitable headache. Of course, such pains were easily nursed by the evening visits to the bars in Narita Town, especially the Barge Inn, and British-Pub themed bar which, down to the flooded toilets, overpriced drinks and slightly grimy atmosphere, was surprisingly accurate.

Aside from the hotel, Narita itself is home to Narita-san Shinshō-ji temple, with one of the biggest temple grounds in Japan. Having seen the Pagoda from my room window, it looked a reasonable size, but then I learned that is was in fact far away, and simply VERY big. Entering the park grounds, surrounded by trees, the tower suddenly appears out of nowhere, looming above you, and it really takes your breath away. The sensation was made all the more imposing as it was night (so the photo you see is not mine!), and the Pagoda was a virtual silhouette leaping out of the hillside like a dragon.

It was an odd week, orientation. It's an intense, short week of meeting people from all around the english-speaking parts of the globe, sharing stories and anecdotes, knowing that soon we were all to go our separate ways, the majority of us never to meet again. There are a select few I got to know better than others, whom I hope to get together with during Golden Week at the end of April, but other than that, we're going to be in isolation for pretty much all of our time here.

What will it be like? Honestly, I have idea. All I can tell you right now, sitting in my compact, pleasant apartment on only my second day properly living in Japan, is that I'm loving it. The simple joys so far are coming from the mundane things, like going to the shops, and noticing the subtle differences Japan has to our own country. Like how crowded with wires their telephone poles are because the ground very few of their wirings. Or how they use a stamp called a Hanko in place of an actual signature.

I'm still having to fight my way through the smog of paperwork and putting down proper roots, but once that's done, I wonder if the peace and quiet I've desired for so long has been over-fulfilled: alone in a country that is about as different to Western culture as you can get, for a long period of time, where I will physically stand out as being different. Right now the sidelong glances my way are a novelty, but will they begin to grate?

Let's find out. I'm up for the challenge.

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