Mon. Aug. 11 – Getting oriented, again

My younger supervisor picked me up this morning, and gave me a lift to the train station. He’s pretty chill, although we don’t really understand each other. Once again, I don’t really speak Japanese and he doesn’t speak English. I did figure out where he lives, and that he’s a “light drinker.” B and I think it would be great fun to party with him, because we always see him in a conservative way.
We headed to Fukushima-shi and stayed at a hotel for more orientation sessions. The governor of Fukushima made an appearance to meet us JETs; he seems very personable, and you can tell that he beams with pride when it comes to his prefecture.
A hearty “Kampai!” echoed throughout the hall during our short welcome reception. Big Apple, a local izakaya, was inundated with JETs later that night. This time, our nomihodai lasted for five hours! Annie thought it was important to share her “refreshing” eye drops with everyone, haha. I feel like everyone had a lovely, sloppy time. I met another one of my sempai, who also attended Carleton. I recognized him from one of my American Lit classes. It’s a small world after all! It was really nice to meet the rest of the Fuku JETs who arrived in Japan a week after I did. Sarah, who was good friends with my childhood Filipino brother from another mother, is also living in the Fuk. I’m so excited to have found a Veronica Mars buddy!