My $225 cab ride

Today was my first day actually going to a school. I went to Tonoda Junior High School, which I will go to three days a week. It's about a fifteen minute drive from my house. Around 7:30 I got into my car and turned the key, but nothing happened. I tried again to no result. Apparently the battery was dead. I tried calling my office, a Japanese woman who helped show me around town, and some other ALTs, all to no answer. Here's a picture of my non-working car:



I left a message at my office saying I would be late and walked to the nearest gas station to ask for a taxi. I got to my school a little after 8:15, only a few minutes late. However, in Japan if you're 5 minutes early, you're 10 minutes late, so we'll see how it goes. About $200 of my monthly pay is performance based, meaning if you're late to school you get docked. Probably most of that will not be docked, and possibly none of it (or maybe, since I only worked one day in August, it won't have any effect). So maybe the cab ride I took this morning cost $225.

After school, one of the teachers gave me a ride home and helped jump my car. Hopefully it starts tomorrow.

Göd Bar

Last night I went to Göd Bar with some other ALTs in my town. There was a jazz band playing and we met a French man and his Japanese father-in-law. They let the Japanese guy go up front and sing a couple songs. All in all a pretty göd night.

I have a car!

I got my car today. It was sitting outside of my apartment most of the day, but I didn't know where the keys were until right now when a friend texted me to say they were on the tire. I just drove around for my first time. Pictures to follow tomorrow.

My Apartment

Here's a picture of my apartment building. I am trying to get pictures off my phone, but am currently unable to. Until then (or when I can organize my apartment a little better), the inside will remain a mystery.

My Hotel in Hamamatsu

I had my training in Hamamatsu, a fairly big town between where I will work and Tokyo. To get any light or electrical outlet in my hotel to work, I had to put the key in a slot next to the light switch. Kind of neat stuff.

At Tokyo Station...

I saw a woman fall down the escalator. She was probably about 30 and I don’t think she got hurt, but when I was at the top she started yelling. I looked down to see a woman roll over two or three times while remaining in the exact same spot because of the moving stairs. I tried to find a ’stop’ button at the top, but there didn’t seem to be one. I guess my latent childhood fear of escalators has some basis in reality.

Packing

Tomorrow I leave for Japan. I am almost done packing my body weight in four different bags. Lets see how this goes...