Exploring

Our apartment came with four bicycles, which is good because that's apparently a main method of transportation here. We decided to test them out yesterday, first by riding around our neighbourhood a bit and then by following a canal as far as we could. The canal runs from near our apartment right down to the castle, so it will also be a great place to run. On our bike trip we were actually trying to find a big park, and I think we succeeded, although we didn't really go into the park. The important thing was that our bikes worked fine, although the brakes on both of the two bikes I rode squeaked like crazy. I don't think that's an insurmountable problem, however.
-Jason

grocery store

We went to the smaller grocery store today. It was described to us as more of a fruit market. They had a good selection of produce that was a little cheaper than the big, main grocery store. I was amused by all of the fish, and the selection of things that you could buy that I would have no idea how to cook or what do to with.
More pictures.

gaijin traps

We saw why they need good drainage ditches after the big storm this morning. There are ditches along almost every road in the city, and most of them (especially on the smaller streets) are uncovered. These are jokingly referred to as "gaijin traps." Gaijin is the Japanese word for foreigner. Apparently it is not uncommon for foreigners riding their bike down the side of the street to steer themselves into a ditch. I guess sometimes the cars come pretty close along side of you and the inexperienced foreigners overcompensate and end up in the ditch.
This is just the ditch along the road right outside of our building.

walking around Himeji

Yesterday afternoon we set off on our first walk to explore the city. We walked from the Shirasagi Residence (which is the name of the building where we live) down to the castle and then along the main street to the train stations. It was a nice walk, although probably too far to go in the mornings to catch the train to work.
I've put several pictures up on the picasa site.

Big Gomi

As you can see from the picture of the trash chart in the apartment pictures, we have an extensive trash-sorting routine that we must follow. Twice per month we are allowed to throw out "big gomi" which is all of the larger trash items. There is a small space along the side of the road just across the street where we can take our big gomi items to throw them out.
People take the items out the evening before pick-up day. The interesting thing about big gomi is that not all of the items are "trash" -- some of them are just things that people don't need anymore. So, it is also customary for people to go out and look through the big gomi for items they need -- think of it as a free garage sale. Plus, all of the items that people place out there are impeccably clean.
Friday was big gomi day, so Thursday night we went out to see if there was anything we wanted. I think we were late (or possibly too early) because there wasn't much of interest out there this time. But it's not unheard of for people to get a table, tv or other useful things for their apartment on big gomi night.

apartment pictures

We were going to go ride our bikes this morning, but there was a huge rain storm, so we stayed home -- but it gave me plenty of time to take pictures of the apartment and get them posted on our new Japan picasa site! (there's also a link to it on the right)

teacher orientation

Today we had an orientation meeting with the city school board, found out which schools we were placed at, and met the teachers we'll be working with.
All of the foreign teachers are placed at two different middle schools. They are at a bigger school for 8 months and a smaller school for 4 months. I start at my small school now and switch to the big school in January.
We also work at an elementary school each Thursday, but we haven't received the information about that yet.
The picture is of the three teachers who met with me today. The two ladies on the outside are from my first school and the lady in the middle is from my second school. They all spoke English pretty well, and they were all friendly and excited to meet me.
I have been told by several people that I am very lucky because I have excellent schools. Apparently some of the schools (including mine) really utilize the American teachers and allow them to actively participate in many different school activities. Other schools allow/give the teacher very little to do, and the teachers spent most of their time just sitting in an office and reading a book. I am thankful that I've got schools with a good reputation.
The one (possible) downside is that both of my schools are a little farther away from where we live -- too far to ride my bike, unfortunately. I'm still figuring out the bus/trains that I'll have to take to get there, but it looks like it'll take me about an hour to get to the first school and possibly a little longer to get to the second. Luckily, the Shirasagi Residence (where we live) has a "library" downstairs of books that former teachers have left behind. Jason and I went and looked through it this evening, and it's quite a collection --- I'd guess a couple of hundred books. Plus, we're probably going to sign up for Japanese lessons, so it'll give me time to study.
If I had to choose between a good school that was far away and a school that was close but where I just sat around, this is what I'd pick.

This afternoon/evening Jason and I walked through the city, down to the castle and looped around the train station --- pictures to come tomorrow.
-Chelsey

We had a busy and productive first day in Himeji.
Our Japanese supervisor, Mr. Honda, took us down to City Hall this morning because we had to register as foreigners and then open bank accounts. There was a lot of paperwork that went along with it, and we were very thankful to have someone to tell us what do to/what information to put where/etc. The Japanese officials were very confused by Jason because he has a Canadian passport, but when it asked for his address he put one in the U.S. They couldn't figure that one out. We tried to explain to Mr. Honda that Jason is a Canadian citizen but a U.S. resident, and after we let them examine his green card they decided that he should just cross out the U.S. address. For some reason they felt better just thinking that he's homeless.
When we returned from City Hall we walked down to the grocery store with two of the other English teachers who've been here for a year. They were very helpful and walked around the store with us -- pointing out what was good and explaining what things were. It was quite different than our first grocery experience in Prague -- we weren't nearly so lost.
This evening the residents of our building had a welcome party for the new teachers. They each made a different dish to share with us, so we didn't have to cook dinner, and it was nice to meet everyone. They have all been so friendly helping us settle in and figure things out.
So things are off to a great start. We have some free time tomorrow morning, so I'll take some pictures of the apartment and try to get them posted.
-Chelsey

we made it

We arrived safely. We are exhausted and going to bed, we will add more tomorrow.

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