Movin' in...

Sunday. What a day! After my hour shower excursion, I had some time to kill before church started. at 2:45pm. Now that's convenient for people who skip church using the excuse that it is too early (ehem, people like me). So at 2:45, I sat around a table with 6 other people for church. Naturally, I didn't understand hardly anything, but the people were nice.

One of the church members, Junko, has been a tremendous blessing for me. She has been so kind to take me to buy a futon, dishes, washing machine, and air conditioner. What a blessing!!! I don't know what I would have done with out all of these things.

I am getting tired of living in the church, but thank goodness...my apartment will be ready this afternoon!!! I am signing the contract and moving in this afternoon. Yea!!! it will be nice to have a place to call home. and after over a week and a half, I am ready to stop living out of a suitcase, and start living out of a home.

In fact, I am leaving the school to move into my apartment now!

Karaoke and Hour Showers

Written 08-21-06

I would be posting more, but things are still crazy, and plus I don't readily have access to the internet. The past few days have been challenging, but they have also been full of blessings. So for the past few days, I have been staying in the church. And this church is not like any church in the States. There is a small kitchen, a small bedroom (where the pastor sleeps sometimes since he lives about an hour away), a small bathroom, and the sanctuary. And the sanctuary is also the church office, fellowship hall, and my bedroom. I am sleeping on a couch right next to the altar. It's a little strange, but I am thankful for the place to stay. I have continued to shadow the other teacher Karyn in a few classes that I will be taking over for her. After sitting through some of her classes, I began to feel really overwhelmed. It has been very stressful for me to be in a new country, to not have a home, and to start a new job. But after a day or two, I began to feel a little more at ease. So I am ready to start teaching. And I start today! In about an hour, I leave to teach my first solo class. It will be a group of toddlers, probably 1-2 years old. I think it's kinda funny b/c most of them can't even speak Japanese, but I guess that takes some stress of my shoulders. I am just going to play with them, and sing some songs (like the ABC song, or a variety of others on a CD I have). So exciting. And then later today, I will be co-teaching about 2 or 3 other classes with Karyn.

Saturday night, I went to go sing karaoke with Karyn and her friend Kaori. It was nice. And it was expensive. We sang for about 3 hours and spent almost $100. But it was fun. I think they were both surprised that I actually sang a lot (or tried to sing anyways). They just expected me to tag along for a beer and an occasional song, but they were quite impressed at my rendition of "You Spin Me Round" by Dead or Alive, and "Song 2" by Blur. Guess I showed them. Yarhar.

Well the bad thing about staying in the church is that there is no shower. I have to walk to the train station (7min), wait for the train, ride the train 2 stops (10min), and walk to one of the Agape Schools (5min) just to take a shower. Talk about inconvenient, and by the time I get back to the church, I am already sweating profusely. But thank goodness I only have to endure that for a little while longer.

Yay for Jet Lag!!!

So Japan is currently 14 hours ahead of east coast usa. That kinda sucks for the first few days. I am still staying in this hotel room, but tommorrow I am moving into a church, to sleep on a couch. and then I have to take a train to the next train station just to take a shower in an unairconditioned building, and you think that Athens is hot, well I believe that it is probably more humid here, and a lot of buildings are not airconditioned. At least no one leaves the airconditioning on. Even when I come back to this hotel room, I have to stick and leave my room card-key into a slot in order to turn on the airconditioning.

But I am doing quite well today. I am not teaching solo till monday, but I went and helped the other teacher, Karyn, help teach English at a day care/ pre-school. Most of the kids were 2 or younger, and couldn't even speak their own language, so naturally, it was weird. But starting next week (i think) I will be teaching that group alone. Fun.

Well I've got a meeting at the church in 18 minutes, so I'd better get myself over that way. More later.

My First Day/Night in Japan

I'm freakin' exhausted. But what have I got to complain about? I'm in a really nice hotel in Kurashiki, at least until I find an apartment. I have internet (thank goodness). I've tried to get a a hold of my mom, but I have no idea how the phones work. So I sent my mom an email, I'm writing this blog, and I'm watching a Japanese karaoke gameshow. Exciting. And Sam, that link you posted on my facebook wall, the guy at the end of the line, who doesn't want to get his balls slapped by that horrible contraption is on this show; thought you'd like to know.

So recap: I stayed up all night, Sunday night, packing my bags and then slept on a shuttle bus all the way to Atlanta. Then hopped a flight to Chicago, then a 13 hour flight to Osaka. Wow. 13 hours is a really really really long time to sit on your buttocks. I sat next to a Navy doctor named Javier Agraz. And of course, after 13 hours of nothing to do but talk and watch crappy movies, we were pretty much BFF. So shout out to ya Doc, who will be sailing all around East Asia and even Africa for two years. (He owes me a drink, and I better get it.)

After I arrived in Osaka, it was train time. So skipping boring details, I was invited by two middle-aged sisters and their mother to sit next to them on my first train. And they spoke practically no English, so it was naturally an interesting experience trying to communicate to them in Japanese. They were so wonderful and kind. I was really touched with how interested they were with me and that they invited me to sit with them.

So train, train, then finally I met Yumiko, who is a Japanese manager at the school I will be working with. I felt bad because she had been waiting for me for almost an hour, but we hopped another train, then met Yu-can't remember, another manager at the Agape English school. They are both so lovely and nice (both female btw). They took me to my hotel, where I am now. And amazingly, as I said good-night, Yumiko suggested that the three of us pray. Amazing! It was the last thing I was expecting. Yumiko prayed for us and for me, and I truly felt blessed; to have someone pray over me and my arrival.

Well, it has been a long day, and me very tired. I am going apartment hunting tommorrow, so wish me luck. Oyasuminasai (goodnight).

I'm goin' to Japan!

I took a job today to go to Japan. I will be teaching English at Agape English School in Kurashiki, Japan. I leave August 14th and will stay at least a year. I start teaching August 21st, after I find an apartment and get settled in.

I can hardly believe it. I really thought that I wouldn't be able to make it to Japan till at least the beginning of next year. So this is going to be my journal for all my friends and other people that are interested. Hopefully I can keep this up to date. Please check back here for updates on my trip.

Don't be afraid to come visit me.

Sincerely,
Wayne McLemore