Settling in- Finally

So I am finally settling into my new more permanent life here in Japan.  Two weeks ago I signed a one year lease to live in a social apartment on the outskirts of Tokyo.  Technically I am in the city of Yokohama, but it takes about 1/2 an hour by train to get to downtown Yokohama in one direction and downtown Tokyo in the other.  Remember those old college dorm days? Well, that is what I am reliving now.  Of course, as is Japanese style, you need to wear house slippers inside.  So there are shoe cubbies down by the front door for shoe storage.  We have a large shared kitchen downstairs- with an island in the middle with 4 stoves and 4 sinks.  Each person has a small cupboard for dry food storage.  Other common space includes a dining room, hang out room, fitness room (I use it daily), and a game room.  Each private bedroom has basic furniture and a mini fridge.  The apartment is nestled in a residential neighborhood up on a hill, about 12 minutes walking from the station.

Slowly I am starting to meet people.  Last night I went out to dinner with 4 Japanese girls who I live with- ages ranging from 23 to 35.  As my Japanese is still nothing more than a few greetings, they practiced their English on me- and were also very happy when I wanted to learn new Japanese words for different things.  Right away we found things in common.  Akiko and Fumi like running and invited me to join them in training for a 20k relay (each person runs 5k).  Maiko loves salsa dancing, so we are planning to go this next weekend.  Last night I tried Korean BBQ for the first time, and found it absolutely delicious.  Maybe my body really has been craving meat all this time (haha).

I started work a week ago.  The first week was a complete blur, honestly.  The training was intense and at times felt very overwhelming.  So much needed to be presented in a very short amount of time.  Now that I am getting the hang of it, things are running much more smoothly.  Each of my training days I taught more and more lessons.  I was observed and critiqued after each one and given one-on-one support from the head teachers about how to make improvements and how to handle different situations.  Sunday the 21st was my first full day of work on my own and things ran really smoothly.

I am not really working at a school in the traditional sense.  Its more like a tutoring service.  Students of all ages (3-65 or so) come in for a 50-minute session.  Some lessons are private, some semi private and some group (no more than 4).  Many students request certain lesson plans because they have particular needs in English- traveling abroad, international work, exam studying, general interest, returning from living abroad and want to keep up their language skills.  Each lesson still follows a specific format with warm up activities, vocabulary review, textbook work and games. One of the big perks? I get to wear slippers all day long! (haha)

My coworkers are great.  They were very supportive during my first week and as the week ended, a bunch of us hung out with beers and popcorn and watched movies.  They are from all over- Australia, New Zealand, England, Canada, Illinois, North Carolina, Iowa and a few from California.

So apartment- settling in
Work - settling in

Today I am off to do two things: take my first Japanese lesson and a zumba class!!