Finally news from me in Kofu

Well after weeks of waiting I'm finally back! Well sort of. Getting online in Japan can be a pain, but finally I can post a update on me here. Its been three weeks now since I have moved to Kofu, and I must say its been a blast and a real surprise. When I was looking up info on Kofu online, it originally sounded like it was a farm city. But in truth its a nice sized little town surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. Everywhere I turn I can see mountains, and if I walk just a minute from my apartment, I get a great up close view of Mt. Fuji!.

The trip began with a little bit of a hitch though. Once I got on my plane, it turned out that there was a problem with the intercom system on the flight. Of course this ended up delaying my flight two hours, and meant we had to sit on the tarmac for that long. so my fourteen hour flight turned into a sixteen hour one. Eventually after the pain of sitting on a plane for so long, I made it to Narita airport. I was met by a worker for my company who had my tickets ready and even had a huge pack of information for me to get started. I was quite surprised how much they gave me at the airport. It really helped me at the begining. After spending about 3 hours on trains to Shinjuku and then to Kofu, I was met by my boss who drove me to my apartment. Luckily its only a few minutes walk from the station. There I met my new roommate, who is a real cool guy, and relaxed finally.

The next few days I spent getting lots of paperwork done, playing some Nintendo Wii finally, and getting to know the new neighborhood. Kofu really feels like a small version of Austin, where I went to school. It has many things that make me feel at home, and things that remind me of Tokyo. My apartment is the best though! Its actually a pretty big one, which is very rare for Japan. I got a nice room to myself, and everything is cool. The only thing missing is the internet, which I need to setup real soon.

After a few days I started work at my company, where I had a alot of training to do. Luckily the training was fun and interesting. And of course, they like to throw you into the lions den so to speak, and get you to teach immediatly! Ive been teaching for over two weeks now, and while I make many mistake, I've been told I'm doing a great job! Which makes me happy. Also the students seem to like me alot. Everyone thinks I've very excited and happy here.

I have had some problems though. A bank I tried to sign up for refused my application due to my name having a IV at the end of it. Luckily my previous account from my days at Sophia was still open, so I was able to get money from there. Today I finally got paid my first pay check, which was exciting and very rewarding to me!

Now that I got all my paperwork pretty much out of the way, I have time to finally do some fun things, on my days off at least. I'm planning to visit Tokyo in a few days, which will be hard for me. While I did go through it on the way to Kofu, it was mainly in a train car. This time I'll be walking through the old home, so it will be a little sad. At least I get to see all my old friends again!

But whats really great is Kofu is a nice place. I've met many great people here already, and it feels like home. It gets really cold here, but thats normal. But I am enjoying it alot.

Ill post again in a few days, hopefully with some pics! Until then, ja ne!

4 Years, 6 Months, 22 Days

That is how long it has been since I left Japan for the first time. When I left after my year of study abroad in Tokyo, I knew one day I would be back, and that it would be soon. However I never expected so many things to go wrong. I never thought I would have to deal with so many personal, medical, and other issues. I never thought that I would get turned down for so many opportunities in Japan. I even at one time last year, started to think that it would never happen, that I would never return.

But now, after 1667 days of waiting, after all the hardship and trouble, after working hard to make it happen, the wait is almost over! Tomorrow I finally get on the plane and return to Japan! It is a very exciting time for me. To think its only just hours a way, has really gotten me very excited.

And yet I still have a little bit more to do before I leave. Namely pack. I forgot how annoyingly difficult it is to pack for a trip like this. I cant seem to get everything I want into my suitcases. Thank goodness for international mail.

Of course, its also a little sad too. I hate goodbyes, yet it seems like I have to say them to so many this past week. I know my family and friends are both sad that I'm going to be far away, but happy that I will be where I want to be. And plus, I never say goodbye. I like to say so long for now, as I know I will see everyone again real soon. Plus thankfully the internet and all keeps us in touch everyday. So its not really a sad moment, but a happy one.

And so, I get ready for the long trip to begin. Next time I post, it will be from my new home of Kofu, Japan! The adventure, finally, continues!

6 Days to go, flight is set.

Well its officially now less than one week till I return to Japan. The nerves have started to appear again, but also the excitement is building. This last week I've spent a lot of time preparing and packing, and I just can't wait for the big day to get here.

Today I just found out what my flight info will be. Originally I had been told I would be flying out of Los Angeles, which would've meant two flights for me since I live in Houston. But now I've just learned I'll be flying nonstop to Narita airport from Houston. That is a huge sigh of relief since I didn't want to have to switch flights on that day. Also just having one 14 hour flight is enough. Luckily this time I'll have plenty of things to entertain me.

I've been doing lots of internet searches on Kofu lately, and while the amount of information in English is hard to come by, there are a lot of great Japanese resources for the city. I'm amazed at just how many stores that the city has. One thing I wish I could find however is more pictures, yet for some reason there aren't as many of them up online.

Also to prepare myself and to practice my Japanese, I've been watching some anime this past week. Particularly the series "Monster." I highly recommend people check this series out, even if you are not a fan of anime. The series is about a doctor whose choice to save one patient over another has devastating, and life threatening consequences for himself and the people around him. Its a fascinating show that really shows off some of the great storytelling talents in the anime/manga world. Check it out.

6 days, amazing to think that the wait is almost finally over.

Getting prepared, and a look back at the last trip

With just 12 days to go until I fly to Japan, I'm in the middle of making sure everything is set and ready to go for my return. Just like in 2001 when I was preparing to go for study abroad, I've had to spend four months filling out every single form imaginable. Its a long process but the reward is well worth it. Already I have my visa work done, my airline ticket is reserved, my place in Japan set, and all sorts of other little things have been taken care of. So now I can just relax and try to practice my Japanese the next few weeks. But as they say, the waiting is the hardest part.

As I get ready, I can't help but continue to look back at my last trip, when I spent a year studying at Sophia University. It was a amazing time living in the center of Tokyo, as well as studying as a small university. Having come from the University of Texas, which at that time was the biggest US university, it was a very interesting change. The things I did there and the people I met were the best! I'm hoping to move back to Tokyo in the near future too, as its a wonderful place. I'm so glad I'm very close to, since I'll be living in Kofu.

To show off that wonderful year I created a website, which I still update, and will be a companion to this one. The website is located at:

http://www.geocities.com/bebopcowboy

I must apologize for the numerous spelling and grammatical errors in my pieces. I never seemed to fix those. Perhaps I can finally do that soon. Check out the site as there are lots of wonderful stories and pictures of my last trip to Japan. And I plan on posting more things there once I have moved back to Japan.

Welcome to my new blog and my adventure!

Hello to everyone reading this. This is my new blog that I have started to chronicle my return to Japan. My name is Mathew Pitts, I am a graduate of the University of Texas, and a scholar on Japanese studies and language. This will be my second time living in Japan. From September 2001 to July 2002, I studied at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan. For the past four years I have tried very hard to return to Japan, and after a lot of hard work, I will be returning to Japan to teach English this February. I will be living in the town of Kofu, Japan, which is a small town about 90 miles west of Tokyo. I wanted to start this new blog to not only chronicle my new adventures in Japan, but also comment on the things that interest me there. So this blog will not only be a journal of everyday life, but also hopefully showcase some of my future work on the studies of Japanese popular culture.

I hope that everyone that reads this blog will enjoy my stories and articles. I will do my best to bring not only interesting notes about my own adventures, but also to show aspects of Japanese life that sometimes gets missed. And of course I will show the more interesting things everyone wants to see there.

So please enjoy my blog and the many future posts I will place here!