I arrived in Japan just in time for Golden Week, a major holiday time. Banks etc were closed until Thursday so I had to make sure I had enough cash to live on for a while when I left the airport. Sunday was a busy day for day-trippers and I was among them. I went out to the mountains with 2 Japanese girls, Mika & Satoko, who also live in the gaijin house. The trains were VERY crowded. Our destination was the town of Nagatoro in Chichibu. We ate and we played tourist. The Japanese do that as well at home as they do abroad.

First we went for a ride on the river in a long wooden boat. We were seated along the sides, facing the centre, and at either end a man with a pole pushed us along - but we were going downstream anyway. The river was quite shallow and there were several sets of rapids along the course we followed. We "shot the rapids" in this wooden boat! There were clear sheets of plastic which ran along the sides behind us. We pulled them up to our shoulders (above the edge of the boat) to keep dry when the "waves" splashed up. It was a bit of excitement, not a big rush, but fun.

At the end of the course we were herded straight into minibuses and driven back into town. We walked away from the main part of the town, up the lower part of Mt Hodo (Hodo-San - 487m). At the top of the road was a temple which we checked out. It was set amongst trees, and along the paths running in and out of the trees were other little temples with specific purposes such as good luck in exams.

We decided to walk up the mountain. The path was wide and lots of people were going both ways. Near the top we heard drums and music and saw a small parade coming down from the temple on top of the mountain. We stopped by to watch and I took a photo which was the last on my film. I tried to change the roll as quickly as I could but it wasn't fast enough. A man walking near the head of the parade came and offered to take a picture of me with the priest leading it. My friends had to explain that I was out of film. What a disappointment!!!

At the top there was a great view of the valley on the opposite side from the town. There were other towns, a bit of industry, the river, and more green mountains. It was very hazy but beautiful.

I had my first my first experience of the traditional Japanese toilet there. Yes, you have to squat, but it's about a million times better than my previous experience of a squat toilet, which was a hole in the floor in a restaurant in the South of France. It's a proper bowl lowered into the floor. Toilet paper is generally provided. And it flushes! (I've also seen public toilets of both Western and Japanese styles that have a seat built into the stall where your little kids can sit while they wait for you.)

We took the cable car back down to the bottom, listening to a narration by a woman who sounded like (a) she had memorized her spiel long ago and (b) was holding her nose while she repeated it. Of course, I have no idea what she was saying. The only Japanese words I can recognize are the names of the train stations I need to get off at, and the word for "next" which goes with them! And "please", "thank you", and "excuse me", as long as they're said relatively clearly.

Sunday was a long day, but it was great. I started to really enjoy this country for the first time and I drove Mika crazy on the way home because I was trying to learn to read some of the signs in the train. I now know how to determine on which side the doors will open.

Japanese trains are amazing. The drivers are trained to stop within a metre of a certain point, and the signs on the platform that tell you the time & destination of the train also indicate how many cars it has and how many doors are on the cars. The appropriate places to stand in order to be in front of a door are marked along the edge of platform. And I'd been wondering how everybody knew to line up in the right place!

There are so many things to tell about Japan. I've been keeping notes and will send more "snapshots" soon. But my time at the internet cafe is running out, so I'll just tell you a bit about my job.

On Monday I went into Tokyo (Harajuku) for Orientation. Lunch was provided - a Bento box of food worth about 2000 yen (over $20 Cdn). This was one of my first experiences with the "Blade Runner" aspect of Tokyo, because when I walked out of the station (which is quite small) the first thing I saw was a HUGE video screen on the wall across the street. Near the Nova office, kids were waiting on the corner for HMV to open.

Orientation was pretty good, I finally got directions for my training school and my new branch. I saw the people I'd met at the airport, and met some new people too. After Orientation a lot of us went to a bar nearby, where they had a deal for Nova trainees for the evening - all food and drinks were 500 yen.

Training was, as I said, at Tokorozawa. It's a fairly big, busy branch, and training there was a pretty intense experience. The 3 of us being trained only had 3 days to go from knowing nothing to being able to plan and teach a class on our own. We had homework both Tuesday and Wednesday nights and I was so frazzled I found myself staring at it, wanting desperately to sleep and wondering how I'd ever manage to plan a class in 10 minutes if I couldn't do it in 2 hours.

Well, practice helps. They definitely threw us in the deep end and I'm swimming along. But it's the steepest learning curve I've ever experienced! My days off are Wednesday and Thursday, so I have to work a full work week immediately following training. I was glad not to get a break between training and work, because it kept everything fresh, but I could do with one now.

Hanno is a VERY small branch. There are only 5 teachers there. At Tokorozawa they said to me, "It's so small, your classes will probably be 3 or 4 people." (The usual is 3 or less.) Well, my first class was with 1 person! No trouble figuring out how to fill the time for now, most of the students are curious about me because I'm new. They have been very nice so far. Quite a variety of people and I have to be very flexible. I had a lesson scheduled with a woman who is a professional rock climber! She was in another class before mine, with 2 others who suddenly decided to join my class to meet the new teacher.

So, I have 2 more days before I get a break, and then I have some government paperwork to take care of. Also, I have a few more training sessions on some more advanced stuff coming up at the end of the week, and tomorrow night I have to do the homework for it.

Copyright Ailsa Wylie 1999