Hello everyone! Konnichiwa.

So Ive made it through my first week in Japan. Yata! Actually it hasnt been all too stressful. My English teacher that Im working with has put so much effort into making me feel welcomed. Several teachers scrubed every inch of my house so it was spotless when I arrived. They helped me set up my bank account and helped me get through all the paper work thats involved with moving into a new house in Japan. A couple of things are still confusing/inconvient, for example, I dont have a bike or a car yet so getting around is a task. My internet isnt set up, along with the fact I dont have a cell phone and my land line doesnt work until the 6th. But it seems like everything in Japan takes a little bit of time.

My house is awesome. I was pleasently surprised when I first walked in. So much room! Its still a little bare. I need decorations and a couple more pieces of furniture. But its still comfortable.

This past weekend I participated in a huge festival. It was in the streets of the local city, Matsumoto. It basically involved dancing for three and a half hours, while snaking our way through the streets. Every twenty five minutes we got a ten minute break to drink more beer and chuhi. Basically everyone got choo yoparai. Definately a bonding experience and by the end I was exhausted. The festival is called Bonbon, and there is a set dance that you repeat over and over. It involves fans and jumping and drinking.

Its been rather hott and humid so I wasnt able to see the tops of the mountains for a couple of days, but yesterday the weather was beautiful and I got a wonderful view. Gorgeous! I started to drool thinking about skiing this winter. A lot of local JETs go skiing/snowboarding on the weekends, so Ive been getting lots of advice. There are about 100 ski resorts in my prefecture, Nagano, so I probably wont be buying a season pass. Too many places within a two hour radius! Waku waku suru (Im so excited).

Hope all is well with everyone! Let me know whats up!
Much love
Mere