July 29, 2011
I’m writing this in a word document, because the Internet connection is down at our hotel, and apparently at all of the hotels around us according to the front desk.
Anyway, Mom and I went to the Orientation and the Reception. Good thing I double-checked my email last night, because Mom and I were set to drive to the Consulate’s office, but instead it was at the Consul General’s house. Since we knew we were going near the end of rush hour, we had to plan to leave the hotel earlier.
I had a hard time sleeping the night before. I kept dreaming of being stuck in traffic, or of missing the plane to Tokyo, and I woke up at least 6 times last night. But we found the Consul’s house just fine, and we were on time!
When I checked in, Mom asked the woman at the desk if she knew of any good places to hang around until the reception started. The woman kept telling Mom to just start following roads that we didn’t know about, since we don’t live in Portland. But a Japanese man just told Mom that she could stay, that there was room, so long as she stayed in the back. He was really nice, and turned out to be the Consul General.
The Orientation went fine. I got my passport back, for a while. They handed everyone back their passports, just see we could look at our Visas, and make sure all of the information was correct, before handing them back in. It’s because they don’t want anyone showing up tomorrow and forgetting their passport. We get our passports back tomorrow when we check in at the Delta desk.
There wasn’t that much new information during the orientation that I didn’t already receive from the various emails and information packets that I’ve been getting from JET. But it was good to make sure everyone was on the same page, and could ask questions.
After orientation, everyone was ushered outside, where the JET participants and their family members could mingle, and drink either white or red wine, beer, water, or sparkling cider.
While everyone was outside the General Consul gave a speech, wishing us JETS good luck on our journey, and about the strong cultural bridge we were building between the US and Japan. Afterwards, everyone moved inside for a buffet lunch.
The buffet lunch was interesting. We had our choice of pork-katsu sandwiches, yakitori, beef slices, and these big salmon and vegetable sushi squares. For dessert they served strawberries and cherries.
The reception was over by 2 o’clock, so afterwards Mom and I went to AAA and got my International Driver’s Permit, which actually wasn’t that difficult to get. The we went to the Oregon Historical Society, and then to the Oregon Art Museum. We parked on the street, so Mom had to pop out twice to feed the parking meter.
For dinner, Mom and I went to this place called North Bay Seafood and Grill. It was okay, but it wasn’t fantastic.
Then we went back to the hotel, and did some last minute re-arranging and packing, just make sure I had appropriate items in the right bags. Mom and I weighed my two big bags, and they’re both around 40 pounds, so now we know I’ll be good when it comes to the weight limit.
Tomorrow, I have to be at the airport by at least 10:30 am to meet the JET representative at the Delta desk, get my passport back, and check in. My flight doesn’t leave until 2:10 pm, so I should have time to pick up a snack or something, and maybe check my email before I go. I’m not sure if I’ll have access to free Wi-Fi at the Portland airport, so I’m not sure when I’ll have internet access again, or when I’ll posting this entry. But I can safely say, that I feel more confident in being able to transition into my new home in Japan without too much trouble.
Kanpai!