First Impressions of Japan

Ok, yes, these posts are almost a month old. I couldn't find anywhere to upload them from.

Day 1: Flight and Arrival

Today was a very, very long day. We got to the airport around 10:30, and checked in. Then we went with my parents, Toby’s sister, and his grandma to get some food. Pretty good food, but airport fare is expensive. We went through security at about 12:30, and got on the plane around 1:25. The flight was about 10.5 hours long. It was a pleasant surprise to get two meals instead of the advertised one, and they weren’t bad, but quite salty. There were three movies, but I didn’t really watch them (Pirates of the Carribean, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Bruce Almighty). Toby slept most of the way. I managed to get through the Time magazine someone left behind, the horse illustrated, a bunch of puzzles from the book Anthey gave me, and a bit of the SciAm she also gave me.

We (finally) arrived in Tokyo around 5:30 here time, which is about midnight Pacific. The next bit was brutal, because our carry-ons were quite heavy, and there is now an ‘anti-terrorist’ line up you have to stand in. We made the mistake of taking a bathroom break as soon as we got off the plane, so when we got to the line up there were two plane-loads in front of us. They started off with only one attendant processing people through. It took about an hour of standing in this line up to get through, and we hadn’t even gone through customs yet! Did I mention it was very, very hot? I had on a sweater set and was carrying my wool coat…Toby had a sweatshirt on and was carrying his lined overcoat. HOT. Anyways, we finally got through that, picked up our luggage, and got through customs to meet the Nova people. There was one person there to pick us up, as well as a couple from Victoria and a girl from Ontario. Once we got on the train and could put our stuff down, things were better. After about an hour on the train to Shinjuku, we got off and onto another train, but we then found out that our apartment wasn’t ready so we went to the Sunroute Hotel. It was a very nice hotel; the room was very small but clean and pleasant – the bathroom was like the head on a boat! By the time we got settled, phoned Toby’s uncle Teruo (and I had to speak Japanese at 3 am Pacific ), got something to eat, and phoned both our families back in Canada, it was about 5:30 am Pacific (10:30 pm our time).

Day 2

Shinjuku is a very kewl place. I will try to post some of the pictures I took soon. The buildings are huge! One of the kewlest buildings was the “Times Square Building”. Another one I enjoyed was the TokyuHands building – it’s a shopping mall with 20 or so floors. We walked around a bit, picked up an adaptor for the computer and got some lunch. Lunch was in the bottom of a building off the entrance to the underground train station near our hotel. There were lots of restaurants in there, including, surprisingly, a Subway. We didn’t eat there. At the place we did eat at, we got the best service I think I’ve ever received in a restaurant anywhere. Very nice people. I’m trying my best to use my Japanese – it’s very hard not to revert to English.

The televisions in Japan are also very kewl. They have a setting, so that if you’re watching a program that was originally in a language other than Japanese, you can switch to that language. No subtitles or anything, just voiceover. I like that feature a lot. It’s really good for watching the news, because I can’t pick up much of what is going on in Japanese, but I can switch to the English if I want. The television in our hotel had that capability so I watched BBC in English and a scientific show too, which had Brian Greene the physicist on it.

At about noon our time we checked out of the hotel, and then we walked around for about 45 minutes or so while we waited for our Nova person to take us to our apartment. After a few trains and (what seemed like) a very, very long walk, we finally got to our apartment. It has two rooms, a living room/dining room/kitchen, plus an alcove for the sink and washing machine. This alcove has two tiny rooms sticking out of its sides, a shower room and a toilet room. Yes, they are separate. Our television also has the multiple language capability. There are also two airconditioners, one for each room.

