Settling in

True to his word, F-sensei was in front of my apartment at 8 AM. Despite the tiredness I had felt the night before, I had not gotten much sleep. The heat and humidity which I had hardly noticed the night before, was oppressive and damp this morning. Sweat was starting to bead on my arms and forehead and nose.

We drove to school, with F-sensei explaining that this was the best route to take by bike. I paled at the thought. I hadn’t touched a bike in 15 years, let alone ridden one in a semi-urban environment. Before long we were at school.
The morning passed quickly, and by noon we were out again to get more of my life set up. A trip to the bank revealed that I could not create an account without my Alien Registration Card, or in lieu of the card a letter issued temporarily from City Hall. We headed to City Hall next, but by the time I had managed to get my letter issued, the bank had closed. My card, said the paper issued to me, would be ready on the 22nd. I glanced at my watch. It was the 10th.

The next item on the agenda was my keitai, or cell phone. The Vodaphone shop, just outside of the JR station, was small but heavily air conditioned. All manner of futuristic phone lined the walls, but my desire for one would not be sated there. Farcically enough, I needed a bank account and my Alien Registration Card to open an account with Vodaphone. It looked as if I would have to wait a while to enter 3G heaven.

With that, our day came to a close, and after returning to school to pick up our bags, F-sensei drove me home. I promised to practice diligently, a promise I ended up breaking due to the deflated tires on the bike my predecessor left me (and unused for the most part by her).

The next morning was again swelteringly hot, and I woke up extra early. I didn’t relish my trip to school; I was dealing with distances and time schedules unknown to me. Walking to the JR station, I bought my ticket and stared dumbly at the train schedule. The sign indicated a train was coming in a few minutes, and another one some 10 minutes later. As the train pulled into the station, I hovered nervously at the door, wondering if it was the right train. The direction was right, but I knew there was an express train that skipped the stop I needed to get off at. I got on and hoped for the best.

As the train pulled out of the station, I belatedly asked a fellow passenger if the train stopped at the next station. She dutifully informed me that it did not. Fighting a moment of panic, I could do nothing but get off at the next actual stop and make my way back, and hope that it wasn’t so far as to make me late for school. Luckily, the express train skipped only the station near my school, so I switched trains and made my way back in good time.

By the time I arrived at school, I was covered in a film of sweat, and it was a blessed relief to sit at my desk in the air conditioned staff room. Soon a few teachers showed, the majority off on paid holiday or off doing some sort of school duty. F-sensei sauntered in, and by mid-morning we were off again. We headed to Yoshizuka station, where I was to go next week to various JET functions. Under the threat of a convective thunderhead, we toured two buildings before grabbing a lunch of fried rice, dumplings, and ramen.

The afternoon was filled with a visit to a local medical clinic, where I was subjected to a battery of tests. It was a pleasant experience, and during my examination I was surprised to discover I was still running a fever, a fever which had gone unnoticed because of the heat, and that the medication offered for asthma treatment were virtually identical to the ones I had back home. My cold/asthma attack, which had all but faded, was treated with an almost bong-like nebulizer, and by the end of the almost 2 hours I was there, I had a bag full of new meds. It was the end of the day, and F-sensei drove me home. The past 3 days had been eventful, frustrating, enlightening, and nerve-wracking, but by the end of it I was starting to feel like I was settling into my new home.