First of the Last

Irrashaimase!

Whether family, friend or if you've just stumbled in here... Welcome to Last Spamurai! This is Ian's blog - luncheon meat made in Japan from not-so fresh Australian produce.
No, I am not a devotee of Tom Cruise! Yes, I know it's not technically spam as I'm not dumping it in your inbox, but it's what I would dump if I wasn't too lazy to deliver it.

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I am working for a Japanese company which has a large chain of conversation schools (eikawa) across Japan. I'm teaching kids in a city called Sanda, just northwest of Osaka, and northeast of Kobe.

I've been in Japan just 5 days now... having completed training I'm about to move from the head office in Tokushima, Shikoku to my new home of Sanda, in Hyogo prefecture, Kansai area of Japan.

LEAVING

Well, packing and leaving felt like a last minute affair. Even though I'd left work a few weeks prior, there were so many things to take care of. A computer-related issue kept me up all night which wasn't great as I had an overnight flight ahead of me (flew via Singapore). Saying goodbye was harder than I imagined. I'd had a great weekend of saying goodbye to heaps of family and friends and that didn't seem too hard to do, but heading to the airport was something else. My immediate family came along which was really nice, but it made it really hard to go through those gates...

ARRIVING

I was more than a little bleary-eyed when I got to immigration at Kansai International. I managed to leave something on the plane (my company handbook with contacts etc!), but in typical Japanese style it was seen to promptly - I could stop sweating! I think I'd totalled about 5 hours sleep in the previous 2 nights put together.

TO TOKUSHIMA!

Thankfully catching the bus to Tokushima was a straightforward affair... I plonked myself down and after taking in the sights of Osaka Bay (i.e. MASSIVE heavy industry and ports among reclaimed land... ugly but amazing ...omoshiroii! Kobe comes as a nice sight for sore eyes), I fell fast asleep. My highly anticipated trip across the 1.6km Onaruto Bridge linking the islands of Awaji and Shikoku was a bit of a let down - I was in the land of Nod all the way! I woke up to see that my stop was next... Tokushima Eki.

TO WORK

I was met there by someone who was delegated by someone who was delegated to do so. It was no snub of any sort - I just had delusions of grandeur and imagined a plush red carpet, pyramid of champagne glasses overflowing with all staff lined up like the opening time of a department store. Feeling less than special I arrived at HQ (or Honbu) and was shown to my dorm. Over the next few days we were trained in the ways of the force - how to be genki teachers of American English to Japanese children. I was surprised to see that we only really interacted with other foreign staff. In a professional setting, to the Japanese we really are gaijin or outside people in the true sense of the word. This has come as a bit of a disappointment but not a complete surprise. My trainer was Australian; the group consisted of an American, a Canadian, an Englishman and an Australian. Yes, it did sound like a bad joke - especially when we walked into a bar!

KARAOKE

After finishing our training it was time to let the proverbial hair down and so karaoke was sought. After having dinner in a traditional-style pub (or izakaya - the food here is unreal) we headed to Ingrid's - a foreigners' bar in downtown Tokushima about the size of a Japanese apartment (small!). Ingrid appeared to be Philipino, but I'm not certain. The crowd was mainly us, but it was a mix of Japanese and foreigners. Ingrid offers free karaoke and so after surprisingly little encouragement for the second time in my life I programmed a little number or two. Perhaps it's just the fact that I've stepped out a way in coming to Japan and trying a new type of work that it seems a pretty small way further to do some amateur singing in an obscure nook of an obscure city! Needless to say, my rendition of "Cracklin' Rosie" of Neil Diamond fame ended to a rousing reception. The fact that I was singing along in my head to the very drunk-sounding version by Shane McGowan of the Pogues helped. I was sober, but inspired... I admit it, I was pretty good! haha. They then programmed in "Sweet Caroline" which unfortunately wasn't so sweet. Oh well... I guess you're only as good as your last job.

NARUTO

I was determined to see the Onaruto Bridge up close and so I headed there yesterday. More than the actual bridge I wanted to see beneath it - the waters of Naruto Strait where it's famed giant whirlpools form. So I biked it into town and caught the bus (about an hour's ride). Beneath the road level of the bridge is Uzu-no-michi - an enclosed walkway from where you can see the waters swirling below. As the tide changes contrary currents meet to rush through the straits, forming swirling patterns and whirlpools. The odd whirlpool picks up a lot of speed and size. I saw fairly unspectacular whirlpools, but the overall effect is quite captivating. You would not want to be in those waters! In parts it looks like someone has taken the plug out of a bath - the water is moving that quickly.

STRANGE MEETING

I hung around for quite some time, but eventually I resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to see any travel-agent-poster, perfectly-formed funnels of water. Had I really been here that long? I was surprised to see on a clock that it was 7pm (my watch battery died). I was then a little concerned to see a bus leave just as I got back down near the stop. I was then fairly concerned to see that the last scheduled bus was at 6:21. I was then a lot concerned when, after walking for about 45 mins along the route the bus had taken, I reached the expressway which had nowhere to walk and it had gotten dark. I had hoped in vain to find a bus stop which serviced another route that might still be running. So, I took a little detour - a road that seemed to run parallel to the expressway. As I went along it dropped lower and lower until there was a thick band of dense bush and trees between me and the elevated expressway. I was basically on a country road hemming rice paddies and other fields. There was the odd farm house dotted around. I saw a figure in the darkness approaching - it was an old lady. I asked her if Naruto Station was far - she pointed in a few directions, none of which was the one I was headed in. We had a very broken conversation and started walking briskly together (she was out joggingu!) in the direction I'd come from. She was going to walk with me back to the hotel where, if there were no buses running, I could catch a taxi (a last resort here - they are exorbitant). Out of politeness she offered to drive me, but I felt terrible and declined. She pulled out her phone - it said it was 6:18! Arggghhhh! The clock at Uzu-no-michi had been wrong! I had walked all this way for nothing! There were still buses running when I'd left and now I was probably going to miss the last one! We reached the bus stop and checked the times. The last one was due in 5 minutes time! Phew, close call. She gestured me through the waiting doors of the bus, I thanked her, (later thinking I should have bowed much lower!) and I slumped into the seat as the driver pulled away, leaving her in the darkness. I thought it was sad I'd never see that wonderful spritely old lady again.

NEXT UP

My school at Sanda awaits. I was really excited when I was given my class schedule and saw the kids' names. My class sizes are pretty small, so it should be fun. Should be ...haha. I'll start meeting them tomorrow...