The countdown begins: Japan-bound in 5 weeks

This is the first of hopefully many more blogs to come. So to put it into context, I'm Hannah, 22 years old and a recent graduate from Edinburgh University. In just 5 weeks time I am about to embark on what will hopefully be the adventure of a lifetime: The JET Programme. If you don't know what this is, then it is basically when CLAIR, a Japanese government agency, bundles off lots of fresh-faced graduates from English speaking countries all around the world to Japan on a giant culture explosion. Essentially we are to work as an Assistant Language Teacher, alongside another Japanese teacher, to teach English to school children, teach them all about our culture and get involved in the local community to create cross cultural ties. So yes, there will be Japanese school children walking around with Scottish accents saying "I dinnae ken"...

So now that explanation is out of the way, let me explain where I'm going. I am going to be flying halfway around the world to Yawatahama City, Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, fairly close to the main Japanese island of Honshu. Luckily for me and my cold-blooded tendencies, this means I will be living in the south! Temperatures range from around 30 degrees in summer, to about 4 degrees in winter. Given that I've lived in Scotland for most of my life, where the weather can only be described as schizophrenic at best, I'm ecstatic about having the sun on my face again.

And here's a map. Ehime prefecture is the brownish area, which is where I'll be.

Yawatahama City is a beautiful little city on the coast. Japanese tend to throw around the word "city" rather lavishly, as in reality, Yawatahama is a town of 40,000. Being a city girl, this could be a bit of an adjustment, but I'm definitely going to be kept busy running around teaching in 5 primary schools and 3 junior high schools. I think I may begin to understand just why my mother, who is a teacher, goes to bed at 9.30pm on weekdays...

What do I know about Yawatahama? Not a lot really. Just that their specialities are mikans (little sweet oranges) and Japanese Jack Mackrel. And most importantly, they have a train station! An absolute necessity for someone like me who loves to travel. To be honest, at this stage wikipedia is more informative than me.

Here's a picture:

I'm going to be living in an apartment near the centre of Yawatahama, but so far I don't know a great deal. I've heard that the Japanese have rather interesting bathroom arrangements, ranging from a hole in the ground to something so hi-tech you're not even sure where the flush is, so here's hoping I get the good end of the deal.

At the moment, I'm frantically trying to cram some basic Japanese into my brain, making to-do and to-pack lists and trying not to freak out. 

It seems so surreal that it was nearly a year ago now that I was writing up my JET application, thinking it was a long shot but hoping for the best. It's been a nail-biting year of waiting for my interview appointment, waiting for the results of my interview, and now finally, waiting to depart.