Arriving in Tokyo

I came to Tokyo three days ago, and am really glad I chose to take part in TAB. Coming back to Japan has totally rejuvenated my love of travel, and at the same time started to give me a great opportunity to reflect on my past teaching experiences. After a relatively short flight from Vancouver to Narita airport, I encountered all of the small individual things that I really love about Japan. First off, the flight arrived one hour early, and I was whisked through the 'foreigners only' lineup at the airport's immigration. (Boris, are you reading this? hahah) To get to Saitama, I booked a ticket on the airport limousine bus service. This is some sort of private bus company that runs direct buses from the airports of Japan to individual cities and busy suburbs. It's relatively cheap, extremely fast and convenient, since they load all your baggage, tag it for the correct destination, and unload it for you too! The money to pay for this trip came from an ATM literally 20 meters away from the ticket desk, meaning that after exiting customs, it took me about 5 minutes to arrange my trip to Higashi Tokorozawa, the area of Saitama where I now live and student teach. Japanese convenience and planning is really top shelf, and something I enjoy every time I come here.

I called the school from the airport, and Aki and Ryan were at the train station to meet me when I arrived. The school and my apartment are about 5 minutes away from the station, in a surprisingly rural neighbourhood. Oh, and I guess the picture lets you know that I must have brought the snow with me from Calgary! ^^ From what I've heard, it's unusual to get snow in this part of town, and we just got a big dump of it on Friday. A lot of teachers tried to blame me, but I reassured them that if I had brought snow, it would also likely be minus 30 degrees or so. Jaws hit the floor at this point. The second photo is the entry to the elementary school. The junior high/ high school are seperated from the elementary by a large gym, which the two schools share throughout the day. After getting the tour from Mr. Barrie McCliggott - the principal of both schools - I spent a few days with the various elementary teachers, getting to know the students and staff, and the school's routines.
Other than that, I'm just settling in and preparing for next week, when I'll start planning with my partner teacher exactly what I'll be doing here for the next few months. Already, there has been interest in having me teach music classes. In my classroom, there are a few students who will likely benefit from having my direct support. Seeing that the topic of my coursework this semester is inclusion, I think that I really found a great volunteer placement from which I will learn a great deal over the next three months!