Fukushima Prefecture, Japan Video Introduction

As of August 2nd, I will have arrived in Japan and begun living and working here for the course of one year. I have never been to Japan before. I do not speak Japanese. I still don’t have a place to stay. All I can bring with me from my home that I’ve lived in for the last 25 years, must fit into two pieces of luggage and a carry-on. I don’t know anyone that I will be living with or working with. I could go on, but this list of unknowns will only grow deeper into a pit of daunting anxiousness and nervousness.

Instead, in the short time that I have before I leave (which is growing shorter by the minute) I am trying to build my understanding of Japan and where I am going. I’ve been doing my best to learn the language. I’ve “Google-Earthed” my main high school. I’ve made contact with some of the JET’s living in Fukushima Prefecture. I’ve emailed questions to my program coordinator. I’ve visited the Fukushima website. I feel that it is important that I do as much as I can to prepare myself for my experience in Japan. I am pretty sure that I will be overwhelmed and maybe even pushed beyond my comfort threshold. But I think that these cultural shocks will stem from the element of surprise. I figure that the more that I try to learn about Japan, the less there will be to surprise/shock me. I know that I will be shocked, but I also think that I should be able to have some control over how shocked I will be.

Included in this post is a link to a video sent to me by someone who is currently living in Iwaki. It is a promotional video of some kind that looks a bit dated, but interesting in that it gives me a sense of what I might be seeing in the region in which I will be living for at least a year. The subject of the video is actually about Fukushima Prefecture, but it does have a small portion that features Iwaki Beaches.