Well, I've caved to the uniquely 21st Century desire to set up a blog. I may not be making the world a better place, but more people are going to hear about it, so maybe they'll keep me accountable.

A few days ago I received an address for my new residence in Japan. I'll be living on the island of Shikoku, just south of Osaka. I'll be in Tokushima, also known as the Water Living City. I'm not sure if it really is the Water Living City or if it's just one of those alluring tag lines that municipalities tack on in the hopes of impressing folks-- for example, Port Moody, City of the Arts was so named because Port Moody by itself was doing a poor job of attracting the Asian homebuyer's market. It turns out that Port Moody in Chinese characters translates into Gloomy City of Death or something equally appealing.

Anyway, Tokushima it is. When I was hired by my company, I was asked if I might have any preferences for where in Japan I might end up living and teaching, and I asked for the island of Shikoku as my first choice, simply because I have never been there before. That sounds a bit worldly of me-- really I'm not worldly at all (yet). I want to see the world, but it seems that I keep on going back to Japan. My first trip there was a two-and-a-half-week student exchange when I was fifteen, comprised of Tokyo, Sendai and Tsukuba, all on the main island. My second trip was a two-and-a-half-week city exchange to the northern island of Hokkaido when I was seventeen. I'll be twenty-seven tomorrow, so it's been ten years. I can't even remember how to ask to use the washroom. (Here's hoping I'll get Japanese for Dummies as a birthday gift!)

I'm not going to Japan becuase I'm crazy into anime or manga. I don't care that much about ninja or swords or feudal lords or bonsai. My karaoke skills are weak, and I don't want to hang out with the harajuku girls. All of this could change, I suppose. The real reason I am going to Japan is because it doesn't scare me. I like sushi and tea and ritual good manners. I'm not afraid of fish soup for breakfast or corn on my pizza, I'm not afraid of wearing toilet slippers. I'm not worried about drunken businessmen who want to know my bra size or my blood type. I like the differences that Japan presents to me, and because of previous experience, all of them are safe differences.

At this point the only things that have me wondering are the unknown factors of my future room-mates. From the floor-plan of my apartment that the company sent, it looks as though there will be three of us, all girls. That's just as well. I don't think I could bear to be shacked up with those oddball North American guys who see Japan as a sort of mecca for their anime fantasies. My company hires from all the English-speaking countries in the world, so I've got my fingers crossed that we'll have a little variety in the apartment-- it'd be weird if I went all the way to Japan just to find myself rooming with two other Canadian chicks from B.C. It really doesn't matter; I believe that whatever happens will be the right thing.

I fly out of Vancouver on January 24th. In the meantime I'm shopping for shoes for my enormous feet and getting poked with needles for diseases that I might catch when I holiday in Thailand or China...