Earlier this month, I moved to Kochi City, on Shikoku Island! This is one of the least touristy areas in Japan, and it’s really cool to be immersed in authentic, Japanese culture. I have not started classes yet, but I will be teaching at two primary schools and one junior high school.

At the end of May, I moved out of my apartment in Spain, spent June traveling in Budapest, Basque country, Imperia, and Paris, and came home to Ohio on July 2nd. I was able to drop off my passport for my Japanese work visa, see fireworks for the Fourth of July with my sister, and spend some time with my cat, my family and my friends. My friends and I were even able to take a quick trip down to Athens to visit Ohio University, which is always rejuvenating; I love to stay connected to my roots. Going to my local favorites in Cleveland for Thai and poke bowls were also a must, and unfortunately I also had to hit chick fil a (we all have guilty pleasures).

My friend Jacqueline and I at Tokyo Orientation!

I flew out on August 1st; my first few days in Japan were spent in Tokyo, listening to presentations and meeting people who would also be starting as language assistants in placements all over Japan. On August 5th, our Kochi prefecture group flew to Kochi City! We were all met at the airport by excited supervisors and coworkers with signs and banners with our names.

The five Kochi City ALTs were picked up by our supervisors, and everyone else headed off to their areas within Kochi prefecture. Our group immediately went shopping because we did not have beds or bedding for the night, so we went to a few stores and then tried to settle into our new, very empty homes.

The next week was a whirlwind of trying to gather all the necessities for our apartments and enjoying the festivities of Yosakoi. Yosakoi is a traditional dance style, which has a musical accompaniment. There is a national competition that takes place in Kochi City, and it is the busiest time of the entire year. My apartment is very centrally located, so I could hear the music no matter where I went. It was a great opportunity for everyone to get together, and we were even able to see one of our supervisors dancing! The added excitement and energy made it a bit challenging to get a proper read on Kochi and settle into feeling at home, but it was well worth it.

Yosakoi dancers in Obiyamachi, Kochi City

We were also given four summer days of PTO that we needed to take before September 1st, so I decided to take them all at once and headed to Shodoshima (or Shodo Island)! I took a two hour highway bus to Takamatsu and then a ferry to Tonosho. I spent one night in Tonosho to see a few touristy spots, and then I took the local bus a little over an hour to Sen Guesthouse.

The owners of the guesthouse live on the premises and have split their home into a private space and dorm style shared housing. They have a stretch of private beach with hammocks, where I beach bummed for the next three days. They also gave amazing local recommendations, and I was able to walk about 30 minutes down the road to a little village that had omiyage shops and a cafe, where I had possibly the best lunch I’ve possibly ever had - a wagyu beef rice bowl.

It was really nice to have some time for solo travel and the stillness to process that I actually live in Japan now.

On my way home, I spent the day in Takamatsu to visit the Ritsurin Garden. I saw water lilies that were bigger than my mind could even comprehend (2+ meters tall), so many turtles, coy fish, beautiful ponds, and bridges.

I will have an update on how starting my new role goes, my future travels and settling into my apartment, so stay tuned. :P Thank you for reading and take care! <3

My first month in Japan!

I’m moving to japan!