Truly alone for the first time
Been 3 weeks since I landed on Japan. Feels a lot longer than that though.Continuing where I left off (will try to make it short...hmm...). Set off early in the morning for Chitose airport. Reached around 11plus am, then finally saw Ayako. Nice girl just a year older than me. Then it's a long car ride with Ka Man (my fellow JET comrade cum neighbour cum support in Hokuto), Ayako and Yoshikawa-san (quiet but really nice guy from the BoE who later took care of fixtures in our apartments) from Chitose to Hokuto.
We must have gotten lost on the way or something, cos it took like 6 long hours. But great scenery..lots of mountains on the way. Sad to say, when we've finally reached our destination, I was quite disappointed. Guess I expected a newer-looking town with more establishments around the area like Okazaki. In fact, I was quite dismayed when Ayako pointed out an old worn down 2-storey building to be my home for at least a year.
It didn't help that the apartment matches its unappealing exterior. It's mostly made of wood which makes it feel rather old and rickety. Once you step in, there is a pungent moldy smell in the genkan. Inside, dusty leather couches, yellowish wallpaper on the walls and peeling off doors, mosquito net doors that fell off (which means I can't open many of the windows and it was pretty warm and stuffy), dirty-looking used appliances including an extremely filthy toast oven and grill pan stove which looked like they had been been used but never cleaned for ages. No shower, no internet, not even TV. Most of all, I know I will be alone in the apartment and I dreaded the moment when dinner ended and Ayako left us at our apartments. Apparently, Ka Man feels the same and I ended up sleeping over at her place for the next few days. Suddenly, it seemed impossible for me to survive the year (or even the night), not to mention recontracting.
To cut the long story short, the next couple of days were dealing with paperworks and settling in. Generally, people are warm and friendly. Being my third stay in Japan, I guess I got a bit complacent. I knew roughly how things are like here. But I forgot I've always had friends with me the past 2 times. In fact, not only did I miss family and friends at home, I missed the times I've had together with Elaine and the gang in Aichi. So much so that a trip to Daiso or the supermarket or convenience store could be quite upsetting and depressing. Yep, it felt like I'm on an emotional rollercoaster. Got pretty homesick and depressed. Sawayanagi-san and Akagawa-san called me on the second day I reached Hokuto, after I emailed them my phone number. Think I got them pretty worried. But they were great support and comfort. So were Steph and Jillian. Don't know what I'd do without them. It's good to know that friends are just a phone call away.
Besides my dissatisfaction with the apartment, I must agree that I'm pretty lucky to be here. The BoE treats us pretty well. Heard lots of stories of nightmare supervisors, but Ayako is really helpful and sweet and approachable. On my first Saturday here, she took us out for dinner, had okonomiyaki, and showed us around Hakodate. We went up Mt Hakodate for the famous million dollar night view. Too bad it was foggy and we couldn't see it. But it was still lots of fun. Grateful for Ka Man too. It's so comforting that at least there're the 2 of us. Can't imagine how I could survive if there was just 1 ALT, which is the case most of the time. Cleaned up my apartment over the weekend. Felt better about the apartment.
posted by weiling @ 1:13 AM
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