BBQ in the Kagoshima hills

After frisbee last weekend one of the frisbee players invited me and a bunch of others to his house in the Kagoshima hills for a BBQ. I had no reason to say no so of course I went. The view from his house was amazing. The pictures are of the Sakurajima volcano in the distance and a small piece of Kagoshima city, cropped by the hills.

The culture shock is fading, but still present

I finally feel somewhat settled in with my apartment and my job. Maybe having a cell phone has helped, but I'm still without internet in my apartment. Actually, once I get internet I'll feel like a real boy again. Right now I'm still somewhat like Pinocchio.

I'm still getting used to all of the people staring at me almost everywhere I go. People like to just yell "hello" at me randomly. Usually when I reply with "hello" they just laugh.

A lot of young Japanese guys think it's cool to drive big American cars. Apparently they're really expensive and rare here. Yesterday I saw this young guy blasting some American rap song and driving around with 4 tv screens in his car. He was rapping along with the song but didn't seem to have any idea what he was saying. When he noticed me he stopped. It was awesome!

Akune camping trip

I went camping on an island called Akune this weekend. It was absolutely beautiful! The other teacher at my school and a few students organized the trip. We all slept in this tiny, Japanese style room, in this big hotel-like cottage thing. It was very hot and I was shocked that we all could fit in it, but it was an adventure and the barbecue we ate was amazing. We also got to light off fireworks the night we were there, so it made up for missing the 4th of July celebration back home.

Ultimate Frisbee.... Yess!

I found out about an Ultimate Frisbee game in a city a couple hours away. I played today and realized it was what I was missing. I need exercise and a little taste of home. I had to take a 1 hour bus, 1 hour ferry, and another short bus ride to get there, but it was worth it. Round trip takes about 5 hours and costs about $30. I'm thinking of going every weekend since it'll allow me to play Ultimate and also explore other parts of Japan and the big city of Kagoshima.

Work....ouch....huh?

I love teaching, but my first week has kicked my butt. There is so much to learn. Names, company policies, lesson planning, computer programs, student information, answering the phone in Japanese, speaking slowly.

I'm still getting over my jet lag and the culture shock. I think I have a love/hate relationship with Japan at the moment. I can't wait to get comfortable and settled in, and make some friends! It'll happen soon, but I'm just being impatient.