‘Of New Life and Lava’

Due to the high volume of death threats recently for not updating in nearly two weeks, I’ve decided to bless you all with one. You’re welcome. My reason for not updating is actually pretty solid - I didn’t have internet. While I somehow COULD get on Facebook, Gmail, and YouTube - I couldn't get on anything else. This includes Blogger. I only got internet a few days ago.

So as of May 18th, I’ve been living in Numazu. The best way I can describe this place is think of Cape Cod as a small city and filled with Japanese people and mountains. The two things Numazu is really known for is fish/fishing/sushi and medical research. Even though it is by all means a city, many Japanese people refer to it as ‘the country’ due to it not having a ridiculous population density as say Tokyo. It doesn’t feel too country to me but compared to the only other Japanese city I’ve been to (Nagoya), I suppose it’s pretty country. It also comes with its very own Idol group because, Japan. There are billboards and buses with ‘Orange Port’ all over them.

So, yea, the Mt. Fuji is pretty amazing. I already have plans to hike it come August with a group from school. If you’ve been following my photos, I’ve been pretty obsessed. After living in flat Florida for so long I just can’t help it. To get to Numazu I took the Shinkansen (Bullet Train). After traveling through a tunnel for a few minutes you just appear in the valley. Staring me right in the face was Mt. Fuji. I know it may sound corny, but damn, it was majestic. I was sitting at the window seat and it was just so mighty standing in full view. I don’t think I’ve felt that way about a natural land mass since seeing the Grand Canyon in person. Most the times the building in Numazu block site of Fuji but every now and then you can get a powerful glimpse of it.

The first week of work was rough. Not for anyone particular reason but every particular reason. As most new jobs, there is a lot of front heavy memorization and work that goes into it. With only a week of training, I was thrown straight into the fire after two mostly observing days. Keep in mind, none of this is a complaint. For this type of job, the best way to get better is by practicing and doing. One of the reasons I came here was to challenge myself after all. The baby bird either learns to flap its wings on dies from the fall. The second week was soooo much better. Once I became more comfortable the job became actually fun most of the time. I think my sleeping problems came from nerves and not any sort of mystical jetlag. The last few days I’ve been sleeping straight through the night.

I have to admit that much of my ease with adapting to this new lifestyle and job has come from the staff at my school. I really lucked out. Every single member has gone out of their way to make me feel comfortable, helped me overcome hurdles with language/cultural boundaries, helped my buy stuff and set up my apartment, and really just made me feel welcome. If not for them as a collection, there is no way I’d be as happy or comfortable as I am now. After leaving somewhere where I had godly group of remarkable friends, a big fear of mine was moving somewhere and having nobody. Hell, the day I moved here I was invited to go to an Izakaya with the majority of the staff which was a great introduction.

In the three weeks I’ve been in Japan I’ve survived a typhoon and an earthquake. Granted, both were small time. The typhoon was far and translated into a single day of rain. The earthquake happened yesterday and had to be pointed out to me. It felt like being on a cruise ship going over slight choppy water. I thought it lasted for a long time but apparently the buildings here shake with the earth so they don’t topple. The ‘extra’ quake I felt was just the building returning to its normal positioning. I was told that in a matter of fact way as if to make me feel better about it all. All the news talks about is how a volcano near Fuji could erupt. Since this mountain is connected to Fuji, there is a chance Fuji may erupt - yea the volcano which hasn’t erupted since like 1700’s. I’m pretty sure if that does happen we all just die due to proximity. So, I have that going for me.