I must go to bed soon or I will turn into a pumpkin! Before I do so though- I thought I would post some new pictures. I don't have enough time to add titles and descriptions but if you're bored and or want some new computer wallpaper ;), here are pictures of
1. my new neighborhood Botan and apartment and
2. Oshima, the island Tom and I spent hanging out on this weekend.

Check back Wednesday or Thursday for explanations! Oh, and of course, this means I am back online. I now have yahoo BB and therefore have speedy speedy dsl 24/7. I am still getting caught up on my back log of e-mails from being off line... but I am so very happy to be able to read the news again!! ;)

I'm so tired!! I spent my afternoon searching all my favorite stores in Shibuya and Shinjuku for a kitchen table- I didn't think it was going to be so difficult. I may have to lower my standards. So far- nothing that matches the vision I've been carrying around in my head.

Week #2 at work down, and though I know a lot more than I did last week- still no real responsibility. That is, of course, both good and bad. The good news is that I don't really have to stress about anything- except remembering what I've been taught and executing that short list of items to the best of my abilities. The bad thing is that once I clear my desk of tasks that I've been given (mostly easy data entry type projects/reservation making assignments that I've been given more for my own practice & learning than to save others time)... I have nothing to do but keep memorizing those airport codes. Granted, there's a lot more I can do these days and the recesses between have become rarer and shorter. The people around me are friendly and great, patient teachers. They think I *may* be up to speed in about 3 months- funny timing as that's when my temporary contract will expire and we'll all have the big pow-wow regarding whether to sign me up for real. hmm... no pressure yet though.

I was frustrated when I left Friday- as I was writing down my start/finish times on our time schedule- I noticed that some of the others were staying until 8:30pm. Back in Misato- I always left at 4:00pm sometimes (but mostly not) feeling guilty because the others usually stayed until at least 6pm but sometimes way late into the night. Now- I work from about 8:40am until 6pm and folks are staying late here too. Will I have to work that long??? There is so much I want to do outside of my job that it just gives me huge stomach pains to imagine having to spend 12 hours a day at that office. Even more so since a) we have lunch very strictly from 12pm to 1pm and it isn't an "oh its 4pm I'm going to run out for coffee" type place. We *sit* for the entire afternoon stint- my butt has been so sore!!. and b) I've also been told that they all work one of each three Saturdays, too. Just thinking about this makes me tear up inside. The big question is- is this included in salary or is it overtime? My gut says they do it out of their committment to the group. Which of course, I don't know that I can fake.

So then I kept thinking about it... and I'm wondering- am I just lazy? I don't *ever* want to work those hours- regardless of where or what I'm doing for work. Is that what I'm going to be expected to do at home too? Perhaps I'm just being naive (as usual)... but I really want more than two hours between arriving home at night and going to sleep. Maybe this is why so many people are chronically exhausted- we trade sleep hours for "awake and home from work" hours. I don't want to be a drone!!!

That's my vent for the moment. On a more positive side of things- I met my neighbor on the right in a big way this week- she actually moved out this week! Too bad we couldn't have gotten to know each other, but as she was moving, she offered me; her TV/VCR combo, a bookshelf, a plastic storage box, two big drawers for clothing, and.... (drumroll)... her AC!!!! All for free, no less... I just had to pay about $90 to have the AC taken out of her place and reinstalled in mine. This made my entire week... now I can go home and watch the Olympics in my cool, cute little home. On the same line, I also now have a phone line. Now I'm a little closer to having internet at home and not having to spend anymore of my quality time in this smoky little hole of an internet cafe!

Tomorrow (Sunday) I have two goals:
1) Go to church. I have a list of 3 different churches in Tokyo that have services in English that I'm going to try out. The one I'm starting with tomorrow is Catholic and the others are ELCA Lutheran, and Episcopal.
2) Find some new shoes. This will be the more trying of the two goals, by far. But- gotta keep up with these sophisticated Tokyo chicks!!!

wish me luck...

In lieu of separate, special e-mails to everyone- I'm going to be a cheap jerk and just update my website instead. I still haven't ordered a phone line and internet, so I am sitting in a smoky internet cafe a couple blocks away from my place.

I've moved rather successfully- all the essential baggage made it from Tom's place over to mine- and purchased a stove, a fridge and lots of smaller stuff (hit the 100yen store for plates, glasses and silverware last night, for example). I really like my apartment and I love my neighborhood. I now live in an area called Botan-cho (Peony Town) in Koto-ku (Koto City) within the Greater Tokyo Area. I am very close to Monzennaka-cho Station which is very close to my new office (10 min!). The neighborhood is very old, friendly, and chock full of great restaurants. I am also surrounded by rivers with little paths near them, only a handful of blocks away from a Starbucks, plus there's a Subway restaurant in the entrance to the train station. All the essentials!! My place is tiny- but plenty. I have one tatami room- 6 tatami mats- with two huge closets- I could lie down in them, and stand up in them with my arms extended. Then I also have a kitchen/dining room plus my bathroom. Quite a bit smaller than the place in Misato, but I haven't even close to filled it- nor have I spent a lot of time there.

The new job is-so far- less exciting. I'm a travel manager for an international business travel company- when trained I will be making reservations for travel for people flying for work. There's a ton to learn but no one has enough time to teach, so I spend a lot of time waiting around memorizing airport codes. There's only one other foreigner working in my department and the Japanese employees (though they have awesome English) are quite shy about speaking English on the phone- so they have already begun to ask me to make calls to the States. Today I called two "swim with the dolphins" type places in Hawaii and one hotel in New York. More on that when I figure out what exactly it is I do!

Anyway- I'm doing fine... working on making my new place "home", exploring the area, and trying to establish new habbits with Tom- I've seen him every day since I arrived except today!! I'm happy with the move, though I really miss Nagano & Misato...