Arrival

My arrival in Japan felt relatively quiet.  There were the unmistakable stirrings of excitement, of course, as I landed in another country I love.  But once I got in the chuo taxi, where I spent the last five-hour leg of my journey, the familiarity of Japan took the edge off the novelty.  I realised that I was staring at the number plates of cars driving past for several long moments before realising that they were Japanese number plates.  Although they are very different to those in Australia (and Thailand, I should add), they didn't jump out at me as foreign.  On some level, I think a part of my brain just accepted that I was home and they were normal.  And yet, I didn't feel like I was home.

I shared the chuo taxi with a newly-wedded couple, fresh from their Hawaiian honeymoon, and we chatted.  My Japanese came out in awkward spurts as my brain tried to multitask, pushing Thai out of the way at the same time as digging long-lost Japanese words and grammar from my memory bank.

It was dark when we parked at a highway rest stop.  We only had twenty minutes or so to buy some dinner and walk around.  Twice in the shop I attempted Japanese and Thai came out instead, which was embarrassing enough.  Then on the third time I managed to stop Thai from blurting out, but awkward English fell off my tongue instead.  It's frustrating when your brain doesn't do what you know it can.

I bought a hot tea and some snacks I'd missed, as well as a croquette and fried soba noodles.  It was more food than I needed, but I guess I got a bit excited, and it had been a long travel day so I was bored into eating.  I ended up sharing some of it with the couple and the taxi driver as we continued down the highway, towards Nagano Prefecture...

I stayed in a Matsumoto hotel that night, and was picked up by my company the following morning - along with the other new teachers.  The next few days were quite busy.  My supervisor, Kayo, drove me to Shimosuwa and spent two days helping me sort things out (such as a bank account) and buy furniture/necessities for my apartment.  Training took place on the following days, both in Matsumoto and Tokyo.  I caught up with Kiyomi and Luke (though briefly) in Tokyo, Josh, Miyuki and Yoko in Matsumoto, and Phil and Yukiko in Shimosuwa.  Phil and Yukiko (whose wedding I attended two years ago, the last time I was in Japan) live in the apartment next to mine.

My apartment is nice.  One bedroom, a kitchen, and a living room.  It's government housing so I think everyone who lives in this block is a teacher in the area - most of them Japanese.  I've become good friends with a bunch of them and we have regular card game nights - and have even done a couple of day trips together.  But those stories will come later.