After unpacking most of our clothes, we decided to wander around a bit. We needed some towels (not provided?!) and we wanted to do some grocery shopping. We discovered several produce shops about a block or two away from our apartment, and happily the prices are quite reasonable. But we headed to Noborito (two stops away on the train) to pick up towels, which was quite an adventure. We went to several stores and eventually asked where we could pick up bath towels. The lady told us “Daiei”, but we couldn’t find it – it turned out it was one block to the left but we could only see it from the next train station, which was quite a few blocks from there. So finally we got the towels, got a snack, and then headed back to Kuji, which is our train station. At the grocery store we got milk, a bit of meat, some jam and noodles. At the produce shop very close to our house, we got oranges, mushrooms, onions, and some other stuff for 600 yen. Maybe tomorrow we will get some more stuff there – it’s pretty cheap. They have gigantic lettuces for 50 yen each, and cabbages for the same. The green onions are huge and they also have leeks, grapefruits, and garlic.

Toby made a yummy dinner, which was good because at around 6 or 7 our time (12 or 1 am Pacific) I am getting really tired. I can’t seem to get up any later than 5 am our time either, but hopefully by Monday I will be better. After that I washed the dishes (not many cuz there are only two of us!) and we tidied up a bit.

Tomorrow’s goal is to get some spices, maybe some bread, go to the Ward Office to get our foreigner’s registration cards, and possibly see the Matrix. I am also planning to study my Japanese hard, because on the weekend we are going to visit Toby’s uncle and I want to do better than I did on the phone ;).

Monday is orientation in Shinjuku. We are really looking forward to going back there and exploring a bit more.

Observation of the Day: The train system is awesome. I will post a picture of the map of it so you can see. Sometimes there are train lines upon train lines upon train lines, all stacked upon each other. They all go different places but with a little effort it’s not difficult to figure out which one to get on.

Day 3

Today we decided to go and meet the other Nova people in our building. They are mostly from Ireland and I think maybe from Australia or England. There is a nice couple who told us all about working for Nova and some of the ins and outs. We learned from them about the rent situation – it is more expensive than we first supposed. However, we also learned from them and Toby’s mom that getting our own apartment could require up to 6 months rent up front, which is ‘key’ money – a gift to the landlord – and not all of it actually counts towards rent. It is quite possible as well that once we replaced all the stuff that came with our current apartment, we would be no better off. We have air conditioner/heaters in two rooms, which is apparently surprising to Toby’s mom. As well, not all apartments come with dishwasher and fridge. We also think that the second room could come in quite handy if and when we get private tutoring. We’ll just have to see how it goes and what we can do about it.

After meeting the Nova teachers from upstairs we went to Mukogaokayuen Station. We went to the ward office and got our alien registration certificates, and Toby got his NHI health insurance. If it’s way cheaper than JMA, I will switch too.

After going to the ward office, we had planned to get to the Canadian Embassy. However, like most Canadian businesses/government offices, it has silly hours (9:30 to 11:30 am). I am glad that we called before making the rather lengthy train ride.

After the aborted Canadian Embassy mission, we decided to go to the Daie store to get some more household items. We picked up some washing machine soap, rubber gloves for dishwashing, two hand-towels, chopsticks, a pitcher, and two sided wall-safe tape. It turns out that things are pretty cheap there in comparison to the little grocery stores like “Family Life” – the washing machine detergent was 88 yen, while at Family Life it was around 400 yen. (?)

We walked all the way to Kuji from the Daie store. It was far. Our feet hurt. A lot. I made dinner for Toby while he went out to get our film developed and pick up some food incidentals.

I keep falling asleep around 7, which is really bad. But I’m writing this at around 10:30 (I woke up) so I hope I can sleep a bit later tonight.

It turns out that someone has wireless internet around here – the signal is week but I’m definitely connected. We need to figure out where it’s coming from and get the access key. That would be really great.

Tomorrow we are traveling to Nagareyama to see Toby’s uncle Teruo. I didn’t get to study my Japanese but hopefully with a little rest I will be better prepared. Hopefully it will be a good trip and we will get to see the Matrix.

Day 4/5: Kate and Toby’s Weekend Adventure

I got up at quarter to 5. When will I ever get onto Japan time?!! This is frustrating. I spent the time doing a budget and I think we are going to be fine – if we’re careful we can even save more than I suspected. It’s six now; I just did some washing up and maybe I will go back to bed.

