Seeing a movie in Japan!

So last weekend I decided to venture out and see the new Harry Potter movie in Japan. There is no movie theater in my city so I had to go to another city called Ebina. Luckily, Ebina is only about 2 1/2 miles from my apartment so I walked there but took the train home. I was afraid this was going to be quite the adventure as I don't speak Japanese but it was fun!
Seeing a movie in Japan is a bit different than seeing one in the States. One of the first big differences is seating. In Japan, you seat is reserved. MANY people buy their ticket ahead of time online.
A tip: Buy you ticket online! It saved me 100 yen AND made the process of getting my ticket SUPER easy even though I don't speak Japanese.
I went to a chain called Toho Cinema. The website was in English and Japanese making it very accessible to foreigners. I bought my ticket online and got a confirmation number. The ticket was 1300 yen which is about $14. This is not bad for a movie in Japan.
A tip: Check out your theater's website to find discount days! They have a few here in Japan. I went on the first of the month which is a discount day as is the 14th and every Wednesday is Ladies Day so women get in for cheap.
I planned out my route and got there early.

A picture of the outside of the theater

The ticket machine

Since I had bought my ticket online, I had to get my ticket from the ticket machine. It was very user friendly and also had some nice English directions :) I then, of course, ventured over to the snacks because what is a movie with no popcorn? They had similar snacks to what we have in the US and then some! My favorite addition was caramel popcorn. There were also foods like churros, sandwiches, nachos, and hot dogs. The candy counter was amazing! There was a separate section where you could buy all kinds of candy. It was all the kind where you create your own bag. Definitely no snowcaps or sour patch kids. I ended up getting just a popcorn and soda.
A tip: Movie snacks in Japan cost less than they do in the States (a paid about $6 for a medium popcorn and soda) so come to the theater ready to eat. It's a really nice treat for yourself.

My popcorn and drink :)

They give you this nifty tray that attaches to your cup holder if you get a popcorn and soda combo. I was already to go have a seat about 15 mins before the movie started. HOWEVER, movie theaters don't generally let you in early. I didn't know this so I had to wait in the lobby for another 10 mins. Since the seating is pre-assigned, they don't let you in until about 3-5 mins before showtime.
Actually watching the movie was also a unique experience. People don't react to the movie at all. If there is a funny part, hold in your laughter as NO ONE will laugh. If you have to cry, sniffle back your tears. It was dead silent the whole time.
A tip: People in Japan stay for the whole movie. That includes the credits. Try not to be the disrespectful one who leaves during the credits.
All in all, it was a very positive experience and I'm sure I will venture out to Ebina again sometime soon to see another movie (on a discount day of course).

Work week 1

Okay, so this week was the first week that I had to teach lessons all by myself. It was very stressful but still fun. I had plenty of late nights planing and making props. I thought that this job would be very simple. There are not many people working for this company that have actual teaching degrees and in a way it is. I can come up with lesson ideas and whatnot pretty quickly. The thing I didn't expect was all the "prop" making. Basically, all the materials are not provided for us. So, for example, this week I had to teach a lesson about the months and days of the week. Pretty simple topic to teach kids. However, I had to make or buy anything like a calender that I wanted to use. Now, I'm not complaining. There are worse situations to be in. At least the company that I work for has a curriculum already in place instead of just telling me to do whatever. I just wasn't expected coloring to play such a major role in teaching English overseas. I'm sure I will find more resourceful and efficient ways to work around this but for now, a lot of my time is spent working on these props. On the plus side, I'm still in the honeymoon stage with my kids so I enjoy them a lot! One of them even wrote me a hello letter:

It will be very nice to relax this weekend! Hoping to get to a movie tomorrow. I'll let you know how similar and different things are between Japan and the States.

