Arrival

Well, I'm here. After a long plane ride over the Pacific, I exited Japan's Customs area to be welcomed by...Oh, wait. No one was there. Yeah. Apparently, my plane arrived a few minutes early and I walked out of the terminal just before the person who was supposed to pick me up got there. However, we managed to find each other after a half hour and dropped my bags off with the courier service. We'll talk about more of that in a minute.
So we got on a train heading for Higashimurayama. We had to switch lines a couple of times and it ended up taking us about two hours to get to the place I'll be working. It was pretty late in the evening when we arrived so there were no students at the school (I work for an eikaiwa). I met my manager - the sweetest lady ever - and the teacher who has been subbing for me, awaiting my arrival (he's also very nice).
As we were talking and getting to know each other, we found out that the apartment address listed on my sheet was different than the one my school had. Uh oh. We had already sent my bags to the address on my sheet! So we called the courier service and they said that the wheels were in motion (pun intended) and that I would not receive my bags until Monday morning. What a pisser. It's Monday morning right now so I should hear a knock at my door sometime soon.

However, in between then and now, I've been exploring the city a bit. The train system is so efficient here. I was a little daunted by the kanji encompassing the ticket kiosks (and everything else for that matter), but I saw an English button and got the feeling that everything would be alright. I must say there are many signs and things alike that don't have any English on them at all. If you are planning to move to Japan and don't know Japanese, I suggest learning the pronunciations of katakana. As far as signs go, it's the most commonly used writing system. You'll recognize words like "teeshatsu" (t-shirt). It's pretty helpful.
I've been to the Mini Stop by my apartment a few times and the clerks there have been more than generous with helping me find the things I need. FYI, orange juice is less than par in Japan, but perhaps I've been spoiled by living in Florida.

Well, I guess that's all for now. I will post some pictures very soon so check back often!