Dartboard

Finally, today was our last morning of orientation madness and I met one of my coworkers! Tomonaga-sensei ("sensei" means "teacher") came and picked me up at Omura International Hotel to take me to Nagasaki City. Somehow, just putting a face to a name has eased some of my fears. He's not even my supervisor, but at least I have a friendly face and I'm so relieved. Tomonaga-sensei is very inquisitive, talkative--and very strong! He carried my 70 pound bag all around town today--upstairs, downstairs, on the train, off the train, in the taxi, out of the taxi, on the elevator, off the elevator, etc, etc. I was carrying lots too, but he always took the huge bag. He's 42 with two children, 8 and 10 years-old. His son is a sumo wrestler, which I was very excited to learn. Tomonaga doesn't seem to be a typical Japanese person though. He seems pretty informal and easy-going. Everything except the time! He has a stopwatch clock that he keeps around his neck and tucks in his front shirt pocket. He looks at it all the time and is a glowing example of Japanese punctuality.

Once we got settled into our hotel in Nagasaki and had some lunch, Tomonaga-sensei showed me around Nagasaki City a bit. I didn't really see enough to have an opinion on the city yet, but I'm sure it will seem huge after being in Narao for a while. We walked through China Town, which is basically one short alley, then walked up to Hollander's Slope. There is a huge Dutch influence here. In fact, at one point, all foreigners were called Hollanders. At the top of the slope there is a nice view of the city and the ocean.

The view from Hollander's Slop

We stopped in on this international house, an international cafe of sorts, the walls covered with a collection of "things" from all over the world. Then we rushed through Glover's Garden. It is an absolutely beautiful garden with the largest koi (or maybe carp?) I have ever seen. I was regretting that I was wearing high heels and my suit skirt, (oh the blisters I formed walking all over Nagasaki City in heels!) but I didn't know when I'd be meeting my supervisor and making my first impression. I didn't want to risk it in casual clothes.

The view of Nagasaki from Glover's Garden

The pond full of koi at Glover's Garden

Me at a Catholic church in Nagasaki.

So tonight I'm staying in this hotel in Nagasaki City, only one more night of this living out of a suitcase business and then I get to go home! I can't wait. Actually very soon I should be meeting my supervisor, Hatakeyama-sensei. He is coming to the hotel in Nagasaki in 10 minutes so I'll have to shut down my computer and be punctual.

Love and high heels,
Sierra