Yukata!

So this last weekend was the Toukasan Yukata Festival in Hiroshima, with lots of girls/ families walking around in their beautiful outfits. At night the streets were packed with stalls and celebration. Sadly I didn't get a chance to take some photos, but here is a quick painting I did to honor the occasion...

More blobby experimentation!!

Home Comforts

Yesterday I received my first care package from my family. Even when you are off having an adventure it's still nice to get little things that remind you of home <3

Beautifully packaged as expected...

Mum sent one of my childhood toys- how adorable!! Don't tell my friends they' won't think I'm cool...

A little shoe I was given for luck <3

My Gryffindor Badge! 

Favourite sweets!

Life saver-Japan doesn't do real deodorant!

Mum's favourite incense scent

Ohh yeh! <3

Real toothpaste!

And of course a motivational card! 

I miss my family.

Let there be Art!

I have finally managed to fit in a bit of painting in my busy schedule! The sketchbook I've been working in is from a shop in downtown Hiroshima called 'Tokyu Hands' and their arts and crafts section is glorious!!

Created using watercolors and pens:

Inspired by the shrine just a 10 minute walk from my apartment :)

Koi Carp! <3

And then there was INTERNET!!

It has been a while since I made a post. I have a good excuse for that- I've had no internet!! I've been living off my mobile, convenience store WiFi and anyone else's internet I've had a chance to steal...

Anyway, without further ado...

I AM IN JAPAN!! I survived training, I'm in my new apartment in Hiroshima and I am now an official English language teacher :)

Here is a quick summary of the last month or so:

On April 1st I said a teary goodbye to my mum at the airport and began the long flight to Japan (yes I had my bumbag with me the whole time! Please see previous posts).

I arrived in Nagoya on April 2nd at about 7pm Japan time. I was absolutely shattered after no sleep on the flight, being awake for over 24 hours by this point. I was met at the airport by a cheerful British man who works for the company, driven to Nagoya, dropped off outside my first hotel and left to my own devices for the next couple of days.

I'll be honest, for the first few days I was in a state of shock. It still hadn't sunk in where I was and the thought of leaving my hotel was pretty frightening. Then again, the hotel wasn't all that comforting with this as the view from my window:

Woohoo concrete wall!

Nagoya is a big and terrifying place! Especially if you are wandering around alone and suffering from jet lag!

Monday the 6th training began and it was HARD WORK. Filling in endless forms, moving to another hotel in Takatsuki, long days followed by late nights studying and prepping. But it was worth it because I met some awesome people!

Then 2 weeks later we all separated to go to our different placement areas...

So here I am in Hiroshima! After the struggle of updating my residence card, setting up a bank account and getting a mobile phone that actually works (all the while not understanding anything while someone else from the company does the talking for me), I finally feel a little bit more prepared for facing life as an English language teacher living in Japan.

I hope this post didn't sound too negative. Japan is a beautiful country and I'm extremely excited to be here! So here's a selection of photos to prove it! 

 Speak to you guys soon!

Things you should DEFINITELY pack...

Onły 3 days to go and the serious packing has begun! 

And of course, here's a few out of the many items my mum has given me to take, because "They are absolutely essential... Particularly the squeezy marmite!"

For those who don't know the last item is a neck cushion for the plane! 

I feel much more prepared now... D:

Peppy Kids Club/ Teacher profile!

I've noticed I haven't really said much about the company I will be working for...

The company is called iTTTi Japan (Peppy Kids Club). They run a series of English language classrooms across Japan. Their lessons are after school classes, so I will be teaching from the afternoon onward, which is great because I am definitely NOT a morning person!

The job doesn't require you to have any previous teaching experience (although it certainly is an advantage), but you do need to have a university qualification and have English as your native language. 

For those without any teaching experience, don't worry! The first 2 weeks are intense training, to help prepare you for the job. I highlight the word 'intense' because I haven't even started yet and I've already heard horror stories of how tough it can be! 17 hour days... got that to look forward to aaagh! But in the end it'll be worth it, I'm not letting it put me off!!

I won't waffle on too much. For anyone interested, the company's website is:

http://www.ittti.com/index.html 

Anyway! As further preparation for the job, I've been asked to create a 'teacher profile'- something every teacher has to make for the kids and their parents to look at and think "they may not speak Japanese but they sure can Photoshop!"

Here is mine so far...

snazzy, right?

The profiles are supposed to include pictures and little quotes in English, and be colourful and eye catching! The white gaps will have text and a copy of my ID card eventually.

Well, that's it for now!

I'll be on the plane this time next week ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Ahoy Hiroshima!

Yesterday I found out my placement after training is going to be HIROSHIMA! This is very exciting, not only is the city thriving with it's history and culture, but it is in a beautiful location. Lovely southern weather and surrounded by mountains and sea- fantastic!

For those of you who, like me, are pretty clueless about the geography of Japan (brilliant considering I'm moving there in 2 weeks), I have circled Hiroshima on the map below.

Image from nationsonline.org

In other news, I have now left my job in customer service (hurray!), and it is exactly 2 weeks until I leave for Japan. The nerves are definitely kicking in now...