Going Without for One Year

I have been making a list in my head of all the things I will miss while being in Japan for a year. In no particular order:

-Friends and family --- Hey, anyone want to go to Japan on vacation in the next year? eh? eh?
-Cheeses, especially Tillamook medium chedder
-Micro brews, especially Mac and Jack's
-Cereal
-Going to indie rock concerts
-The familiarity of Western Washington
-Improv
-Western theatre
-Mexican food
-American TV ---Thank goodness for Hulu
-A decent sized living space
-Cheap bars/happy hour
-My DVD collection
-Going to see the Mariners

Probably lots more too, but that's what I have off the top of my head. Of course, in absence of these things I will be forced to assimilate myself into Japanese culture, which is good -- it's part of the reason for this adventure -- but I know it's going to be tough. I've never visited another country before, other than Canada (and that really doesn't count) and I have lived my whole life in Western Washington state. I am probably most worried about the food situation. I'm not the most adventurous eater, and really the only type of Asian food I enjoy is Teriyaki, which is not traditional Japanese cuisine. I'm sure I'll survive, but it is not going to be easy.

One Step for Tessa & Chris - One Step closer for all of our kind

Plane tickets - purchased!!! We fly out of Seattle Friday March 27th, make a quick connection in Vancouver BC, then we arrive at Tokyo's Narita International Airport Saturday March 26th!! We also make reservations at a nearby hotel for Saturday and Sunday. We wanted a few days to adjust to the time difference before our training starts. On Monday the 30th we'll check out, and take a bus ride up to Mito, where we will begin our 2 day training the next day. We'll stay there until our apartment is ready for us, although of course we still don't know where that apt. will be.

It feels like time has been going so quickly since we started this process - I can't believe we leave in 6 weeks! I went and purchased my international driver's license today, although I am hoping I will find an excuse to not have to drive on the other side of the road. . .I'm a wimp, what can I say?

We still have so much to do :
-reserve storage unit
-buy some professional clothing items (no jeans in the classroom!)
-sell Chris' car
-pack up our apt, and try and decide what to take with us to Japan
-meet with bank rep about international financial transactions (we will need to transfer Japanese funds over to our US accounts to pay bills while we're gone)
-many, many other small details.

Send us calming thoughts, please!

I'm an Authorized Author too!

My turn for an obligatory post, just to let all of you readers from my side of the aisle know that I will be writing on here too.

In case you'd like to know more about the area we will probably be working and living in:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibaraki_Prefecture

We'll let you know what city/town we're assigned to as soon as we know. Apparently we could find out this crucial info even as late as the day we start training - ridiculous! But we're learning that we just have to go with the flow. This state of mind should help us sleep at night while we're waiting for our visas to arrive. . .

Can't wait to post more news and info for all you friends and family. Feel free to post questions and comments!

Obligatory First Post

This is Chris and Tessa's blog chronicling their 1 year adventure in Japan as ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) teaching English in Japan. We wanted to start this before we left to give everyone an idea of what we are doing to prepare before we leave. I think I'd like to start out by answering some FAQs. As of yet, we are still in Seattle prepping for the move. We will be most likely be leaving on Friday, March 27th, but plane tickets have not yet been bought. Our contract will have us employed from April 1st 2009 to March 31st 2010. We still do not know exactly where we will be living, but it is likely to be somewhere in the Kanto region, perhaps Mito or Ibaraki. We will be working 4 days a week in a Japanese Junior High, and one day a week at an elementary school. At the Junior High we will be basically the in-classroom English native-speaking support for a Jappanese teacher of English (whose knowlege of the English language is not necessarily great). At the Elementary school we pretty much create our own curriculum and teach it as we will. We are contracted out to the schools by a company called Heart Corporation. As of yet Tessa and I know little to nothing of the Japanese language. Tessa and I will be living together (as we have for the past year and a half) in what will likely be a tiny apartment no bigger (maybe smaller) than a dorm room. That is some of the basic cold information, I will post more of my thoughts, feelings, ruminations, hopes, and fears later.