Well, (do I start every post with 'well'? Maybe I need a new opening word...) this weekend has been fun! It started out with Chiba orientation on Friday, which was basically a chance for them to give all of the new Chiba JETS and WI-ALTS (Wisconsin ALTs, who come through a program between Chiba and Wisconsin, who are sister states) some more advice/information pertinent to life in Chiba prefecture. It was basically a mini version of Tokyo orientation, with some general information sessions and then various workshops.
For lunch I went out with a group of people to a place called Pantry Coyote, which apparently has the best burgers around Chiba City. It was a really cozy little place, with very cowboy Western type decorations, and the burgers were actually really great. I also learned that in Japan they have little paper things that you're supposed to put around your burger before you eat it, so you can keep your hands relatively clean and it can catch all the juice that drips out. Pretty cool.
Then after lunch we had some more stuff lined up. The afternoon session was divided by ALTs and CIRs, but there are only 4 CIRs in Chiba so ours was pretty cozy. I did get a lot of useful information though, some of which I plan to review at work tomorrow. We also had our block meetings in the afternoon - this year they've revived a block system, where every block is made of cities that are close to each other. So I got to meet the other new people who are either in Chiba City (because although I'm the only JET, it turns out there are quite a few WI-ALTS, which is exciting) or nearby Yachiyo.
After that, it was the end of orientation and we had an hour before our welcome dinner started. Everybody kind of wandered off in different directions, and I ended up going with a few of the people I had lunch with. At first we were going to try and check out the planetarium (orientation was in the meeting rooms above the science museum), but we missed the last showing, so instead we just wandered for a little bit before just hanging out in a little pub to cool off.
Then it was time for our welcome dinner! Apparently we had reserved the whole (tiny) restaurant for two hours, which was pretty cool. Most of the new people were there, as well as a bunch of returnees and a few of my coworkers. It was really fun meeting everybody (I think I managed to introduce myself to everybody I didn't know) and chatting! After the restaurant shooed us out at 8, we went to a nearby bar, where I stayed until I had to leave to catch the last bus home. All in all, it was a great night. :D
The next morning, I got up to go to my first frisbee practice in months! Like I said last post, my friend Cory told me about this team, which is called Vortex, and so I went to check out their Saturday practice! It was in Chiba Port Park, which is pretty close to my work and therefore only about 20 minutes away from my apartment by bike. I got there a little bit early and explored for a while, before wondering if I was in the right place. Luckily, a member of the team was nearby and noticed me looking lost, so he came to ask if I was there for practice!
It turns out that on Saturday there aren't too many people, since it's really a day where they just go through the basics for newcomers, but it was really great to throw a frisbee again (even though it was pretty hot outside)! I met a few of the current members and some other new people, which was cool - ages ranged from early 20s to 40s, and though they were all men yesterday apparently they do have women on the team too. I also learned the Japanese words for frisbee terms, which was pretty fun. I also found out that they do stall counts in English, which I thought was interesting because I assumed that they'd just count in Japanese. We did a few drills (turns out frisbee drills are pretty similar wherever you are) and then scrimmaged a little. I even scored a point, which was exciting! Anyway, I'm planning to go to their next practice tomorrow, since apparently a lot more people show up on weekdays and also because I think I might want to actually get involved with the team, since everybody seems pretty cool. :)
And then today I just went shopping and bought a lot of things for my apartment, including a fan, which is awesome. I'm also pretty proud of myself for managing to strap a fan without a box (because it was the display model and on sale) and an aluminum stepstool (because funnily enough I am too short to reach shelves in my Japanese apartment) to the back of my bike and getting all the way home with that, a full backpack, messenger bag, and a front basket full of stuff without any trouble. Tomorrow is back to work as usual, so until next time!
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