hello world!

so i'm moving from brooklyn, ny to japan at the end of this month, to become an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) as part of the Japan Exchange & Teaching Programme (JET). I will be in yurihonjo-shi, in akita prefecture. it's a lovely town on the sea of japan coast of the northern part of the main island. why am i doing this? i find that the best answer is "because i can". here's a map of where i'll be:

it's about a 4-hour ride from tokyo on the shinkansen (express train).

some information i have gathered:

• i'll be teaching mainly in a junior high school, and an elementary school as well
• it will be really cold and snowy in the winter
• i will be arriving just in time for the kanto matsuri, a festival of lanterns (pictures to come!)
• in addition to a hopefully intense progression of my novice japanese skills, my french may benefit as well as i will be living near and working with 2 francophones (also ALTs)
• fun stuff near where I'll be/about akita:

mount chokai and the cedar forests

a bunch of beautiful onsen (hot spring spas) ie. this one

akita has the highest sake consumption rate in all of japan

people in akita love snow so much they have a snow fort festival

this doggy, called an akita inu, is from/named after the prefecture

yurihonjo beach

this is what kids in akita look like according to the internets. AHHHH!

that's it for now - i'll be enjoying my short and bittersweet remaining time in NYC of frantic preparations and spending time with friends and family before leaving on a jet plane on july 28th! next time i write may be from the orientation in tokyo...