phew! here we go! LONG recap (fair warning)

All right, so. I'm finally in Hitachi! Yatta~! I have my Windows Task bar hidden, so maybe one of these days I'll remember to pull up my language bar so I can write in Japanese.

The plane ride over was long, but I slept through most of it. I was SUPREMELY lucky to meet Amanda at the Atlanta airport, she was also flying to Japan to teach English! So we got to sit together the entire time, I was so happy to have someone go through that airport journey with me, because I hate airports and airplanes and bleh. Anyway, she's amazingly nice, and will be a wonderful teacher! Hopefully I'll get to hang out with her soon, since she and her husband do not live that far from Hitachi! Here are a few pictures from me traveling to Japan:



I was SO lucky. Not only was my plane ticket cheap, but it was the best flight I've ever had. There were TVs in the seats and you got to choose what you wanted to watch and everything! It was super cool. I only watched Leap Year and The Princess and the Frog, because I was sleeping for the rest of the time, but they had a LOT of options.

And as you can see, there's my moose, representing good ol' UAB no matter where he goes. :P

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This is basically my one week anniversary to having lived in Hitachi! It's a really wonderful city, a lot like Birmingham, but with more places to shop and eat thrown everywhere, some within walking distance, some you need to catch a ride to get there, but overall very reasonable distances.

Hitachi is a very long city along the eastern coast of Japan, so think long as running up and down the coast. Hard to imagine? Here's a map:


I snagged this from the Ibaraki Christian University website, if you want to know. After Tim had mentioned it, I checked out their website.

Hitachi is in the Ibaraki Prefecture of Japan, it has about the same climate as Alabama--very hot and humid in the summer (it's getting a little hot now)--except it gets really cold during the winter and it actually snows here, so despite the fact that my apartment doesn't have central heating, I am very excited to see REAL snow!

Hitachi is known for their beautiful cherry blossoms (Sakura trees), and they have a huge festival in April--which I'm very excited to get to see next spring. Hopefully my family will get to visit during that time because it would be a lot of fun for them to see the festival and such that takes place on the main streets.

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For the past week, I've been in and out of the main Board of Education office here in Hitachi, which is within walking distance of my apartment (very close by). Mr. Moriyama, Mr. Takano, and the rest of the staff have been incredibly helpful and extremely kind. I have to especially thank Mr. Moriyama for being such a fantastic translator, without him, I probably would've just stared blankly at anyone who spoke to me with "Waahhh, sumimasen wakarimasen..." ("I'm sorry, I don't understand...") And Mr. Takano who has helped with done all of my paperwork--including helping me get a library card (they have a small English book section, but it has Stephen King/Michael Crichton novels, so I'm totally on board!) I call him Speed Racer because he's a very very fast driver, but a great one. They have been SUCH a help, it's ridiculous. I was able to meet the mayor (very soft-spoken man who asked me how Mayor Langford was doing *awkward silence* Mr. Moriyama kindly told me he would not translate "Oh, he's in prison."), get registered as an alien, a bank account, a cell phone, and internet service all in one day thanks to them.

I also have to give a huge thanks to Brian and Mie who live next door. Brian is another English Teacher here from Sister Cities Birmingham, so it's nice to know I have someone from the 'ham sitting right next door. His girlfriend Mie is wonderful and her English is really great (a hell of a lot better than my Japanese that's for sure!) We've gone to a lot of really fantastic restaurants, the largest mall around (Fashion Cruuuuise~!), and plenty of other useful stores. Brian has really helped me figure out my way around Hitachi, how to use the ATM, how the train station works, next is the BUS--which we were given bus passes with money on them, so it's totally awesome. They have an adorable cat named Mari as well.

Here are a few pictures of Brian, Mie, Mie's friend Junko, and I out and about:



Although I cannot get a dog (because the owner of the apartment has stressed I cannot have one--I shouldn't have asked, damn my thoughtfulness!), as depressing as that is, I'm going to have to get over that and try to fill my void with another animal. We went to the pet store and of course I saw plenty of dogs I wanted, but there were some cute cats. However, animals here are VERY expensive, like $1000 for a cat or a dog. Very weird, but I guess it's because they don't have as many as we do and they aren't selling pound puppies, if you know what I mean, they're all pure-bred dogs. I have, however, learned that my allergy to cats is actually not the fault of the cat's, but of pet dander in general. So wonderfully enough, if I take the right kind of allergy medication daily, I can have a cat. I want a dog, but if I can't have one, I'll have the next best thing, which is a cat. I want an animal who will greet you when you walk in, and if we're speaking truthfully here (which I think I am) a cat would be a better choice because it can take care of itself (I.E. litter box and such) while I'm at work, and then will be playful and such when I'm at home. (at least that's what I'm hoping for)...but I love dogs too much. I miss my babies:



