The dog days are over...

Obon week marks the ending of the summer holidays for most Japanese. It is a time of both reflection and celebration. Traditionally, Japanese people return to their hometowns for a few days, and spend time with their family. They reflect upon those they have lost in the past, and they visit their ancestors’ graves to clean them up. Many times, the living will leave offerings in the form of fruits and flowers; it’s not uncommon to see toro nagashi (luminarias) set adrift to sea. It is with high hopes that the ancestors’ spirits will return and visit the altars in the homes of the living.

All week I couldn’t help but feel connected to the people surrounding me. Some things are the same across international borders. The dead are to be remembered and respected… especially the ones that you cared for. The thought of all my family and friends who have died were constantly running through my mind. I didn’t feel any different, and it’s not like I imagined them talking to me in my dreams or anything like that. It’s just that since it was all around me, I couldn’t help but to keep them on the forefront of my mind. It also made me that much happier to be on this side of the alive/dead spectrum. Life is short and yadda yadda yadda.

While an important part of  Obon week is dedicated to the dead, it also about celebration with the living. In general, this is a time for partying: eating, drinking and being Merry. (See what I did there, Brooke and Joe?) Many towns, including my own, have lots of festivals. Fireworks, food, it’s an invitation across the nation for Dancing in the Street.

High school guided tour of Zenkō-ji

I began to feel more and more at home in 塩尻. I have made several English-speaking friends who are all nice in their own way. None of them are exactly the same as me, but that’s okay. I have come to the conclusion that the community of English-speaking expats in Japan, namely Nagano, is as diverse as the United States itself.

New 2013 JETs with Nagano-ken mascot, Arukuma

Yes. The English speakers here have all been incredibly nice to me. Back at home, people can be choosy about their friends: “I only hang out with dog-loving, conservative, Christian accountants who have three children and have spaghetti night at least twice a month.” Here it isn’t really like that. Differences truly have to be put aside to fit in and be well-adjusted. I mean, you could in theory be picky, but that’s a surefire way to be friendless in a foreign country, and who wants that?

ジミーとアリーシヤ Karaoke Fun Time...

Nothing amazing happens here. Everything is ordinary...

塩尻市 is a small town located off the Japanese Alps. It is considered the “highlands.” It’s about 2500 feet above sea-level, and it’s pretty far away from any sort of coast, so it’s pretty dry in regards to the humidity factor. There are mountains all around, and the city limits are in a valley, so to speak. Although peaks surround me, my part of town, the central area, is relatively flat. When I first discovered this, my initial thoughts were “Damn! Just like Houston. Flat, flat, and more flat,” but when I got here, I was pleasantly surprised. My place is slightly uphill from the downtown area, and I’m about a half mile from some decent foothills.

West side of town from library roof.

East side of town from library roof. I live on the horizon near grass and rice paddies.

The population of my town is about 68,000. This is a relatively small number compared to what I’m used to, but it’s nice. Shiojiri is one of those places,much like in the U.S., and every country for that matter, that has sucked in or annexed several small surrounding towns and villages. One of which is Narai-juku. This cute little post-town was featured as my timeline cover photo and I was taken by my supervisor to visit it last week. It’s pretty cool. If you wanna know more, you can follow the link above.

I'm thirsty...

Shiojiri reminds me of Justin Moore’s Small Town U.S.A. Even though there are 68,000 people, it has a small town feel. As I zoom through the narrow streets on my mama-chari (bike with bell and basket- we don’t have a word for it), I feel compelled to speak to every stranger I pass. “Ohayou Gozaimasu! Konnichiwa! Konbanwa,” depending on the sun’s location. Most residents speak back with a smile: The man who owns a locally grown produce shop down the main drag, the cute octogenarian who prunes and waters her plants every morning, even the adorable four year old who never tires of riding his kid-powered ride-on truck back and forth in front of his parents’ toy shop.

The weather in Shiojiri can be described by a Houstonian as mild. Granted, I’ve only been here for a few weeks, I would say that late July to the middle of August would be the brunt of any northern hemisphere summer. To save everyone time, myself included, I will refer to temperature in Fahrenheit. In the morning around sunrise, which is before 5 AM (No Daylight Savings Time here), the temperature hovers around 68. As the day progresses, it gets to about 90 on a really hot day. The sun sets by 6 PM, so the evenings are cool and breezy, making it an easy segue into the mid 60s for the dead of night.

