6 August 2011
Out West
Posted by Roland under: JET .
As fun as the Tokyo orientation was, we all had to get out to our respective placements. If anything, I’m more worried for those who are coming to Japan for the first time, as they are almost given a small taste of the Tokyo excitement and then shipped off (in almost all cases) to a rural placement which is definitely not Tokyo.
Amakusa is one of those definitely not Tokyo placements. But really, I was excited to get out of Tokyo and finally get a taste of where I was going to live. When we all got to Kumamoto airport and waited at baggage claim, we could see a definitely excited crowd of Japanese people with signs to greet the various people who were coming to work in their local schools. I tried my best to find a sign with my name all over it but would actually find my name on a sign the size of a regular piece of paper. And beyond that, in the corner of the page as well. Didn’t even get to keep my first souvenir. In comparison to other welcoming parties, which may have had school students, host families, or etc., I was greeted by someone from the Amakusa Board of Education and a senior JET. So, no, it was not quite the huge welcoming party that Japanese television shows have promised me.
The urban sprawl of Kumamoto city would give way to farmlands and spectacular views of the water and islands as Amakusa slowly came into view. I may have been a bit worried about leaving the water behind in San Francisco, but I have to say that Amakusa has it beat for sure. As the main roads are all along the coast, you’re pretty much looking out over the water anywhere you go on the Amakusa islands.
My first couple days in Amakusa have been pretty busy. I was able to get a lot of things set up on the logistic side. Setting up my car insurance, getting a phone, filing for the aptly named “gaijin” (foreigner) card. It’s a lot of formalities that I wouldn’t have been able to do without my Board of Education supervisor, Kurata-san. She does all the talking and form filling out, I just sit there and try to acknowledge when something from me is needed. I wouldn’t have gotten this far without her help. I hope that other JETs have just as great supervisors they work with.
My neighborhood of Ariake is mainly just residental. That being said, there are plenty of farmlands as well. And the large amount of backroads that cross all over Ariake basically force me to take the main coastal road if I want to go anywhere. I might be able to get somewhere faster in Ariake if I stay on the back roads, but for now I’ll be staying on the coast.
That doesn’t mean I’m in the middle of just rice fields. Hondo, another part of Amakusa, serves as the city center. Yes, it’s definitely no Tokyo, but at least it has shopping, game centers, and food. As one of the old ALTs put it, you’ll get everything you need in Hondo, you’ll just not get the variety you would find in a big city. Basically the fun I’ll be getting in Amakusa will be from the community and not the excitement of the city itself. People, over things, will be the focus.
My only other big comment is to say that the weather is not that bad here. Yes, it’s hot, but it only comes in at high 80s right now. Even with the humidity, it’s much better than it was in Maryland (90s to 100) before I left. People on the JET board need to be calming down about Japan’s weather.