We left for Nagareyama at around 9:45, and after a few train mix-ups and some long rides, we got off the train and met Toby’s uncle Teruo. We then went to meet Toby’s grandma in the hospital. After that we went to a restaurant for some lunch – and many, many drinks. Apparently drink bars are popular in Japan; you pay a small amount and can get as many drinks as you want – and unlike the ‘bottomless’ drinks in north America, you can switch drinks and have as many different kinds of drink as you want. Also included in this deal is soup.

After going to lunch, we went to Teruo’s house, which is very nice. Items of note are the fancy toilet with spray/bidet/heated seat, and the Japanese bath tub – very relaxing and deeper than it looks. After lighting incense for Toby’s grandfather, we spent some time looking through the stack of pictures I brought and giving the omiyage (presents) we brought for the family. Toby’s cousin Shuhei and his daughter Amane (whom we had been told was a boy, but luckily the present I got was uni-sex) came and visited as well. Looking through the pictures was hilarious – they really got a kick out of the pictures of my parents and informed me that my dad looks like a) Alexander the Great (ok, I can understand this given that they are both Greek), b) Sean Connery as James Bond (must be the beard), and c) Stephen Spielberg (no clue on this one). Anyways, they seemed to be impressed with his beard. :D

After this, we all went back to the hospital to see grandma again. Amane made quite the impression with everyone there – all the patients and nurses kept giving her lots of attention and saying “wakana-ii” (she’s cute). I hope to get some pictures of all of us at some later date.

After heading back home so Teruo could go for his run (6 km – wow!), we went for Kaiten Sushi – where the sushi travels around and you grab it when you see what you want. Yummy items of note: raw oysters in the shell and raw oyster sushi. Once again, Amane stole the show with the people in the next booth, as well as eating a whole melon. Very cute.

Unfortunately after dinner, I’m not sure why but I had a really really bad allergy attack, and of course I didn’t have any medication at all – but luckily Teruo had some anti-hystemine. That was lucky. Never again will I be caught without my inhalers (me dumb).

The next day, we ate a gigantic breakfast that Toby’s aunt Mitsue had made for everyone – we all had a plate with a little note on top. There were scrambled eggs (except for Toby), a kind of salad with tomatoes, lettuce, and sprouts, rice, miso soup, bacon, and for those who wanted, ‘natto’, or fermented beans. You put mustard on top and mix them around, then eat them with the rice. Yummy. There was also coffee and sweet potato buns all the way from Okinawa. We were extremely full.

After breakfast, we went for a walk to get some fresh air (and try to clear up the breathing issues from the allergies). Then we went to watch Mitsue play softball. I’ve been watching lots of Japanese baseball on t.v. and it’s way more exciting than American professional baseball – lots more stolen bases and sneaky hitting. It’s more brains than braun. The softball game was no different, and in the first inning alone Mitsue’s team had 9 runs batted in! She herself managed to steal a base. It was very exciting and lots of fun. Also, it was on the floodplain of the Edogawa (river), which has a large dyke (and by large I mean about 3 times the height of those in Richmond). The river was very calm, although I did see one fish jump. I also saw a large heron-kind of bird and a jetski with two people on it (looked very cold).

Next we went to a shopping mall where we picked up some things for the apartment (hangers and lunchboxes) which Teruo insisted on paying for :). It is definitely an advantage to have family here, not only for the obvious reason but because we have learned where all the cheap places are – otherwise we’d have gotten the stuff from the Daie store. Daie is not bad, but this place was way cheaper. It is also three or four floors and they seemed to have a lot of wholesale stuff there. I am finding most of the things I read in the newsletters provided by Nova are not really true – for example I am absolutely certain one can find patterned stockings in Japan and in other shades than black and beige, since I have seen them on about 90% of the Japanese women here. Don’t get me wrong, the newsletters are helpful, but perhaps the info is a little outdated.

