On the way...

One mass e-mail as an update...

Well, as I write this I am waiting, waiting for my plane to depart for Osaka. It was supposed to leave half an hour ago from Vancouver but was delayed. Now it is supposed to leave in 10 minutes, however as boarding has not yet started and the flight crew are just themselves boarding now it seems unlikely that we will depart even at this new departure time.

For those I haven't managed to catch up with recently, in my short time back in Edmonton (Canada at that) I have accepted a position teaching kindergarten at an international school in Osaka. The position is a maternity leave cover and my contract is till the end of the year. No, I wasn't looking for the position, it just happened- and fairly quickly at that. So quickly that because of processing times for paperwork I just applied for my work visa two weeks ago and picked it up less than a week ago now.

The last month has been a bit of a blur with preparations for the move, preparations for Christmas, good byes and everyday life. Three suitcases and a heavy carry on bag later (as well as some last minute repacking at the airport- just a bit of deja vu) here I am, off to see what this new part of the world has to offer.

Strangely enough the delay wasn't all bad, on my way back from searching for an internet terminal I ran in to my cousin, Matt, on his way to Singapore. I haven't seen him since last fall and we just happened to be at the Vancouver airport at the same time. After a late night, early morning and slightly rough flight from Edmonton it was good to see a friendly face.

Well boarding is starting so I should probably close down.

Fast forward to many hours later. It's 7 am in Edmonton the next day and 11 at night and I've arrived in Osaka. One of the teachers from school met me at the airport and brought me to the head teacher's house where I'll be staying until I find an apartment. Her house is in a northern part of Osaka, obviously in the montains/hills. I walked with the other teacher back to the monorail station so I would know where it was in the morning and could see patches of the lights of Osaka spread out in the land that goes down to the sea. Close to the harbour there is a large Ferris wheel and it can be seen from where I am because it is lit up in bright green lights. At the moment it's just me in the house, the headteacher is away and the other two teachers who are also starting in the January are not arriving for a few days.

I'm looking forward to seeing this neighbourhood during the day. On the way here the other teacher said that there this area was fairly urban with not much greenery, and it's true, from what I've seen there are no parks and the houses certainly do not have front lawn or anything of the sort. In fact most of the walls of the houses (and the gates for the car ports) edge right onto the road. However many houses have trees peeking over what little room there is between house and fence, amidst all the concrete. So tomorrow will be a day for exploring, finding out what my surroundings are.

I am hoping that during my time in Japan I will be better at updating my blog, http://foreignfootsteps.blogspot.com, particularly with few pictures along the way. We'll see how that goes though. I've also signed up on Skype, though haven't had a chance to try it out. If you wanted to give it a try though my skype name is alie.jamieson.

For the time though, I should be on my way.