Thursday, August 05, 2004
Love and Isolation
Another two days of orientation. I really struggled to get through today. I just wanted to be in Narao, in my apartment, figuring all this stuff out for myself. I had the fidgets through the entire thing. I can really sympathize with ADHD victims. Group A has the better end of the deal. Arriving a week early, settling in and then coming to the prefecture orientation just to hear, "read your contract, don't drink and drive, don't do drugs, be on time, make a good first impression," for the umpteenth time. Like, duh.
So what did I learn at the Nagasaki Orientation? Apparently, at work we will have nothing to do for this first month. We just have to entertain ourselves at our desks. So I'm making a mental list of all the things I can do while at school: Study Japanese. Play on my computer, composing emails, and working on a website. Take pictures of the school, the other teachers. Read books. Knit a sweater. Study Kanji. Make lesson plans. Read news online. Run around the perimeter of the school ten times. I think I can entertain myself.
Today one guy tried to scare us. He's our block representative (Gotos Islands block) and was probably trying to give a realistic view of island life, but end up giving a depressing one. I am not scared though. Well, a little nervous. He told us we'd feel isolated and it's because we are. We won't get to all the places our friends will. We won't be able to participate in AJET functions because we're too far away. I appreciated his frankness, but I also brushed it off pretty quickly. I know others did not. But I also think others have it worse than me. Some people are on an island all by themselves with very limited ferry service. I at least have Catherine in walking distance and she's not a total fruitcake. We have a port out of Narao so I can leave pretty easily. There's even an airport on the North end of the island. I'll be fine, right?
Love and isolation,
Sierra
So what did I learn at the Nagasaki Orientation? Apparently, at work we will have nothing to do for this first month. We just have to entertain ourselves at our desks. So I'm making a mental list of all the things I can do while at school: Study Japanese. Play on my computer, composing emails, and working on a website. Take pictures of the school, the other teachers. Read books. Knit a sweater. Study Kanji. Make lesson plans. Read news online. Run around the perimeter of the school ten times. I think I can entertain myself.
Today one guy tried to scare us. He's our block representative (Gotos Islands block) and was probably trying to give a realistic view of island life, but end up giving a depressing one. I am not scared though. Well, a little nervous. He told us we'd feel isolated and it's because we are. We won't get to all the places our friends will. We won't be able to participate in AJET functions because we're too far away. I appreciated his frankness, but I also brushed it off pretty quickly. I know others did not. But I also think others have it worse than me. Some people are on an island all by themselves with very limited ferry service. I at least have Catherine in walking distance and she's not a total fruitcake. We have a port out of Narao so I can leave pretty easily. There's even an airport on the North end of the island. I'll be fine, right?
Love and isolation,
Sierra
