I`m here...and sleeping on a park bench!

Hey folks - I made it!! Funny part - I don`t actually live in Nagasaki! I live in Sasebo near Nagasaki! LOL! Shows how much research I did before I arrived! He hee! Was a long travel to get here - left my house at 9:50am on Tues morn, and got to my apartment in Sasebo about 6pm (Aust time) on Wed. Slept for about 2 or 3 hrs on the second flight cuz it was a pretty empty flight so I could use 2 seats. Was fairly stuffed by the time I arrived. Didn`t meet too many ppl on the first flight, but met some more at KL, and then couple more at Osaka. Met up with Jacinta and Amy from SA in KL as planned - they seem really nice, but are actually living in Nagasaki. Also met Lyndal as I was getting off the plane in KL - she`s cool, and we`re staying in the same hotel in Fukuoka next week to do our training! Yay! Glad I know someone already!

So, you`re wondering what this sleeping on a park bench is all about... well, it wasn`t quite a park bench...

On Wed when I arrived, the guy that met me at the train station, Mike, asked if I wanted to go out for tea with all the English teachers... I said sure. So we caught the bus to my apartment and he waited while I showered, then we walked back to the arcade (the longest covered mall in Japan!). It was about a 30 or 40 min walk, and seemed fairly straight forward. Another teacher, Brian, showed me around a little, including where the guys apartments are (only about a 2min walk from Nova, which is at the start of the arcade). Most of the teachers finish at 9pm, so tea wasn`t til then. Met Francie and Martina, my flatmates, who are very nice. Francie is an extreme sanguine! About 11pm, they were gonna move on to a new place to keep drinking. By this time I was pretty stuffed, so I said goodbye and headed home. The buses stop at 11pm, and as I thought it was pretty close to then, and I wasn`t sure about catching buses, I just decided to walk.... bad idea! (Ps - it is very safe in Japan - there were plenty of other females walking around alone) I walked for ages, circling around, with no idea where I was. I had left my address card at home, so I couldn`t even catch a taxi or ask for directions, cuz I didn`t know where I actually had to go, and I can`t speak the language anyway. Finally, I decided I would never find it, and I walked back to Nova, then found the guys place (only 2min radius to scan ー much easier!) There was no one home, so I settled myself down on the bench outside their apartment. About 2am, David came home, and as he didn`t know the way to the girls apartment, he just let me sleep the rest of the night in his spare room! LOL! What a way to start! Caught a bus home the next morning, and even in the daylight, I overshot, and walked for miles after getting off the bus, before turning around and finding it on the way back! Hopefully getting home today will be easier!

Martina didn`t have internet on at home :( but Francie wants it, and since I have a computer (thanks Matt!) we`ll get it on asap. Only thing is it takes about a month... doh! But today I came all by myself to JJ Club, signed up for a membership, and can now come use the internet for approx $5 / hr. Not bad!

Going to Fukuoka for training next week, so might be next Fri before I can blog again. Miss you all lots!! Feeling slightly unsettled, but not too bad. Feeling pretty positive. Thanks for your comments on my blog and emails (and snail mail Kelly!).

Luv ya all! XXOO Vi