Off to Oita!

When I got my placement information and saw that I was in the Oita prefecture, my first thought was: where? I thought I hadn’t heard of Oita until I got my placement. It is a prefecture on Japan’s southern-most main island, Kyushu, and is best known for its onsen. It’s a relatively rural prefecture with a lot of beautiful mountains and greenery.

Eventually it dawned on me that one of my friends had attended Asia Pacific University, an international university in a coastal city called Beppu. I felt a little relieved to know that I was in a prefecture that my friend was relatively familiar with. It was one small, sure thing that put me at ease a little more.

Leaving Tokyo

My last morning in Tokyo started early. I wasn’t scheduled to leave until 9:30, but both of my roommates had really early departures. After saying goodbye to my roommate who left at 6:30, I slowly got ready while my other roommate finished her packing. Together we went for our last breakfast together before a sad goodbye as she left to meet with her prefectural group.

I still had two hours before I needed to meet with my group, so I returned to the hotel room to kill some time. I played Tetris while trying to jam everything back into my carry-on and called my family for the first time since I’d arrived in Japan. Overall, the hours where I was alone in the room were quiet. I mostly stared out the window and took in the Tokyo cityscape. I was still coming to terms with the fact that I had moved, that I was in a different country and about to fly out to my new home.

Nine-thirty rolled around and I met up with one of the girls from my consulate – also headed to Oita – in the lobby when I checked out. We joined the group of Oita JETs and our Prefectural Advisor, then left for the airport.

Boarding the bus was exciting and everyone was buzzing about heading out. Driving away was probably one of the sweetest moments I’d ever experienced: several hotel staff stood along the drive and waved us off. It warmed my heart a lot more than it probably should have, but I was in a whirlwind of emotions after moving to a new country and still severely jet lagged.

Travel

The airport was a slightly chaotic endeavor with a group of about forty people. I had absolutely no clue what was going on, so I relied heavily on the incredibly patient attendants to help me with the check-in process. Then, we went through security. It was the biggest shock of my day! I didn’t need to take my liquids or my laptop or anything out of my bag! I took my sunglasses off my head and put them in the tub before walking through the metal detector since that’s what I’m used to doing, and the man running the line just handed them back to me and looked at me like I was crazy. To be fair, I’d probably do the same if I was in his shoes.

I walked around the airport with some of the girls to find lunch before waiting at our gate. I also happened to catch this plane with Attack on Titan printed along the side:

I may have ran over to the window to get a photo before the plane took off, but in my defence, I was not the only one eager to see it…I sent that photo to several other people who did not run and therefore did not get a photo before take off.

The flight was quick and I spent most of it looking out the window. I sat right in the middle of the plane on the journey to Japan, so I was taking full advantage of having a window seat. My seatmates were also lovely to talk to so time passed quickly.

Oita Arrival

After we landed, I got together with my co-JETs and we went to meet our new coworkers who were picking us up. Everyone was extremely kind and welcoming. I was very grateful for everything given how exhausted I was.

It was about a two-hour drive to our city from the airport. I – I’m sure you can guess – stared out the window for most of the drive. I was just so fascinated by how beautiful and green everything was! We drove through mountains and past cute little towns and about a thousand rice patties. We had lunch in Beppu at a roadside stop before continuing on to our city. Once we arrived, we sat at the city hall for a few hours, filled out paperwork, and slowly got our footing once more.

I was taken to my apartment at around five o’clock to have a quick look around. They then took me to the supermarket to buy some things that would hold me over until the next morning. Here’s where I discovered that you don’t need to unpack your basket at the grocery store! You just put it on the counter, the cashier scans the items from the basket and loads them into a second one, you pay, then you take the new basket to a separate counter where you pack your bags. It’s been three weeks and I still fawn over this! It’s so efficient and easy, and now you don’t have to worry about holding up the whole line!

It was weird, having my own place and finally being alone. I had been so busy the past few days, and now I was sitting on a mattress, eating an onigiri for dinner and watching a movie I downloaded just to avoid the dead quiet. But soon, I was out like a light with the AC blasting and only a duvet cover as a blanket. Things weren’t perfect yet, not by far, but I was happy.