Japanese Skills

When I was first offered the job, they told me not to learn Japanese. They didn't want me to know any so I wouldn't respond to the kids in Japanese. They told me I would be absolutely fine with a very basic knowledge of Japanese. I'd like to take this time to say that they were wrong. Yes, I can survive with my very minimal knowledge of Japanese but I find it hard to do some really simple things. Example: going to a restaurant (and this is the one that frustrates me the most). I can't order or even read the menu. A couple of big chain restaurants have English menus but sometimes, I just want to go to a locally owned bar or restaurant. I'm making it a goal while I'm here to learn a lot more Japanese in my free time. I want to be able to get out there and do things. Not just have to settle with pointing and miming and HOPING we can understand each other. I'm starting to get frustrated that I can't communicate with others or read anything. I know that I will get used to it and learn more as I stay here longer. I just wish that the company had been more upfront about how important learning the language was instead of leading me to believe that most residents had knowledge of basic English from High School and Junior High. I'll keep you posted on the language learning situation.

Apartment

So, I've finally gotten all settled down into my apartment here in Atsugi. It is small. However, I don't feel like I really NEED much more space. It's good for just me. It's about the size of a dorm room at college. So far, I have not been able to hear or see any of my neighbors. I'll let you know if I ever bump into them.

My apartment :)

My TV and "dresser"

My "desk" and very tiny chair

I wish my kitchen were bigger but that's the only problem I have with my apartment

Take your shoes off please.

The toilet has the sink built right in

Training Week

Phew! It's been awhile! Sorry for the delay but my training center didn't have any internet! Anyway, here I am, in Japan! I was greeted by this sign at the airport:

Yay! I'm here!

Then, we took the shinkansen (bullet train) to Okayama.

I'm such a tourist, I even took a picture of the train.

There were 13 of us in our training group which is a HUGE amount of trainees. We all lived in a company dorm that was basically just an apartment building converted to have a common are and no kitchen in the rooms. We had two days off before training began and we took advantage of it! First we went to the Okayama castle and gardens.

The gardens as viewed from a hill

We spent the night by going to an Izakaya (a traditional Japanese bar) and karaoke!

Karaoke-ing it up!

  Then, training began. I was told to expect something horrible and intense. I actually found it quite enjoyable! Maybe it was because I already had a background in teaching. They did a fantastic job of explaining some pretty sound teaching methods. The hardest part for me was to learn their drilling structure. I'm sure that will come in time. We got to prepare and practice teaching 4-5 lessons and then at the end of the week, we got to teach some real Japanese kids. They were fantastic and I had a lot of fun! I can't wait to start planning some lessons of my own and meeting my students. The training week wasn't all work either. I got to meet some awesome people and we went out a couple of times to experience Japan together.

We cooked dinner together

 

 

 

 

We went to another Izakaya

On the last night, the trainers took us to a nice dinner!

All in all, my first week in Japan has been AMAZING! I hope it stays that way now that I'm by myself and actually teaching.

Errands!

I leave on Friday! Yikes! I have quite the list of things to buy and do. There are so many little things that you don't think about doing that I'm getting bombarded with now. My list looks like this:
~Buy navy blue socks, outlet converters, shoes, and slippers
~Visit At&T and Verizon to get my phone and internet canceled/worked out
~Get Yen (200,000 of it to be exact)
~Print off important sheets from my company
~Buy gifts for my co-workers (It's apparently a Japanese tradition)
~Talk to my bank and credit card companies so they don't cancel my accounts for "fraudulent charges from Japan"
~Re-pack (6th times the charm) so both suitcases are actually under the 50 lb limit
~Disconnect accounts from my phone number (like Twitter, my eye doctor, Discover, etc.)
Seems impossible, but I know I can do it! The next time I update it will be from Japan (I think)!

Living it up!

It has been over a week since I have written a blog post. Sorry for the delay! I have been very busy lately! I have only a week and a half to go before I move to Japan and three days until I move out of my apartment. You may think I've been busy packing but you would be wrong. I have been busy trying to get in a lot of "last" things before I leave. Here's a sample of what I've been up to:
~directed a play
~got my Visa
~Went to my best friends birthday party (maybe my "last time" bowling)
~Got a hair cut

Isn't it cute?!

~Went to a Cubs game

Wrigley Field is the BEST!

~Saw Glee in concert

My friends and I before the concert

~ Saw a comedian in Chicago (Joel McHale)

Outside the Chicago Theater

~Went camping with some of my best friends

Making dinner: camping style

And that's just a sampling of what I've been up to! I really have been living it up lately! Now I just need to pack up everything I own. Yikes! I'll let you know how that goes in my next post.