Shiojiri is considered a minor transit hub. I know many of my friends and family may think that I’m in Tokyo (Pronounced TOE-KEY-YO for us Texans). I’m actually in central Japan. Nagano-ken to be exact. I would like to think the whole world revolves around me, and if the whole world were the four islands of Japan, I would be correct... sort of. Technically the geographic center of Japan is somewhere in Gunma prefecture, but no one's doing the math. For those of you who know Japanese geography, it takes me two hours and some change to go east toward Tokyo, and about three hours west to Osaka. Being on Honshu, the main island, is beneficial for for rail transit, and since bike and train are my only mode of transportation for the time being, I consider myself lucky. Some folks don’t even have a train stop in their town. Lucky for me, it’s an 8-12 minute bike ride from my apartment to the JR station, depending on how lucky I am with stop lights.

All in all, Shiojiri reminds me of Mabase from FLCL, minus the Medical Mechanica plant, of course. For the few of you who get the reference, great. For those of you don’t, even better. This placement seems very well balanced. It has a lot to offer in way of location and basic small town amenities. I’m not in an igloo or a sweat lodge. I don’t live in the urban jungle or the sticks. Shiojiri is not Houston. Shiojiri is not Tokyo. Shiojiri is home. I think I will like it here.

I met you at orientation...

I stepped off the plane and onto the jet bridge. My stomach was queasy from twelve hours worth of airplane food, my eyes became hyper-sensitive to the sunlight, and my legs felt like Jell-O. It felt good to be on terra firma.

I would be lying if I said I enjoyed the flight. Don’t get me wrong: I’m glad it was a flight that landed safely as opposed to the alternative, but being in the air for thirteen hours is not something that I’m looking forward to anytime soon. I tip my hat to all flight attendants, pilots, engineers, and anyone that has anything to do with taking people thousands of feet into the air, and then placing them back down on the ground in one piece.

Narita International Airport, (NRT) for my airport code peeps, felt like any other airport that a traveler would come across. I expected a strange and new experience to come along with walking through the terminal, but in all honesty, it just wasn’t there. Of course, there were signs in Japanese, and lots of Japanese people, but on the whole, I was underwhelmed. The a-ha moment didn’t come until I opened the window of my hotel room and saw the vast urban sprawl that is Tokyo.

View from Keio Plaza Hotel room

There is a joke within the JET Programme community that Tokyo Orientation has been the same since its inception in the late 80s. It's probably true. So as to not bore you with every detail of my work-related Tokyo experience, let me just give you a few bullet points of what went on at the conference:

"Oh, the kids will be fine without helmets.
Just have them throw on their scarves."

• Lots of welcome speeches from the who’s who of the Japanese government. More specifically, people who are paid to promote internationalization and a global Japan.
• A keynote speech- You can’t have a conference without a keynote speech.
• “Ways to lose your job and ultimately get deported”
• Lots of breakout sessions in the form of teacher development- I actually enjoyed these. They made me feel slightly more prepared as to what I will be doing.
• Free meals- nom nom nom!
• Support for a JET’s  time in Japan- Where to find counseling when needed, tips for physical and mental health, how to handle having “natural hair” in Japan, religion, race, sexuality, gender roles, nationalism, earthquake emergency procedures...
  
  

Tokyo Orientation was so crammed with information and meetings that I never left the hotel during daylight hours, and I probably only retained 20% of the information given. The high point of my experience in Tokyo was my random trip to Akihabara. The twenty minute train ride and ninety minute stay in this electric town summed up my first impression of Japan's biggest city:

-Lots of people moving to the same electric beat.

-Similar to New York, minus the infamous summertime stench.

-Fast-moving trains and synchronized station music to entertain even the most hard-core train-a-holic.

"Don't drop Madeline's hat in the subway, little girl."

Looking back at my experience in Tokyo, I would say that I enjoyed myself. I can’t wait to go back again and visit it from the standpoint of a tourist as opposed to someone who is only there for 72 hours on business. It was overwhelming, exciting, fast-paced, but not a place that I can see myself living for an extended period of time. My first visit to Tokyo made me ready for my new small-town life in the big red dot.

Escalators of Akihabara