So we wandered in from our apartments and houses and our cities and our inaka, from our CIR positions and our ALT positions to be oriented by our prefecture, and to meet the rest of the JETs that hadn't made it to Japan in July. This is the last official orientation, as far as I know. Our schedule wasn't particularly full, and the hotel chosen to host the orientation was beautiful. Beppu, just a few minutes north of Oita city, is the resort capital of Japan, which I think is really saying something, and the Beppu Hosen-So (Oita Prefectural Sanatorium) reflected that.
First, the navigation. I'm not very good at it. The day started off with me almost losing my key by flinging it, quite by accident, over the Maizuru Bridge. If I'd been even a little further along, or if I hadn't heard it ting as it hit the metal railing, I would have lost it entirely. Then, in a burst of wanting to get there early I took the express train and paid extra on the other end. Making mistakes on trains in Japan might be easy, but it's also fairly easy to fix. You can look lost and helpless and be excused, or just pay the adjustment, which doesn't hurt the pocketbook that much. Frankly, the express train was nice, and I got there, didn't I? Finding the hotel was a little more difficult. I wandered this way and that through the very hilly streets of Beppu before finally matching up the kanji with the kanji on my little tourist map, discovering as I did so that I'd walked right past it once already. How embarrassing. I would have found it earlier had I not been steered wrong once, though.
The Hosen-So is an onsen, and by far the most traditional modern Japanese hotel I've stayed in. Tatami mats, screens and all. I don't know how to operate a futon, but it turns out that the maids put that out for you. If I had to give advice here it's for the bags of rocks that are sometimes used as pillows to be replaced by, well, actual pillows, thanks. I always get neck aches trying to use the weird, gravelly pillows they have, and end up, like a lot of people, I expect, not using them at all. Being an onsen, the rooms had no private shower, and there was one public toilet per gender per floor (with one western toilet, one squat toilet). Neep.
This orientation is prefectural, and the cost of mine was covered by the kencho. Once again I have to admit that I really like JET, because they explain, more or less, what you have to be doing, and give you direct when you're lost. It means you sometimes get to see things you might otherwise put off, like going to an onsen.
For the uninitiated, onsen is public bathing raised to an art form, and for the curious among you, yes, with a great deal of moral support, Dani does onsen. Not the mixed onsen, but I hauled my naked butt into the natural waters of Japan and had all my muscles turn to jelly. With the tiny hotel towels, yukata and slippers provided we wandered down, stripped in the change room, then sat on the cute little pink stools and scrubbed and scrubbed. Once suitably clean we bobbed around in the hot water until lobster-hued, got out, cooled off, and did it again. It was very nice, generally, and comes with my highest recommendation.
The second day was the bulk of orientation. The highlight was easily the cultural demonstration. The Beppu Hamawaki Children's Drum Troop performed Taiko drumming for us. These kids were phenomenal. Ranging in age from five to sixteen years old, they totally blew away the audience. There's something so viceral about taiko, that just doesn't come across in video of it. I think you'd have to be completely jaded to not be moved by it. After the kids had performed various JETs got to try their hand at it.
Beppu Hamawaki Children's Drum Troop
Ad Hoc Oita Prefectural JET Drum Troop
The end of the official proceedings was the closing banquet, where I stuffed myself with watermelon (*drool*) and was generally a happy eater, even having to stare a fish in the face all night. It began to look reproachful, but I refused to acknowledge it. After dinner a few JETs thanked our organizers with a little spontaneous live music, and our Hawaiian ukelele player did a brilliant performance. It was an enjoyable three days, where things were learned, so don't think it was all fun and games. We JETs work hard.