Anywhooo, I have a lot of help here, which is utterly fantastic. I have a bit of jet-lag, it's affecting me at night mostly, what with waking up in the middle of the night and such and wanting to go to sleep at 8pm. I need to adjust my body's internal clock. I'm hungry at the oddest times too, I guess that's part of it, so I have to carry around crackers or Pretz or something to help ease my stomach until it's actually time to eat.

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I have to admit, when I first thought about moving to Japan, I knew I was probably going to be stuck in a cubby hole on the 10th floor of some older building with $700/month rent. And I was seriously okay with that. However, believing that to be the case served to be a huge surprise for me when I actually got to my apartment.

It's really really big. I mean, it's bigger than my other apartment, and it's all MINEEEE (living by myself is somewhat lonely, but in the long run, IT'S MY OWN SPACE AND I DON'T HAVE ANY ROOMMATES OMFG I'M SO HAPPY!) I actually have a lot more space than I'm used to, so I'm like, "What can I buy? What can I buy?" Though I need to wait until I actually get paid to buy more decorative things.

Here's a nice ridiculously long video (about 30 minutes. I know, I know, but whatever, skim through it if you like) that shows you my entire apartment! It's changed now, since I have internet and I moved the desk and such into my room for the computer, but it will probably continually change as I get more stuff:

I've run into some problems...so I'll put this up in another entry maybe tomorrow or something!

So needless to say, if you want to come and visit Japan, I have the space. :P

(And not to brag or ANYTHING like that *wink*...my rent is $50/month. MWAHAHAHA~!)

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Last night, both Cook-sensees (Masako and Tim) came to visit! It was sooooo awesome to see them both, as I have missed Cook-sensee like crazy! We weren't able to spend that much time together, they had very busy schedules, but the time we did spend was hilariously fun. We ate fantastic food that had an all-you-can-eat bread bar (it's like my DREAM COME TRUE!) Here are just a couple of pictures from last night (dim lighting, sorry):



I will miss you guys so much! Tim, don't hesitate to send me an email to help set something up, Brian and I are more than happy to help!

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Okay, I'm sure some of you are wondering, "How the hell do I get a hold of Jill?" Well there are several ways...

SKYPE (because God invents bandwidth-sapping programs like these to give you an excuse to torrent like crazy)
jill.albright
1 (205) 588-5798 (Yes, I have a phone number that you can reach me at. Just remember, I'm 14 hours ahead of you, so look at the time, add 2 hours and switch the AM/PM part and that's what time it is for me. Voicemail is set-up, if I don't pick up, please leave a message and I'll get back with you, promise promise!)

MSN Live Messenger (sorry AIM is for 12-year-olds and people who still cling to the idea of AOL meeting their needs)
nithpantiel@gmail.com

Email (because I'm old-fashioned like that)
nithpantiel@gmail.com (too hard?)
jilliana@uab.edu (Use it until it runs out!)

Facebook (I finally understand it's purpose now)
Jillian Albright

And last, but certainly the most important that I'm sure you all want to know:

Mailing Address (don't worry you don't have to write in kanji)
HITACHISHI SUKEGAWACHOU
1-6-8-102 317-0065
JAPAN

Basically it's set up like this:
CITY, PART OF CITY
SOME NUMBER-MAYBE STREET NUMBER?-I THINK HOUSE NUMBER...-APARTMENT NUMBER!, POSTAL CODE
COUNTRY

PLEASE, I have a TON of super adorable stationary that I have bought...and will probably buy a lot more. It cost me like $1.25 to ship a small letter to the U.S., so I'd love to send you guys some really effin' cute letters. Please please please email me your addresses (even if you're my family because I don't know where you want these letters sent to!) If you don't live in the U.S., please send me your address as well, I'm sure it cost about the same!

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I love you all so much, I hope to speak with you soon, I'm going to go ahead and take a shower now, then call my family (for the first time), and go to sleep!

Oyasuminasai~! (Goodnight!)

xoxo Jilly