Settling in Sasebo, Nagasaki

So I'm finally here! All the preparations and packing is done (thanks for the help mom!), and the good-byes said. So above are a few pictures from the airport...Thanks Sarah! It was kind of rushed because we had to go through US customs, so as soon as we checked in, we had to go through to security - kind of a surprise for everyone! We thought we had more time to say goodbye. But maybe that was better that way...Like ripping off a bandaid....

Here is a picture of the blanket that Mom made for me! It is a quilt with pictures of family and friends, as well as pieces of my old clothes sewn together (such as my first communion dress, favourite t-shirts, etc). It's too nice to use as a blanket, so I've hung it up on my wall in my apartment.

So after the 14 hour plane ride from Detroit, we finally arrived in Tokyo, where we were greeted by many other JETs, who lead us in the direction towards luggage and the buses that would take us to our hotel, the KEIO Plaza hotel. The hotel was quite nice - very western, and full of JETs - There were hundreds and hundreds of us arriving on the same day - so the coordination of the program really amazed me - they had paths everywhere, directing us where to check in, pick up our information brochurees about orientation, etc. I shared a room with Erin, another girl from Ottawa who also is in Nagasaki - although about an hour and a half or so away from me. I hung out with a lot of the other JETs from Ottawa. We had gatherings and workshops all day - But the first night we had a Welcoming Gathering/banquet, which was nice. There was over 1,500 JETS arriving that weekend, with another wave of JETS arriving the following weekend. Quite the production! After the reception, I met up with the other people from my prefecture and we all went out for kareoke - it was all you can drink for 2 hours....Which is really a necessity if you are going to be singing in front of strangers (well practically strangers!). But it was really fun - everyone was just singing along...Don't worry - to English songs, although they have the katakana translations underneath...Which were pretty funny. (picture of Erin and Shannon below at kareoke)

Erin, Shannon and I (all Nagasaki-ites) then left to meet up with some of the gang from Ottawa, and we attempted to find a bar/club, but we mostly ended up wandering the streets and touring around. We finally found a little bar/pub where we all had a few drinks and just chatted. We were all excited to move onto our new cities, but a little sad that it was one of our last nights together. But it was kind of weird because although we knew we were in this strange, foreign land, our orientation in Tokyo really didn't feel like we were that far from home. The food was mostly western, everyone at the hotel seemed to be foreigners there for JET, and almost everyone we interacted with were English-speaking....But that was definitely was about to change! Here are some pictures of the sights of Shinjuku - the area of Tokyo where were were staying. As well, there is a picture of the hand gestures we received when we asked if we could get a table for 15...

The next day was more workshops and meetings - but in the evening we had a reception at the Canadian Embassy, which was really nice. Although they basically told us to spread the word about Canada as much as possible, just to get the Japanese people to come and visit, as well as study there. Which I suppose makes sense....Hey, we got free drinks and food out of it. jk. And then I was kind of a loser that night and just crashed! I was pretty tired and I think the jetlag finally caught up with me!

Anyways - that was my first few days in Japan....I will update about Sasebo shortly! Stay tuned for pictures of my tiny apartment!