Welcome to Japan!

the Keio Plaza hotel room
When I first arrived in Tokyo, the first thing I saw was the hotel room at the Keio Plaza, where I immediately fell asleep, a victim of hellish jet lag.
The first time I looked out my hotel window, this was the view I saw. We were staying in Shinjuku, one of the most crowded and busy parts of Tokyo.

I didn't have much time for sight-seeing while I was in Tokyo, but the hotel was right across from the government building that I've seen destroyed so many times in Japanese movies and manga. :-) There's a cheerful thought. rounding up the herd
After the seminar in Tokyo, they grouped us all together by prefecture and sent us on our way. Here we were meeting up in the hotel getting ready to get on the bus that would take us to the airport, where the plane would take us to Kochi.

On the bus, we could see Tokyo Tower out the window. I begged one of the guys on the side nearest the landmark to take a picture for me. It came out surprisingly well! This is yet another famous structure that often plays an important role in Japanese movies and manga. Nankoku City ALTs
After we arrived in Kochi, we met the representatives from our city. This was our first "group" picture. From left to right, we are Peter Schweigert, Ernest French, Sachi Nagano (not an ALT!), Katherine Martin, and me, Jennifer Califf. One other ALT, Michael Garder, didn't arrive until later. Sachi Nagano, who works for Nankoku City, speaks English very well and helped us get used to living in Nankoku.

a big chicken
The symbol of Nankoku City is the rooster with the very long tail. This is a tile mural in the Nankoku City office building. It's a very large picture, stretching a couple of stories above the first floor. the front of my apartment
I don't have many pictures of my apartment yet, but here's the entryway and the kitchen. It's a very small apartment, only the entryway/kitchen, a bathroom, and the main room with my bed, desk, tv, etc. It's just like living in a dorm.

Here are a couple of pictures from Muroto-misaki. Sachi took us there for a day in the summer. The other ALTs went swimming, but I decided that swimming with those kind of rocks and so many giant bugs hanging around on the rocks really wasn't for me.
There are some gorgeous lava formations at Muroto. Muroto-misaki (cape) is famous for many reasons. One thing is that it is on the very edge of a plate in front of a subduction zone creating a very deep trench close to shore. Because of its proximty to the shore, they were able to easily run pipeline down into the deep sea water, which is supposed to have a very different mineral content than water from other sources, and is theoretically very good for you. You can buy deep sea water from Muroto in the grocery stores in Japan.

in Takamatsu
I decided I needed to take a little trip, so I decided to go to Takamatsu. Kristin
This is my friend Kristin. We went to Takamatsu together, and did a lot of shopping. It was only a one-day trip, but we also got in some sightseeing.

When I first arrived in Tokyo, the first thing I saw was the hotel room at the Keio Plaza, where I immediately fell asleep, a victim of hellish jet lag.	The first time I looked out my hotel window, this was the view I saw. We were staying in Shinjuku, one of the most crowded and busy parts of Tokyo.
I didn't have much time for sight-seeing while I was in Tokyo, but the hotel was right across from the government building that I've seen destroyed so many times in Japanese movies and manga. :-) There's a cheerful thought.	After the seminar in Tokyo, they grouped us all together by prefecture and sent us on our way. Here we were meeting up in the hotel getting ready to get on the bus that would take us to the airport, where the plane would take us to Kochi.
On the bus, we could see Tokyo Tower out the window. I begged one of the guys on the side nearest the landmark to take a picture for me. It came out surprisingly well! This is yet another famous structure that often plays an important role in Japanese movies and manga.	After we arrived in Kochi, we met the representatives from our city. This was our first "group" picture. From left to right, we are Peter Schweigert, Ernest French, Sachi Nagano (not an ALT!), Katherine Martin, and me, Jennifer Califf. One other ALT, Michael Garder, didn't arrive until later. Sachi Nagano, who works for Nankoku City, speaks English very well and helped us get used to living in Nankoku.
The symbol of Nankoku City is the rooster with the very long tail. This is a tile mural in the Nankoku City office building. It's a very large picture, stretching a couple of stories above the first floor.	I don't have many pictures of my apartment yet, but here's the entryway and the kitchen. It's a very small apartment, only the entryway/kitchen, a bathroom, and the main room with my bed, desk, tv, etc. It's just like living in a dorm.
Here are a couple of pictures from Muroto-misaki. Sachi took us there for a day in the summer. The other ALTs went swimming, but I decided that swimming with those kind of rocks and so many giant bugs hanging around on the rocks really wasn't for me.	There are some gorgeous lava formations at Muroto. Muroto-misaki (cape) is famous for many reasons. One thing is that it is on the very edge of a plate in front of a subduction zone creating a very deep trench close to shore. Because of its proximty to the shore, they were able to easily run pipeline down into the deep sea water, which is supposed to have a very different mineral content than water from other sources, and is theoretically very good for you. You can buy deep sea water from Muroto in the grocery stores in Japan.
I decided I needed to take a little trip, so I decided to go to Takamatsu.	This is my friend Kristin. We went to Takamatsu together, and did a lot of shopping. It was only a one-day trip, but we also got in some sightseeing.