出発～！

Hi everyone! I’m Lexi. I’m a member of the 2019 JET Program group, and I just moved to Nagano City in the Chubu region of Japan! I’ll be living and working there as a CIR (Coordinator for International Relations)! よろしく!

I assume you’re here to learn a bit about the JET Program and living in Japan, or perhaps you’re one of my dear friends or family members looking to keep up with my living situation (I’m still alive probably!). Whoever you are, wherever you’re reading this from: いらっしゃいませ！ Welcome! Let’s dive in!

Turns out packing to move across the world isn’t as easy as it seems. Imagine that it’s the night before you fly to begin your life in another country. Where are you? Maybe sipping tea calmly, spending time with loved ones, embracing the bittersweet emotions along with the pure excitement that comes with anticipating such an adventure?

Or are you frantically packing and repacking your bags, desperately attempting to get them both under the 50 lb. limit while downing calming tea in aーfutile—attempt to regain a semblance of a grasp on reality, ending the hectic night with an episode of The Handmaid’s Tale at 2 AM?

…Hey, Handmaid’s Tale is a great show! I regret nothing! Except maybe not packing weeks in advance. That would’ve been a good idea. You live and you learn, right?

Piece of Advice No. 1: PACK EARLY

The application process for JET is lengthy. I’ll break it down in more detail in a later post, but it can be summed up as follows:

November 2018: Application is due

January 2019: Interview Notifications sent!

February 2019: INTERVIEW: THE DREADED 面接!

April 2019: HOGWARTS LETTER–I mean–JET ACCEPTANCE NOTIFICATION RECEIVED!

May 2019: Placements Announced

June 2019: Contracting Organization reaches out

July 2019: DEPARTURE!

Basically, the waiting period is extremely long and much of it is spent anticipating the jump into cold water. There’s plenty of time for preparation, so use it! Make time to hang out with friends and family, of course, but plan out some time every day to build up your packing essentials early.

Piece of Advice No. 2: Research your Prefecture/City/Town/Schools/CO!

You’ll be living in a new place for at least one year. Do some research on your new home! What are your city’s meibutsu (名物) or famous goods? Is your prefecture’s mascot adorable or terrifying? What is the dialect like where you’ll be living? Will the summer heat be all you can think about every day? (Sadly the answer to this is always YES)

Google Earth/Maps is your best friend! Once you find out where you’ll be living, you can stare at it virtually as much as you like. I’d also recommend looking for important places nearby: nearest post office, bank, railway station, cinema, arcade, konbini–scope out every place you need to survive!

SO IT BEGINS

SLC to Denver

After I got both of my bags down to 50 lbs (hallelujah), I said goodbye to my home, my cat LG and my dog Nala, and drove with my mom to the airport. Saying goodbye to her was the hardest part of this whole experience. The weird thing is, you’re not really ever alone until you reach your apartment/house in your placement city/town, so the hysterical sobbing attack might happen to you at the airport, or it may sneak up on you once you’re alone in Japan. Mine was the latter and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

I know, blogs about living abroad should be fun, right? Well, just like all aspects of life, it can’t be fun all the time. I’m gonna sprinkle this with some realness too, so brace yourselves~

Or don’t, I’m not here to tell you how to live your life.

The 2019 SLC JET Group all gathered at the airport gate, discussing the imminent adventure with anticipation. Once we got to Denver, there were some unfortunate baggage issues that threw some of our group for a loop, but we eventually made it to the Pre-Departure Orientation site with time to spare.

PDO DETAILS

PDO (Pre-Departure Orientation) will take place with the other JET candidates registered through your nearest embassy, and you’ll get pretty close with everyone before you’re all shipped off throughout Japan.

The orientation itself is filled with speeches and reminders on how to conduct yourself in Japan and at Tokyo Orientation. It’s a good chance to reacquaint yourself with the next day’s itinerary so you don’t miss any flights or crucial information.

OFF TO TOKYO!

The Denver airport is weird. There are so many strange rumors and conspiracy theories surrounding it, honestly just go do some Googling and you’ll find some interesting stuff. We departed from the strange place that is DIA and spent the next 12 hours on the long flight to Narita Airport. I spent my plane ride reviewing kanji and watching some quality tearjerker movies because who doesn’t want to cry on a flight?! (Smart movie selections included Avengers: Endgame and a Japanese movie called 愛唄 －約束のナクヒトー[Ai Uta: Yakusoku no Nakuhito])

TOKYO に到着! (Arrival in Tokyo!)

I’m going to be honest with you: Tokyo Orientation was a crazy three-day blur. There were some fun exploration and activities mixed with exhausting and intensive lectures all in Japanese (for the CIRs). Add “combating the impending JET lag” to the list of items on the itinerary and you might start to understand how well my brain was functioning at the time.

The JET Program put us up in the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku, one of the nicest hotels in the area with a view of the neighboring Metropolitan Government Building. Our lectures were on the 43rd floor in fancy conference rooms, and it was honestly so bizarre to see Tokyo down below when we had so little time to go out and explore it during the day.

It was all very official and impressive; there were hundreds of us in the new incoming group of 2019 JETs (both ALTs and CIRs) and we were a swarm of sharp-looking suits.

Our time in Tokyo flew by, and soon we were all on our way to our separate adventures.

NAGANO BOUND

On our last morning in Tokyo, we all broke of into our Prefecture Groups to board buses, trains, and planes as we departed for our placement cities.

I lucked out with a later departure time, so I was able to meet up with my adventure buddy and dear friend Sandra for a quick breakfast in Shinjuku! I am always so grateful when we get to meet up. She’ll be staying with me in Nagano later in August and I cannot wait for our upcoming adventures!

After the short but sweet breakfast 再会, I met up with my Nagano group and boarded the bus to 信州 Shinshuu (the old name for Nagano).

On the bus ride, I was a nauseating mix of nervous and excited as our Prefecture Advisors told us about some vital information regarding our placements and upcoming lives in Nagano Prefecture.

We stopped for lunch at the most beautiful and picturesque spot: Lake Suwa.

For my anime fans: Lake Suwa is one of the sites that inspired the setting of Lake Itomori in Makoto Shinkai’s worldwide hit movie Kimi no Na Wa. If you’re in to visiting famous anime sites, definitely put this one on your list!

After lunch, we kept driving until we reached Matsumoto City — Salt Lake City’s Sister City!– and dropped off some of our Nagano Prefecture buds. From there, we drove about another hour through mountains and greenery until we finally arrived at the Nagano Prefecture Office.

Decked out in a suit jacket in the middle of the hot summer day, I met my supervisor Mari Morita. We’re the same age, and she’s a very sweet and helpful person. She carted me around to the Renter’s Insurance office, then helped to make sure the gas and water was all set up at my house.

Then I was alone in the apartment. But I had no futon or bed to sleep on, and I had already made a reservation at a nearby hostel in case I wasn’t able to stay in the apartment on my first night in town. So, I headed over to Mori to Mizu Backpackers and checked in for the night.

For anyone looking to visit Nagano: I’d highly recommend this place! It was affordable, clean, and the lady working the check-in desk was super friendly.

There was lots of room and it was honestly the perfect place to stay for the night where I didn’t have to worry about unpacking all of my things right away.

The next morning, I woke up early (5am) to head back to my apartment and get myself ready to head to my first day at work?!?!?!

Where I met the mayor?!?!?!

Will Lexi survive, or will she succumb to the stress and insanity of it all?

Tune in next time to find out!

またね！