Once we finished shopping, we went for Chinese food and had gyoza. Then we went back to the house to pick up our things, and Teruo provided us with some more towels and a bag of rice (yay!). He took us to the station and insisted on paying for our tickets. By this time the guiltmeter was at maximum. ;) Toby and I wanted to go to Harajuku, which we had been told was the happening place to be on Sundays (basically to see the goth kids and other such entertainment). It’s basically like Robson street, and it has the largest concentration of white people I’ve seen in Japan to date. Items of note: lots of white guys with Japanese girls in tow. Just about every major store we have on Robson is there: Gap, Zara, and Body Shop to name a few. The prices there seem quite inflated. We did eventually see the goth kids, who both Toby and I think spend more time on their get-ups than the goth kids from Vancouver – the costumes and makeup are far more intricate and thoughtful. We also saw a group of dancing Elvises (Elvi?), complete with gelled black hairdos and shiny black pvc or leather jackets. They were hilarious – especially with their coordinated knee-twisty can-can-like moves. Toby says it’s a cross between the jitterbug and the twist. I guess you had to be there ;). Another really kewl place in Harajuku is the gymnasium – what an awesome building (insert picture here).

After this we went home, which is where I am writing this from as we speak. There are some interesting programs on about today’s election for the lower parliament of Japan. Now we are listening to music.

The last thing I have to say about this weekend is that Toby’s relatives speak next to no English. Teruo can get by, but the rest have none. I think it’s safe to say that I’m picking up around 60% of what is said, sometimes more and sometimes less, but I definitely think my speaking improved by the end of the weekend – at least I hope so. At any rate, I learned a lot and will hopefully be better by the next time we see them.

Day 6: Orientation in Shinjuku

Yay! We were very excited to be going back to Shinjuku. Orientation didn’t start until 12:30, so we left lots of time beforehand to go back to the Tokyu Hands/Times Square place and check out cell phones and digital cameras. There are always people handing out free stuff and we managed to get a flyer for ADSL – and we are going to try to get it. It is the same sort of deal as the cable/home phone package, except it costs way less. We may get one cell phone as well but we are going to wait until our bank accounts come through (about 10 working days from now) to get one.

Orientation was fine – mostly stuff we already knew but it gave us a chance to meet some interesting people. I thought most of the people coming over here to work would be kids out of highschool or going through college/university, but almost all of the people I met have graduated from post-secondary and one even has a PhD. They seem to be a fairly well educated and intelligent bunch. :) I would say that the majority of the instructors are from the U.K., but there are lots of Aussies as well, with the occasional American thrown into the mix.

After the orientation, we headed over to the Virgin Records store – they have an internet café there, and if you buy a coffee you can surf for free for as long as you like. Unfortunately they had macs with weird formatting, and I didn’t bring all my blog entries so this will probably be posted weeks after it actually occurred ;). I couldn’t even check my email because it’s being forwarded to my SFU alumni account, which for some reason I can’t access from the webmail page. ??? I was however able to fire off an email from my old SFU account to my dad, and perhaps today (Day 7/Tuesday Nov 11) we will order the ADSL thing. I am suffering from internet withdrawal and am dying to get back online.

To cap off the day we tried to find the eigakan (movie theatre) in Shinjuku, which was quite difficult. However, we made it just in time and were overjoyed to see the Matrix Revolutions. I’m not sure what to say about it – except that Toby and I both thought it was very weird at the time…and I’m not sure I like what they did with it. I guess I’ll have to think about it some more. However, I can say that it was a great piece of eye-candy and I really enjoyed it. Some of the scenes were very gory and there should have been a warning about the movie causing seizures…hee hee ;).

By the way, the theatre just had the one screen I think – but it was massive! It was like stadium seating! I think you could have at least fit the Vancouver Playhouse inside this one theatre.

We saw trailers for The Last Samurai (eh) and more of note, Troy. It will be interesting to find out more about that – but I’m not sure what I think of Brad Pitt as a Greek. At any rate, I think the number of Greek ships they showed traveling to Troy was a bit overkill. We also saw the Return of the King trailer – WOOHOO! – which doesn’t come out til February 2004 here :(. However, I plan to download it as soon as it is released and watch it on the laptop. So there! Nyah!

It was kind of a late night and today (Day 7) is training. More on that in later.