Youkoso (Welcome!)

Me showing off my ninja skills at the daycare! Ok..not really...

Welcome everyone to my new blog, Memoirs of a Sensei!!! I figured I would make an early post before I leave to get you all up to speed about my pre-departure preparations. I have a hefty checklist of things I need to do before I leave, but the only one I'm extremely anxious about is my visa. I was told on the phone that I would be able to get it stamped in one business day, but I won't feel comfortable until I actually have my passport in hand with a visa stamp inside of it. I'll be going to Atlanta for that next week.

Most of you probably know what it is specifically I'm going to be doing in Japan, but for a refresher-and for those of you who don't know- I'll reiterate.

• I'm going to be in Japan for at least a year.
• I'm going to be teaching conversational English to students aged 0-12 years old.
• I do not have to know Japanese because I will not be speaking any Japanese with the children.
• The children will have a separate class where they will be learning vocabulary and grammar distincitions with a teacher who knows both Japanese and English.
• If I do a good job the first six months I will be approached by a representative of the company about extending my contract for either an extra 6 months (attached onto the year contract I've already signed) or an extra year. As of right now, I'm jus taking this one contrat at a time.
• The company that I am employed with is AEON Amity corporation.
  
• I will be teaching out of Totorri, Japan which is on the Southwest coast of Japan along the Sea of Japan.
• I have to wear a suite and tie everyday. No cartoon ties :-(
  
• It is known for it's wonderful Sand Dunes.
• I will be living in an apartment abou the size of a dorm room and will only be responsible for part of the payment along with the bills.
• I have a washer, no dryer, hanging clothes will be my best friend (any tips Ms. Beth)?
  
• I will not be driving, public transportation is awesome.
• I will only have one hot plate and will be getting a rice cooker, mmm, rice.
• There will be another Native English Speaker (NET) that is also working with me and her name is Becca. I tell you that because she is an outdoors person and I anticipate many explorations with her since I won't know anyone else.

There are also some things I need to accomplish before I leave.

• Get all my kids a going away present
• Buy suites, recreational shoes and dress shoes.
• Get another coat
• Get a years worth of toothpaste, deordorant and contact solution; apparently the kind they have over there for all three is not up to snuff and Amity told me I should do this.
  
• Figure out what kind of luggage I'll be packing in.
• Get my Visa
• Buy converters
• Buy another input plug for my PS3 because my TV in Japan most likely won't have HDMI.
• I have two phone conferences to attend before I leave, one on the 6th and one on the 14th.
• Get a Slingbox so I can watch my TV overseas through the internet.
• Make sure I pack enough books and handheld video games to make it through my 14 hour flight from Detroit to Kansai International Airport..

What this blog will consist of.

• Journal entries to all of my faithful readers so you can know what's going on with me.
• Will try to post new entries at least two times a week, maybe more, but then again, nothing is gauranteed.
• I will be posting videos and pictures.

Please feel free to comment often and tell your friends about the website too. I can only imagine the types of stories and number of pictures and videos I'll be posting. I hope you look forward to it as much as I do. Thank you all.

-Jeremy aka The Black Ninja or the Black Japanese Punk Rock Star