Getting settled in Shizuoka

Well, it’s been just over two weeks since I arrived in Shizuoka and I've finally settled in. I'm teaching around 22 hours a week, I've got my little black Nissan hatchback, my cozy little apartment and a nasty green tea habit, which I, ignorantly, thought was caffine free!!

I live in Oiwaga, Shizuoka, a small town about 30 minutes southeast of Shizuoka City and 15 minutes away from the Bowers English School in Makinohara City, where I teach 80% of my classes. I teach three classes in my apartment on Tuesdays and one on Saturday evenings. I also go to a private Kindergarden school on Monday afternoons, where five adorable, yet vicious, kindergarden students torment me for an hour. Teaching the high school and adult classes are not much of a problem for me, as I've been trained to teach them, but the children are still a bit of a challenge, yet enjoyable all the same.

Makinohara City (fomerly Haibara) is a surfing community and I take a walk on the beach everyday to watch all the Japanese surfers get all 90210 and shit. I've made it a priority to learn how to surf; a vow I made (but never kept) when I lived in Australia. Lately, the waves haven't been too big, but some dudes and dudesessies still get out there and try to Jeff Spicolli.


Ranie Bowers and her mom Hiroko have been incredibly kind and giving to me, as I try to settle into this new situation. They've fed me all kinds of Japanese delights, initiated my aforementioned green tea habit and took me to my first on-sen, a Japanese hot spring.

Now, for those of you who have never heard of this Japanese tradition, you get buck naked and hang out in hot baths. The men and women are seperated, so I was left to figure out what to do by watching the other men do what they do. All the men were between the ages of 50 and 300 years old, so I really felt out of place, however, it was an amazing experience, with the outdoor bath high on a mountain, looking over a river.

Tomoko Kobayashi came for a visit last weekend and helped me move into my apartment, which is probably 9 tetami, which means its pretty big in Japanese standards, but small compared to places in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal or Melbourne, where I've rented apartments.

As I was cleaning up today, I looked out my the window and realized I have a decent view of Mount Fuji. It reminds me of that stereotype we see in the movies that every apartment in Paris has a view of the Eiffel Tower. For the record, almost every apartment I've had in Toronto has had a view of the CN Tower!! Here's a picture of my view of Fuji-san.

I'm tying to get to Nagoya (around three hours away) to see The Pixies play in a 1,500 capacity club on Friday December 9, but my lack of direction and a 9:30 am class on Saturday morning may 86 that plan!

This weekend is our Christmas party weekend. On Friday, the kids and Saturday with the adults! It should be a lot of fun.