Greetings and salutations!

JOE'S OFFICIAL NEW ADDRESS:

410-0057 (Postal Code)
Shizuoka Ken, Numazu Shi (Prefecture, City)
Takazawa cho 4-3 (District, Block #)
Suruga Urban Village #803 (Apt Building, Suite #)
JAPAN

Greetings and salutations!

Hello from on the road! This should be a compressed but comprehensive update. I am presently staying in a hotel in Shizuoka on my way to Numazu, my final placement. The last few days have been a bit crazy. As I mentioned in a prior post, I had applied for the Communications Assistant position inside the company I am currently teaching for. After two interviews and a day of work in the office, I was very confident that the job was mine for the taking. But long story short, it was decided that budget concerns were such that the position had to be cancelled, so I didn't get the job. Upset as I was, I had little time to sulk because I was immediately sent on a business trip, this being the second emergency replacement I had been assigned. So I had to prepare for that as well as packing up my Nagoya apartment so my things could be moved to Numazu.

Anyway, all the chaos aside, I left for Hamamatsu to teach for two days. I got to take the Shinkansen (bullet train) which was interesting. The train itself is quite nice, and you certainly travel very fast (~200kph) but at a cost of over 1$/minute. I was put up in a nice hotel near Hamamatsu station where I was supposed to stay from Fri-Tue when I am to meet up with my Area Manager in Numazu. Unfortunately the hotel was booked up so Sat night I traveled to Shizuoka city where I am staying in another hotel, though it is slightly less impressive than the previous one. At least I got to hook up with some of the teachers here and actually meet the guy I am replacing. It turns out that originally some girl was supposed to be filling the Numazu position, but she turned it down..supposedly because she thought she would get cancer or something..so the good times roll on!

Earthquakes...Tsunamis...Volcanoes...Landslides...Fires...Cancer....ah the sheer joy of it all! So yeah...on my way to Numazu.

In other news, after one of the classes I was teaching in Hamamatsu, this one kid was standing outside with me and he got out his dictionary and started talking to me in English. He actively engaged me in conversation for nearly 15 minutes! I was quite impressed and consider that to be one of the best experiences relating to teaching I've had yet.

The hotel I am in has an Onsen, or sauna/bath. I want to try it out but am hesitant because you can't wear shorts...you have to go au naturel! I'll give that some more thought *S* Also, I want to give you a brief weather picture. The most recent typhoon just swept through the country which meant a lot of wind and rain...I got soaked...good times. In Nagoya the temp was usually in the mid 30s...and the humidity was over 60%...which was the worst part of the whole thing...it was usually sunny. So far in Shizuoka it's been cooler, and much cloudier. Numazu is right on the ocean though so it's supposed to be very nice. Maybe I'll become a surfer...but don't hold your breath *S*

Now that I am truly on my own, the feeling of isolation is a little more noticeable, but I think I'll manage. I had a wonderful visit with Takako last week and I am looking forward to seeing her again, as well as seeing Keishiro. Also, more news on that big earthquake prediction I mentioned previously. It seems a devastating earthquake hits Shizuoka every 100-150 years. The last one was 145 years ago.....man this just keeps getting better!

But yeah...that's the latest folks...hope all is well and I hope to post some more pics soon! Oh, and I want to take this opportunity to announce that Futurama and Invader Zim are the two greatest American cartoons of all time! You heard me *S*

With Hope,
Joseph