making friends in japan as a foreigner | starting work at an eikaiwa

i have a friend date. my next door roommate is from france and planning to be a model, and we're the same age, which after my mom left is exactly what i needed.

then the cafe. two guys speaking japanese, i was kind of listening for practice and kind of staring. turns out they were staring at me because my headphones had disconnected and my laptop had been playing sound out loud for five minutes. eventually he got up, i tried to start in japanese, he said i speak english, and we exchanged line. that's what happens when you stare at people until they're uncomfortable enough to approach you. success.

we hung out the next day. hamburgers better than in n out, a park, bread donuts, him practicing english and me practicing japanese. it was the first real japanese interaction i'd had and it made me want to learn so much more. i'm a guest here. i want to be the person they can speak their own language with.

and then: i got approved for the apartment. the contract starts february 15, my birthday, and i'm picking up the keys that day.

training at ecc. seven of us, a full day of orientation, bank paperwork with an address that's about to change. i can't film inside so you don't get that part. what's crazy is how different everyone's situation already is. i thought we were all in the same kind of share house. no. budgets vary, locations vary, everyone's experience is different. five days in we did our demo lesson, a full 40 minutes in front of coworkers. then all you can eat for 3,800 yen.