The whole way back to my apartment from the internet cafe to my apartment last night, I was berating myself. I can’t believe that I forgot to mention the earthquake!
It’s lost a lot of freshness in the day since then, but the short of it is that while I was asleep the night before last, there was an earthquake. Nothing broke or even fell, and it wasn’t very strong. Still, it was long and rolling; it lasted at least five minutes.
That’s according to the people I live with, at least; I was back asleep by the time it ended. The only other interesting thing that happened that night was that I dreamt that there was a dramatic change in the exchange rate between the yen and the dollar: they traded 50 yen for the dollar, instead of 107. This meant that all my living funds until my first paycheck in yen were suddenly halved, but once the paychecks started coming, my student loan would be effectively halved as well. Mixed blessings in abundance…
Today was occupied with administrative training, in the rules and regulations of the company, and other forms and paperwork and things. The rest of the week will be occupied with actual training in teaching pedagogy; next week consists of observations of the current teacher. After that, I’m on my own, the only American teaching in a small town in Japan. It’s a bit intimidating, but I’m getting used to this feeling; I was very intimidated with the prospect of my previous job before it started as well.
With any luck, I’ll have an incredible time and want to stay in the country. One of the impressive statistics about this company is that the teachers here have, on average, been here for over three years. This is an impressive statistic when you consider that every single teaching contract signed here is for a single year, with the option of renewal only if both the teacher and company are satisfied with the arrangement. Hopefully, I’ll find myself enjoying things enough that I decide to stay as well.
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