A Whirlwind Two Weeks

It's been two weeks since I arrived in Japan, and it's been one thing after another... definitely more busy times than relax-and-see-Japan times.  Maybe that will come later, in a few weeks.

To start off, one of my trainee mates and I arrived in Narita airport mid-afternoon.  The airport was not busy and so we took our time gathering bags and making our way through foreign resident registration and customs.  The foreign resident registration clerk issues you an ID card for your time in Japan - it's the rough equivalent of the U.S. driver's license which is a primary form of ID.  In contrast, this one only states your information, doesn't allow you to operate a motor vehicle, and acts in lieu of your passport (so you don't need to carry it around everywhere).  The process was very smooth and when I commented to my friend how I thought the clerk was attractive, she gave me a weird look and said my taste in guys was all wrong.  Maybe she doesn't like the glasses, longer-hair type... or maybe any Japanese.  Anyways, customs was a breeze... they just asked if we had anything to declare ("No") and we moved on.  I was lugging along my 2 suitcases plus carry-on (as per the company recommendations), while my training-mate completely disregarded that guidance and brought six bags.  I was shocked she brought so many, and as I sit in my apartment now, I'm glad I only brought what I did and no more. 

View from the plane as we approached Narita Airport.

We were shuttled from the airport to Saitama (west of Tokyo) and settled into a dorm-style house for training.  There were ten new trainees, including myself, heralding from many countries:  2 from the U.K., 1 from Canada, and the rest from the U.S.  The next 13 days were spent taking classes from 11am to 8pm, doing homework reading and lesson preparation each night, and trying to take it easy when we could catch our breaths.  It was an intense period as the trainers strove to cram as much in our heads as possible and we worked to retain and apply as much as we could.  We were a great group though and worked together to complete the material.  In the end, we all "graduated" training, received our pins and badges and proceeded to our respective schools earlier this week.  

Here are some photos:

The first day in training, we had snow!

Plushie my friend won me in an arcade.

  
 We visited the local shrine and children's zoo on one of our final days off as well:

Send-off on Monday was both scary and exciting.  Thus far, we had been kept somewhat in a "bubble" - surrounded by fellow English speakers, people we could ask questions too and hang out with.  Now, we were heading off in separate directions and going to be on our own for the most part doing the job we had rushed to learn.  

The best group of training mates!

Shonan-Shinjuku Line from Omiya Station

Snack before the train ride:  yummy Taiyaki (fish-shaped bread filled with cream - many flavors!)