Back in action

It's been a few days since I've had any kind of real internet access with my laptop, hence there not being a new post. Needless to say, it's been a pretty hectic few days. Now, I'll my best to recap in what will probably be a longer-than-usual post. My flight from LA on Friday afternoon went surprisingly well. I normally feel a bit of anxiety before a long flight like this but for whatever reason, once the plane had taken flight, my nerves were settled. Even through the occasional bout of turbulence, I really didn't seem to mind. I hope that's a sign of things to come with future flights. I told you guys that I'd let you know if the upgrade to Premium Economy on JAL would be worth the money and honestly, I'd have to say it was. It wasn't a mind-blowing amount of extra space, but it was certainly significant enough if you want to be as comfortable as possible on a really long flight. I had a window seat and luckily the guy next to me was a really nice Japanese fellow that kept to himself. I will say that while JAL excels at customer service, they still lack in the same area as all airlines; the food. I had a couple of Japanese meals, but I can't say it was that satisfying. On the flight, I was able to read a lot of, "An Idiot Abroad: the travel diaries of Karl Pilkington", which is hilarious. I also saw Kung-Fu Panda 2 and X-Men: First Class, but alas, sleep evaded me.

After landing in Narita sometime after 5pm Japan time, I had about a 45 minute window to get through immigration, grab my luggage, head through customs and then re-check my bags with JAL for my domestic flight to Nagoya. Yes, you read that right, I had to RE-CHECK my bags for the second leg of my journey. Surprisingly inefficient. As I waited to board my flight to Nagoya, the airline staff informed me that I'd be able to upgrade my flight to business-class for only ¥1000 ($13 USD)! Naturally, I had to snag this offer because I was ready to relax as much as I could after such a long flight. Even if only for a brief 45-minute flight, it was nice to see how the wealthy folks travel in style.

When I arrived in Nagoya, I grabbed my luggage and headed towards domestic arrivals. I was greeted by Jeff, one of the employees of PKC (the school I'm now working for). He was with another new-hire, a young woman from the Phillipines. Jeff is from the UK, which I knew was instantly an "in" to start talking football (soccer), and sure enough, it was. He took the other teacher and I out to the company van, loaded us and our stuff in and off we went on the one hour drive to KTC (Kenshu Training Center). It was around 9pm when I got dropped off and Jeff did his best to show us around the training center to let us know what was in the immediate area. The other teacher with us was staying at a different facility, but would be back on Monday, the 12th, to the KTC for the start of training. My accommodations were at the KTC and I was fortunate enough to have my own room. Turns out that some of the teachers were bunking up in pairs. The room was quite nice, much nice than I expected to be honest. It had a fairly large entry way that had a two-burner stove, a sink, a small refrigerator and microwave. There was a toilet room, separated from the bathtub/shower area, then two screen doors that lead to the living/tatami room which had a spacious closer, a table and a small 14" television. The bed I slept on was a traditional Japanese futon, which was my first time ever sleeping on one and it really wasn't too bad aside from the length. Even though I got to KTC so late in the evening, I was hungry and needed something to eat and I should mention that it's still incredibly hot and humid here. It's punishing on a daily basis. I put my shoes on and hoofed it over to the convenience store (konbini in Japanese), got some food, and got some much needed sleep. Thank God I had Sunday off. It's now a little past 1am here and I have to leave for training tomorrow morning at 7:45 in Ikeda, so I'm wrapping this post up, but I'll get part 2 up ASAP!

One of Japan's Ginger-ale like beverages. Good stuff.

The entryway of my KTC room, facing the tatami/living area.

Toilet on the left, bath/shower on the right.

Tatami/living room with table and somewhat comfy futon.

Same room, different angle. Tiny TV.

Teriyaki/Mayo/Hamburger from the konbini (convenience store).

Just a slightly amusing wall on my walk about town.

The streets are hot...literally.

Water, ham and egg sandwich, and spicy chips. Power lunch!

Lookin' pretty beat.

It's not Monster, but it may do in a pinch.

So far, so good

So I'm writing this post from the JAL First Class lounge at LAX and yeah, I'm just as surprised typing that as you probably are reading it. I mentioned in my first post that I had opted to upgrade to Premium Economy class for my flight and I guess it just so happens that I too am entitled to be treated like a big-wig, if only for a fleeting moment. It's pretty awesome though I must say, having never had access to this lounge before. For those who haven't had the pleasure, they basically have a buffet-style setup with free food, drinks, misc. snacks, and wi-fi (which is letting me post this entry). So, I'm gonna' chill out here for about 15 more minutes before heading down to my gate to board. Just thought I'd let you know that so far, things are pretty good. I'll leave you with a look at that lounge:

Ah snap! They let a hooligan run wild!

