Welcome To The Jungle...

As my hazy memory serves me, this time last year when myself and lots of all the other 2004 newbies went to the first orientation we were all in differing states of exhaustion, jet lag and bewilderment. The veterans seemed like ace people wiling to help us out that already had strong friendships. There were some gossiping, some ill advised couplings and a lot of fun and laughs.
However this years orientation was fucking MADNESS.
There seemed to be about 100 new people and about 5 second years. I couldn't help but thinking that sometimes our advice mignt have come across as alienating or condescending. The first afternoon was normal enough but the meal and night out on Thursday was probably the maddest night I've experienced in Japan. And not necessarily in a a good way. The good news is that the people in my area are totally sound. Ross seems to have the ability to drink and grin through anything, Keith is a top laugh and a valuable source of me remembering my real accent, Tammy is always entertaining and a Karaoke demon. However there's a few people who definitely made a name for themselves that night by being absolutely pissed out of their faces. I'm talking chugging beer repeatability stumbling puking drunk at like 8 o clock. As Sarah said, "I thought you liked to party and drink before this!" It was kind of odd. Tori had nothing on these lushes. Flashback to first year of uni. I'm sure things will calm down in time and people will mesh together but the night ended up being quite all over the place. I found myself turning the karaoke music down to shout "Please be careful, there's broken glass on the floor and you have bare feet!" Shut it grandma....
Of course first impressions aren't always to be trusted. I did get to chat to a few people who seemed fab-Hannah, Jen, Mark, Meagan and a few others whose name tags I didn't read...Another thing was that I noticed some of them came away with a real buzz and excitement for their life in Japan with regard to befriending j-peeps, traveling and trying all the crazy food. It was my sad realisation that although these things can be done now for them, they can't be done with real ease and enjoyment until you've been here a while and have a good feel for the place and the language. Also whilst I'm happy to help people out I'm looking forward to the point where I stop becoming advisor/helper/translator and just become friend. The first year really is a year of learning and trying and settling. If only we could all start the program as second years....