The First Day Blues

After the initial exhilaration of arriving in Okinawa and meeting one of my new bosses, exhaustion crept up on me. Last night Kazue took me straight from the airport to my temporary apartment. It’s actually very cute--- compact, but cute--- with its own kitchenette and even a washing machine on the terrace (with hanging lines in lieu of a dryer). I’m thinking of it as more of a motel since I’ll only be here for a week while the other teacher whose apartment I’ll be taking over gets ready to leave. It seems so strange to rent fully furnished apartments by the week or even by the day--- why not go to a hotel? All the comforts of home without the hassle, I suppose.

Anyway, driving up to the apartment, I was eerily reminded of the neighborhoods you see in “The Grudge”--- it didn’t help that when I started exploring I noticed a trap door in the ceiling of the shoe closet and bathroom as well as blank-unmarked tapes near the VCR (snow on the TV--- coincidence? I think not!). Later in the night while trying to sleep I could hear strange humming and clicking noises. However, since I do actually watch TV, I did not go investigate them as the girls in the movies inevitably do. Yesh!! All those years of working at the video store have come in handy at last.

Woke up at 8 this morning! If only I could wake up that early at home. I don’t expect it to last though. Sleep and I are too close to be separated for long--- It's a love-hate relationship. Since I didn’t meet up with the Nakamuras till 12 I walked around the neighborhood. The weather was great! Cloudy but warm with a nice breeze. The houses and cars are all so tiny and cute! Houses have the requisite shisa at the door and they come in fun shapes, sizes and colours (neon?)

I went to KANUHIDE (grocery store) to check out the goods. Kazue had taken me there last night and bought me a few things so I wouldn’t starve the next morning (no fear of that!) and luckily it’s only a block away from the apartment. Upon returning, I had an oh-so-super-healthy-first-japanese (not so much) breakfast.

Went to the Ayase park for a picnic. The weather got sunnier as the day progressed and I (being dumb) didn’t wear any sun block. And now I have a lovely red v-shaped neck line where I got a bit singed. Years I live in Vancouver without using sunblock and nothing happens and my first day in Okinawa I come home with a burn. Ironic? Well, a pain anyway. I worked hard to get that non-tan!

Walked around the park, it’s huge and borders the beach. The tide was out, making the seaweed farms visible. After that we went to Starbucks and I met Laura and Linda and we all went to the school where I met Nicole— the teacher I’m taking over for, as well as a few of her/my/our students. Everyone seems friendly and I look forward to working with them. I called home and found out Chunni bought 'Rock Band'! Nooooes! I want to play too! Hearing everyone's voices, especially mom's, really made me miss home. Somehow discovering new things doesn't seem half as fun without them to share it with. But this is all part of my journey to learn and grow so I think I'm taking it all in stride.

Ken drove me to FAMILY MART (convenience store) to get a cell phone. It took maybe half an hour to sign up for the phone and then the company called to let me know the phone was activated. Already I can see that Japan is a place of contradictions, on the one hand many things like cell phones are easy to get. You pick which one you want, fill out some forms and BAM! On the other hand, you need to show your passport for everything--- and forms must be filled out with your name exactly like it is in your passport or it's a redo. And, it takes about 4 different people at different levels to okay something 'whew!'

After that bit of fun, the Nakamuras treated Laura and me to dinner at a traditional (maybe) Okinawan restaurant. I mean, sure you have champuru (stir fry) and sushi but then you also have french fries on the same menu so maybe not so traditional after all. The building was very cool though and the food was quite good. I tried to sit in seza the whole time but after my second leg fell asleep (waking it up by means of surreptitiously thumping it failed) I thought 'oh, screw it' and sat cross-legged. A sanshin musician played a traditional song for us as we clapped and sang along. Mostly I just tried to keep up.

All in all, a good first day! And have I had any revelations about myself? the world? and my role in it? Well, not so much. But as they say, there's always tomorrow.