Welcome to my blog

Hey y'all,
This is my new blog. It's called Y.A.M.A. I'll get into the details about the name some other time. In any case (I say that a lot), I'll be posting stories here about my adventures in Japan as an airplane, or rather, as a "JET." That's what they call us guys who go over to Japan for at least a year to teach English and/or otherwise exchange our culture with the Japanese on the Japan Exchange and Teaching program. Basically, the program is sponsored by the Japanese government rather than a private company. So we are in good hands.
I'm going to be living in a small town called Takachiho, on the big southern island of Kyushu, home to such cities as Fukuoka, Nagasaki, and Miyazaki. Good luck trying to find Takachiho on Google Earth, though, without a tip or two. My advice is to first look for Nobeoka, on the eastern coastline of the island. Takachiho-cho is about 24 miles (as the bird flies) west by northwest from Nobeoka. The coordinates are approximately 32.44.40 N x 131.18.32 E.
I'll be working in another, even smaller town, however, called Gokase. From what I can tell, Gokase is only about 7 miles or so from "home." I've been told I'll need a car to get to work and back. Hopefully, I'll also be able to get there by biking, car-pooling, or even hitch-hiking on occasion. I'd prefer to walk to work, but that won't work.
Well, that's all for now. I have to get back to learning kanji!
More later,
Sayonara,
Yama