It has already been two weeks!

I have been in Shikokuchuo City on the island of Shikoku for almost two weeks! Still without internet in my apartment and with very little access at my two junior high schools, I am a bit out of touch but am otherwise settling in well. My city is right between the water and some very lush hills/mountains and I have a great view of these from my back porch. The water front, however, looks a little bit like Tacoma due to several very large papermills (Shikokuchuo is responsible for making 1% of the world's paper supply and 15% of Japan's supply and they are proud of it!) The city is made up of four towns which puts the population of the area at about 95,000 people. I continue to feel like an alien from day to day since I only know of three other gaijin (foreigners) in all of Shikokuchuo.

Over these past two weeks (after a three day orientation in Tokyo), I have been going to my junior high schools in the mornings and getting lost around the city in the afternoons. There are no street signs and lots of curvy roads so this is very easy to do! I feel like I am permanently starring in my own charades game-show since very few people speak any English and my Japanese is still pretty non-existent so I am forced to act out most of my questions. The first weekend I was here, I took part in a Paper Festival where I danced up and down the sauna like streets in a summer-time kimono. This past weekend, I went to two more festivals, visited some other JETs in a nearby town, and went wakeboarding at a very nice beach about an hour away. On Thursday, I am going to the biggest city on Shikoku for another orientation and then will hopefully stay there for the weekend to try out some of its famous hotsprings and see another festival (the festivals are crazy and are all the time!) Next week, I start much needed Japanese language classes for two weeks. The heat and humidity are really intense here but thank goodness I have AC in my bedroom which I spend a lot of time under. As soon as I get the internet rolling in my apartment, I will post lots of pictures! Take care!