one month!

Today marks my being in Japan for one month! Since I flew in on the 29th, it's a calendar month since I arrived, but since it's Wednesday, it's also exactly 4 weeks (aka a month) since I got to Chiba City and started working! Funny how that worked out. It's strange to think that I've already been here a month (it feels like it and doesn't feel like it at the same time), but at least now when people ask how long I've been here, I don't have to say 'less than a month' anymore. :D It did sort of hit me today as I was biking back from the store that I am in fact living in Japan and this is my life as I know it now, so I guess that's cool.

I haven't done too much since my last post - on Monday I went to another Vortex (frisbee) practice. It was a little further away and one of the members I met on Saturday was nice enough to give me a ride there, since a couple of other people usually carpool with him, too. This time there were a lot more people, not just Vortex members but college students as well, which was cool. It was a real practice with real drills and everything, which was nice to get back to, although I'm definitely out of practice and also not used to playing with a vertical (as opposed to horizontal) stack. After practice some of us went out to eat together, which apparently is a pretty regular thing. Today I bought a pair of brand-new cleats that I found at a second-hand store that just happened to be my size (which is awesome), and I plan to go to practice again tomorrow!

Today Sato-san took me on a mini-tour of City Hall, since I hadn't really spent much time there other than the courtesy visit (even though we're part of City Hall, we work in the community center next door because the building is too small). I learned a little about the history of the building and got to see the view from the top story, which was pretty cool. I also learned more about how being a civil servant in Japan works - there's an examination that you have to pass, and then you also get transferred to different departments every 3-5 years. The idea is that new people in new positions can bring new ideas to the job, and that working in a variety of sections is also good experience (or something like that). In theory it seems like a good idea, but it does mean that you don't necessarily work in a department you're interested in, or that you may have to leave a department you actually like for one you don't care about. But I guess that's just how things work in Japan, or at least at Chiba City Hall.

Well, it's been a month and Chiba is starting to feel like home! I've spent the past couple of days thinking about what I want to do as a CIR (in preparation for an evaluation interview I have next week) and hopefully some of those ideas will actually happen. Today I bought a vacuum cleaner and this weekend I'm planning to go to IKEA to finally buy a dresser to put my clothes in (yes, it's been a month and yes, my clothes are all still in my suitcase), so soon enough my apartment should stop looking like I just moved in. Here's to the future! :)