I made it

I finally made it to Osaka. It took me what seemed like forever but I am here. It is much colder than I was expecting, but still much more tolerable than the “polar vortex” we had been experiencing this winter in Maryland. It was about 36*F at 8am when I landed and I think it may have gotten to the mid 40’s for the high of the day. I am wrapped in a blanket in my hotel room right now while I am typing this. I cant really read the buttons on the heat/ac unit, so I am not sure how to turn it up, but I know there was some hot air coming out earlier. Overall I am comfortable, my bed is warm and the shower is hot.

I think reading will be my biggest challenge they have a huge alphabet with lots of symbols which are new to me, all representing different phonetic sounds, which are also new to me. Luckily most things have English subtitles, which is very helpful. I doubt I would have made it to my connecting flight in Tokyo without them. It seems like most people here know at least a few words of English, but many lack enough confidence in their ability are hesitant to say much to me. I am not upset by this though. It will give me more of a reason to learn the language, and the subtitles are enough to help me get around. I managed to make it out to the grocery store to get some lunch earlier, so I wont starve either. Baby steps.

I don’t know why but it is somewhat empowering going to the grocery store and getting food in a place where I do not know the language, I felt the same in Chile. The grocery store here was really cool. It was not very big, they did not sell much other than food. I would say at least half of the store was dedicated to raw fish. All kinds of raw fish, from sushi rolls to fish heads to whole fish which were not yet cleaned. I ended up getting some sushi roll (probably not the correct Japanese name) with what looked like tuna inside, but again, I cant read Japanese so it really could have been anything.  I also got some fried rice, something I assumed to be green tea, and some chocolate covered almonds. My total was 591 yen, which is around $6 (current conversion is 102 yen per 1USD). The sushi was delicious as well as the rice. I didn’t care for the ‘green tea’ too strong and not sweet enough for my American taste buds (who really knows if it was green tea anyway). I may venture out again soon for dinner, but I am waiting on someone who will be sharing a room while we go through training together. He should be here soon with my trainer who is picking him up from the airport. I look forward to meeting them both.

Training starts tomorrow morning around 10am. We have a half day tomorrow (Saturday) then off Sunday. Then next week we have a full day of training every day until Sunday, but I am waiting for the trainer to go over the details on that. I am looking forward to getting into a routine. So far I like it here, but I know there will be times where I get a little homesick, and staying busy is the only way I know how to combat that. After the week of training I will move to Nara, which is where I will be working and living for the rest of my time in Japan. Nara is supposedly less than an hour train ride from Osaka. I am very excited to get there and explore. I have seen lots of interesting stuff online that will need to be explored when I get there. Nara is a former capital of Japan, with a lot of Buddhist influence. There should be lots of temples and gardens to visit. I am very excited to experience spring there. I have heard the cherry trees, which will be blossoming around the end of the month are among the main attractions to see. I am really looking forward to life in Nara. I did not give a preference for my placement, but since hearing that I will be in Nara, I have done research, and am very happy about my placement. I think it will be just right for me.

So, in short, the flight(s) were very long but I am here now, and my first day has gone very well. I will try to keep up with my posts on here. I was trying to set up the same website I had before, but have had some troubles with WordPress (this blog platform) remembering who I am, and FatCow (hosting service) hasn’t let me purchase the service due to some little problem. Hopefully I will get it all figured out soon but if not, I will just keep you up to date through this site. I hope everyone enjoys what I have to say 🙂

Thanks to everyone. All my friends and family have been so encouraging and supportive of my decision to move to Japan. Even if you didn’t mean it, I appreciate you telling me what I am doing is “cool”. It is very reassuring. I will miss everyone more than you can imagine, but living abroad and experiencing other cultures is something I have pictured myself doing since I was a little kid and I would regret not taking the opportunity to do so while I have the chance. The past few months leading up to my departure have been incredible. I feel like I have done more then than I have in the past 2 years. From ski trips and fishing adventures to partying in Atlantic City. I have done a lot of cool things; I even used the Arctic winter weather to my advantage and was able to ice skate for the first time. My last week in the US was one of the best weeks I have ever had. I was just trying to get some friends together before I left, but it ended up being a multi night extravaganza. 30 of my closest friends (I didn’t know I had that many friends) going out in Baltimore one night, family dinner the next night, then dinner a few nights later with my closest friends from home. I really really really appreciate everyone putting all of that together for me. I cannot say thank you enough, I am so lucky to have people like you in my life, and it really means a lot to me to know that the people I care about support what I am doing. I am really looking forward to my Japanese adventure, but I cant help feeling excited to get back home and see everyone again. I will miss everyone. Feel free to visit me if you can. Please keep in touch. I am on Facebook, Instagram, Skype, WhatsApp, and my emails are Rmilchling@yahoo.com or Rmilchling@gmail.com (I check both regularly).  Please feel free to contact me at any time, I will always be happy to hear from friends and family and I know I will get lonely sometimes. Until then I hope everyone takes care of themselves, I will try to do the same. Hopefully I can post a little more regularly than I did in Chile. Much love to all of you.

On a side note….Mom, THANK YOU yet again for all you have done for me. Thanks for staying up late with me and helping me pack aka packing for me. I am sorry for making you stay up late and getting you sick. Thanks for helping me make sure I had everything I would need. Thanks for helping me get gifts for my coworkers. Thanks for nagging me about things when I was overly apathetic about getting ready to move to the other side of the world for a whole year. Thanks for understanding what I want to do, and letting me do it. Thanks for juggling my stuff, your job, and everything going on at the farm at the same time. Thanks Mom Love you