School's In

Hey guys,

I'm back in Fuchu after my awesome weekend in Chichibu. Monday I began training for my new job as an English teacher. It's been going pretty well so far, although as with any new job it's a bit intimidating at times. I have one more day of training left, then two days off, then I begin teaching in my regular branch on Saturday.

My training is taking place at a large school in Shinjuku. As I mentioned before, Shinjuku is sort of the Western edge of Tokyo proper. So far, it's the furthest I've been into the city. While I've seen a glimpse of the Japanese countryside and am settling into life in the suburbs (which are very different from suburbs at home- no subdivisions, no SUVs, lots of little local shops), today was my first experience navigating the big city. I went with Adelle, who I'm training with, to find a 100 yen shop (dollar store) so that she could get a watch while waiting for hers to be fixed. It wasn't a very difficult task but I found it odd that the store was located on the 8th floor of a building. I'm so used to sprawling strip malls, but they don't make very much sense in a city with a population density of 5500/km2. Crazy, eh?

Over all I'm still doing very well. I'm surrounded by english speakers at home and at work so I always have someone to talk to. The most difficult thing right now is being without a phone or internet (I'm using Karen's computer now, but it's not the same as having my own). I'm feeling a little disconnected from the outside world, seeing as I can't understand the news on TV or just pick up a news paper. I'm still on the lookout for a good internet cafe. Once I find one of those, you should be hearing from me more often :)