As I walked around my new home, I realized that all my appliances had Japanese characters for directions. Did I mention that I cannot read Japanese characters? I looked at the photos for my coffee maker and toaster oven before going to bed. I woke up early the next morning (jet lag) and confidently ran water through the coffee maker which proceeded to run all over my floor. Forget about the microwave or the rice cooker - I left that for another day!
On Thursday, I walked to the Town Hall with the help of Google Maps. My morning was spent becoming a resident of Kamikawa. By noon - there was more paperwork involved in my residency than I have seen on most Camp Caroline trips! I also got to see my car. Hopefully I will be “right hand” driving by the end of the month! In Japan an intense inspection process is involved before you can drive - $1500 later - I hope it will pass!
I enjoyed meeting everyone at Town Hall - but then I was sent on my way at noon. People walk everywhere - I am hoping to improve my physical fitness - but after an hour of walking during the morning activities I had to walk to the market. With heavy bags I set my Google Maps to what I thought was my home. It was 18 degrees Celsius, and it said it was a 15-minute walk - I was miserable… I was feeling sorry for myself… head down - I kept going.
I lifted my head when Google told me a had “reached my destination”. Ummm - nope! I had NO idea where I was LOST, and I wanted to cry… but - I used my handy LINE app and reached out to some colleagues and simply said “I need help!” So - yup - my first impression with those in my department was me sitting on the side of a road - completely lost - waiting to be rescued and taken to my home. By the way - I walked right by my home on the way to my “destination”.
Friday my luggage arrived! YAY! I spent the day unpacking and organizing. This included doing a load of laundry. Once it was finished, I went to hang my clothes and realized no water had come into the machine. Although I was assured the day before the taps were open, this was obviously not the case. Easy enough - I opened them… and they sprayed all over my “washing room”. I contacted the Town Hall and someone came quickly to fix it. 5 trips later - someone brought a wrench…problem solved… (insert laugh track here)
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