My leftovers.

They call it...Yen!

 

Gonna make it rain, Nippon-style! Hardly.

Preparing to change my life

This is officially the first post of my new blog, Konnichiwhat!?, that aims to keep the important folks in life apprised to my new life in Japan. In case the name of the blog is lost on you, it's Konnichiwa (the Japanese greeting for hello/good afternoon, mixed with what!?, as I'll probably be posting things that I find quite odd or interesting while in J-land). As the description of this blog says, this jaunt overseas is something that really has been in the making for longer than I care to recall. Going to Japan to teach English was basically my main motivating factor in pursuing higher education, so that should give you an idea as to how big a decision this was from the get-go, at least for me anyway. Now, I finally feel like I'm in a position where I can take this opportunity and really find out if it's as grand as I'd hoped it would be, or if it's something that's simply not for me. I'll be working with a school called Peppy Kids Club. Yeah, I know, not the coolest name in the book, but as a whole, the company offered attractive features and benefits that made me choose them. They have branches all over the country and from what I've been told, I'll be placed in the city of Oita, on the island of Kyushu. I've been to Oita before in the past and I really enjoyed it there, so I'm stoked about it. I have to say, I'm excited because this move serves as the culmination of years of hard work and patience and it also means that no matter what happens, I won't have to sit around wondering what it would be like to live and work overseas. No regrets right? No more what ifs.

As excited and anxious as I am about taking on this new endeavor, it doesn't mean it comes without any downsides. First off, and this is a given, I'm going to miss everyone that I'm used to having in my daily life. Friends and family, I love 'em all. I'm not a monster! I'm hoping these people will come visit me and from what I've heard so far, they all plan to. No one wants to leave their loved ones behind, but I'm lucky to know people that are incredibly supportive and in agreement that it's an experience and opportunity that I should take on and enjoy as best I can. Who knows when and if I'll ever have a chance like this in the future right? As I like to say, it's not goodbye, it's see you later.

 You said it kid!

Along with that, it's been a stressful past few weeks having to pack things up, sell my car, get paperwork in order, and handle all the other loose ends that never seem to stop popping up. However, now I finally feel like I'm ready to go. I have just about everything I'll need for the trip, including my Xbox (how could I leave that behind?), and now I feel like a lame duck just waiting for everything to begin. I honestly feel like the worst part of all of this is the preparation. I know I'll lose most of this anxiety once I'm in Japan and get started with my training. I'm a firm believer that no matter where you go in life, no matter what you end up doing for work, you'll be fine once you settle in and develop a new routine. We just have a habit of letting our minds and imagination get the best of us beforehand. As scary as it is taking on a new line of work, having been a cubicle monkey most of my life, I'm also stoked at the idea of trying something new, stepping out of my comfort zone and all the while just hoping I do the best job that I possibly can. Heck, if worse comes to worse, there's always a plane back home right?

So enough with the heavy. I thought I'd share some of my flight info with you. I'll be flying with Japan Airlines (JAL) on Friday and I'll end up in Tokyo on Saturday afternoon. After that, a short jaunt to Nagoya for two weeks of training. This isn't my first time traveling abroad, so I'm certainly used to being stuck in economy class for a long time (in most cases 10 hours +), but this time I decided to spoil myself, somewhat, and splurged for JAL's premium economy seating! Here's a look at the seats:

No, I don't know this woman but she sure looks comfortable!

 

It may not look like much, and I don't even know if it is, but they claim to provide 20% more leg room and due to the shell design, the seat in front of me won't tilt back in my face. Thank God for that! I'll also be able to have my laptop out, to keep me entertained, and I won't have to worry about the battery life because the seats have power outlets built in. All in all, I'm hoping it's as wise an upgrade as it appears to be. Anything to be more comfortable on these long, punishing flights.

Well, that's it for my first post. It's my birthday today but here I am giving all of you a gift. Go figure. I can't promise they'll always be this long, they most likely won't be. However, I do plan to make them more amusing in the future, maybe even with some video thrown in for good measure. Gimme a break, everyone has to act serious at some point right? Get off my back!