Uuuuugggghhh...Death would have been a dream come true. The second day of Kumamoto Orientation was awful. The day started like any day from hell, my alarm clock didn't go off. As I woke from my stooper, I looked at the clock next to my futon and it was a quarter till eight. The orientation meetings began at nine o'clock. Without a moments hesitation, I dressed, brushed my teeth, and ran out the door, all in the same breath.
I flew on my bike, as fast as possible, to the main street and got on the street car. The street car was the fastest way to the department store where our meeting was held. It was my own fault for being late, but that didn't keep me from getting upset at the train moving so slow and, god forbid, stopping to pick up other passengers. It was only after getting on the street car that my hangover was finally able to be recognized. I could only hope that everybody else was in the same shape. I knew they had a better nights rest than the few hours respite that I experienced. I needed sleep, and waiting until 4:30 was going to be excruciating.
I went to the eight floor of the Tsurya building. Everybody was milling around chatting about the previous night. I told a few people of my long strange trip, but the 'whole' story needed to wait for another day. As we started in to our first meeting, we were all dragging and my hangover didn't feel so bad after seeing the others.
I am not so sure what the first workshop was about, it must not have been that important, or I might have been unconscious for the whole thing. I have brief memories of there being a Senior High School teachers workshop, but I have been to so many different workshops and seminars on teaching that they have congealed into brief memories.
There was a long trip to the bathroom, not because I was feeling ill, but only to get a few minutes of rest. Sitting in a bathroom stall, in a foreign land, thinking only of when I could go home. My ass was warm, the heated seat was turned on, and I was comforted, in a weird way, by a toilet. I started to think of the previous nights activities, I thought about the similarity of the experience to any experience I would have had in Omaha, and I realized that the only difference was the background noise. I came here for something different, yet sometimes I fall into a trap of desire for the same.
After my rest, I went back to the workshop, which ended shortly. The next workshop was a Japanese language workshop. I was excited, as much as I could be, for the workshop. The guy who presented the workshop was probably one of the best presenters that I have had in any workshop in Japan. He talked about how to learn Japanese, instead of talking about the actual language. He introduced us to books and websites that talked about the theory of learning Japanese, and he gave us information about what was beneficial to him when he started learning the language. This workshop gassed me up for a few hours, which I needed if I was going to make it through the rest of the day.
After the Japanese language workshop, we had our lunch break. I went out to a restaurant with my friends Daniel and Chris, and a few other people came with us; Jacee from New Zealand, a guy from California, and another guy from America. The food was really good, but it took longer than expected. We all decided that instead of rushing, we would just skip the workshop after lunch. I wanted to go to my friend Chris' hotel and check my e-mail. I wanted to go home. Chris asked me if I wanted to crash in his room. I declined, I told him if I fell asleep it was going to be for a long time, and I didn't want to ruin my impending date with my futon. Lunch helped make me feel better, but I was still wrecked.
The final workshop of the day was a finance workshop. I am crap with money, so I thought it would be beneficial, for me, to go. The workshop had some good information about sending money home through wire transfers and other means. The tips on how to save money and where to get deals when buying food or household items was good information. The best part/most uncomfortable part, of the workshop, was the report between the presenters. Two guys and a girl went through the material, in some kind of balanced order, but there was one guy, the same guy who was my guide for my Yamaga expedition, who kept on cutting in with "information." He started to make the other two presenters angry, and you could start to see the disdain on the female presenter's face. With a half hour left in the workshop, the report between the presenters was completely fractured and it looked like an all out war was about to begin. After the meeting was over, there was going to be a short closing ceremony for the day and then I could finally go home.
I was looking at the clock, in the final workshop, like a time-bomb. After a short break, we all gathered in the big conference room. I was getting antsy. The hangover was all but gone, but my sleep deprivation had boiled over and I was going to start going crazy if I didn't get some sleep.
The closing ceremony had been changed to a closing ceremony/gun(pronounced like tune instead of gun), which is a grouping of small towns, meeting. We all divided into our respective groups. I was part of the Kumamoto City group, but our leader was not at the conference, so we didn't talk about anything. The guy who was put in charge of our group wasn't even from the city, so he just asked if we had any questions. Nobody had any actual questions, there were a few meaningless questions about what was going to happen that night and were to get some good food, but nothing related to our experience as JETs. Somebody asked if we could leave, the other groups were talking about activities and business, but we were just sitting there chatting. Our leader asked if we could leave but he was told that we had to wait until 4:30. I was growing impatient and irritated.
Finally, we were able to leave. I made my goodbyes and asked my friends what they were doing, just to be cordial. They wanted to know if I wanted to get dinner with them after my nap, but I assured them that my nap was what occurred before the meeting. When I arrived at my house tonight, I would be in la-la land until morning. I said goodbye again and got on the street car and rode my bike home. When I arrived, I stripped, turned on my air-conditioner and fell right to sleep. I did wake up around 3:00 A.M, I ate something, and went back to bed.
When I woke the next morning, I was fully rested. I went to the Tsurya early and got something to eat at the conbini (Convenience store). We all did some chatting in the hallway before the meeting, and I learned that the previous night was pretty uneventful. Most people went out for dinner, and only a small few went out drinking.
The final day's workshops were Japanese language workshops. We all took a placement test on the first day of the orientation, and our results placed us in one of three language courses. I, of course, was in the beginners course. The course was an intensive language course, taught by a teacher who works for the YMCA in Kumamoto City. The course was all day event and I was excited for the ability to learn some Japanese.
I don't know if our leaders at the prefecture offices have read any linguistic studies, in language learning and the amount of time that should be devoted per day to study. The first hour or so was a review of things that had been given to us by the JET Program, for those who studied the materials. After the first hour, the information became more difficult. As more time passed and lunch loomed closer, we all started dropping like flies. Some students were outright refusing to participate, others were talking amongst themselves, and there were a few of us who were paying attention but our brains had gone into sleep mode.
For lunch, I went with a few guys to try and find a burger joint. Bobby, a guy from Canada, said that he knew where a Mos Burger was near the department store. After about a mile, we started to get irritated and time was running out for lunch. Luke, a British guy, was really irritated and he left before the rest of us. But, soon after that the rest of us realized this guy had no idea where he was going and we turned back as well. I left with a guy named John, from England. We went to McDonalds and found Luke there as well. We all hoped to have lost Bobby, but he leeched back on to us minutes later at McDonalds. We all chowed as fast as possible, and walked back to the orientation separately.
The later half of the afternoon wasn't any more productive than the first half. We were all tired and we had too much Japanese jammed into our brains for one day.
When we finished with the workshop, we all said our goodbyes. Most of the ALTs had to go back to their towns that night, so nothing was planned for that evening. I had school in the morning, so I didn't really want to do anything too strenuous. I went back home and watched a movie and went to bed.
The orientation was a good event to get to know more ALTs. The Japanese workshop left the biggest impression on me, which is when I was hungover and sleep deprived. So the whole event must not have been a wash if I was able to remember that workshop so fondly. School was just around the corner, no matter how many workshops we had or what information was given, we were all unprepared for what was about to begin.
