Does this make me a dork?

OK everyone, so I've decided to go dork and make a BLOG. It's basically an online journal that I'll keep for myself and for everyone else if they are at all interested in what the hell is going on in Japan, which I sometimes wonder and hopefully this will help me sort it all out. I wasn't keeping my own journal and i'm sad that i'm forgetting all the cool things that i do, so i figured that having people expecting me to post what i'm doing would keep me motivated. It won't be too personal but definitely will just be me streaming my thoughts and experiences so sorry if it does go strange or personal or whatever. But it's all kosher for your viewing.

I am an Assistant Language Teacher on the JET program, which means that I sort of teach English to tons of kids. I live in Tokamachi City (more like a town) in north-central Honshu, Niigata prefecture, Japan. It's a pretty rugged, mountainous, and recently cursed area of the country. I work in Junior High and Elementary schools and I've been enjoying it.

So, it's April 5 (Happy Birthday Aurora yesterday) and I have been in Japan now for just over 8 months. I'll try to backtrack a little for everyone so they can get a quick idea about how the last 8 months have been for me here. And then I'll pick up and try to keep a regular journal about my life here and hopefully you'll think it's interesting. I'm kind of curious if my own life is interesting sometimes anyway so it'll be good for me to look at and say 'that guy's life is boring' or 'wow that guy does cool shit. Hey, that's me!' So, here's a few lines describing the past 8 months in a nutshell:

-Japan. Japan is crazy
-Luck. Lots of bad luck with weather and natural disasters. I was in the center of the big Niigata earthquake on October 23, 2004.
-Snow! The best powder skiing in over a decade.
-Food! I freaking love Japanese food.
-Students! My favorite part of Japan. My students keep me cheery and make me feel appreciated here.
-Frustration. My patience has been tested here as my supervisors are completely incompetent, there isn't much in place for someone like me who doesn't speak Japanese (my predecessor was fluent so people don't really get that it's hard for me to live in rural Japan without any language skills). Transportation problems. Schedule problems. Apartment problems. Difficulties breaking into the Japanese social circles and people's fear of foreigners in this area. Etc... I guess I knew there would be challenges like this but because of the way my predecessor described what my situation would be like, so much turned out to be wrong that it sort of rubbed me the wrong way. Not all his fault but maybe just the poor communication systems set up in the Japanese workplace.
-Culture. Definitely a new culture which is partially why I wanted to come to Japan. Hadn't seen the real Asia yet and wanted to be in the thick of it. The culture is very interesting and will get more interesting once I can start to understand what is happening around me.
-Challenge. Every day there is a new challenge which is why I gave up the nearly perfect and relaxing life, job, girlfriend, rental house and proximity to family that I had when I left. I am thriving on the challenge of everything that I face everyday because it is definitely keeping my life interesting and unpredictable. I think I thrive on that. Not sure why.

So that's that in a nutshell. I am still really excited to be here and look forward to tons of new things, but the continuation of little frustrations has worn down my attitude, so I'm in the process of an attitude revamp. Trying to keep the positive on top and the rest in perspective...

Anyway, I hope this blog stuff works as I jump even further into a complete digital life...but hopefully it will help me keep in touch with people back home and help beat away my homesickness, and keep you on top of what's going on here if you are at all interested...