excellent news + nagoya city

i got placed!!! today as i was getting my bank account set up i found out that there is a placement for me in nagoya city starting mid may. my coordinator just came over and said they had good news for me and it was a place in nagoya city! a couple weeks ago, they placed about 15 people in the area, with the nagoya branch of the company, i was kind of jealous and even emailed my company to show my interest in the region. i didn't realize it at the time, but the first positions were for suburban areas near nagoya but managed by the nagoya branch. i actually got placed in nagoya city, the biggest urban area in the prefecture. i am soooooo sooooo soooo excited! i don't know all the details of the position yet but it is a big city (2 million people), public transportation and way more affordable housing than tokyo area. it is a bit more southern, near to kyoto and osaka (score! since i want to visit both of those cities for sure). there is an int'l airport, there is an awesome looking old castle, it's located on the pacific coast and is a sister city to LA. the photos i have seen make it look pretty cool, i cannot wait to see it for myself and get officially settled in. visitors, start your planning!!! i think this should be a great jump off point for some other great japanese sight seeing!

i will be teaching middle school, which i hear can be difficult but it can also be a bit better because the middle school japanese english teachers will speak more english (sometimes the elem. japanese english teachers hardly speak any at all which can make the ALT's (assistant language teacher) a bit more challenging when trying to figure out what we are wanted to do). i even have some other friends fairly near i met during training, about an hour from the city. i am so excited. until my departure, i will hang out here in my temporary chiba apartment doing japanese lessons at the head office until i leave may 12 (i think) for a teaching start date of may 16. i couldn't be more pleased!!!

a few nagoya links: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagoya

http://www.japan-photo.de/e-nagoya.htm

as of yesterday, i am in my chiba apartment. it is a brand new chain building so it's very clean, and nicely furnished, new appliances, etc. it is a bit far out, a good 20 min. walk to the grocery store and train station; from there two trains and 45 min from the head office in tokyo. also, the sleeping situation is going to take a little getting used to. first off i have a tiny pillow, almost airplane size and its filled like a bean bag chair, sounds okay but it gets kinda hard after a while. and then... there's the "futon". it's is basically a glorified pillow about 5 inches thick fluffed up, more like 1 inch after you lay down on it. imagine if you took a cushion off a lawn lounger and put it on concrete and then tried to sleep for 8 hours on it! there is a little, a very little cushioning but its practically like sleeping on the ground. i have literally been more comfortable camping. i don't get why this is considered ideal but maybe i will get used to it, let's hope so at least! otherwise, it isn't bad. i will take some photos and maybe a video and post more over the weekend. 

yayyy such good news today!