Life in the Land of the Rising Sun: First Impressions

It scarcely seems more than a few days ago that I was saying goodbye to friends and family, and boarding a plane for Japan. But almost two weeks have passed since then, and so much has happened already!

 Nagoya, City of Dreams. Behold the bustling metropolis at its finest.

Firstly, a huge thank you to everyone who extended their friendship and support to me in the months and weeks approaching my departure. You made leaving much harder than I ever would have imagined, and you remain in my thoughts and prayers. I'm sorry I haven't been able to get in touch sooner, but as I'm sure you can imagine, I'm always rushed off my feet getting used to life out here.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I'm very sad to report I haven't seen anyone either wearing a tail or piloting a robot, (see the second post). Sorry to disappoint you. I know that's what you were hoping for. I'll keep my eyes open and let you know if anything turns up.

The lack of tails does actually raise a point of some interest: I think that we in the West have often overstated how different Japan is. I can imagine why we might, as the more apparent differences are inescapable in day to day life. The use of symbols rather than Roman script, a wildly different culture, religious background and history, and from that, some very different attitudes towards social interaction, all combine to give the impression of mystique. However, having been here for even just a short while, I'm struck by the similarities rather than the differences to home. Of course, being unable to speak the language, (I am functionally illiterate, deaf and dumb), is a massive challenge. Not that it was unexpected; but most of the more interesting stories I now have stem from communication difficulties rather than dramatic cultural differences.

Going East

 Japan's finest fresh roasted coffee always goes down a treat with pasta aficionados...

So, after saying good bye to my whole family who saw me off, I endured around 26 hours of travel, (including a stopover in Hong Kong), before getting to Nagoya. Customs were very suspicious of me, and wanted to go through everything I had. Must have been that glint in my eye. Or the bags underneath them. Much gesturing later, I got through, and then had to work out the Nagoya train system. Not a simple task even when fully awake, but thankfully the two Japanese ladies in the information booth spoke a 'chotto' (little) English, and I was able to just about work out enough to make it into central Nagoya. There I was greeted by my Canadian housing agent, who, after stopping just at the side of the very busy road, invited me to vault over a small barrier and drag my bags over to his van. Oblivious to the blaring traffic queuing up behind him, I tumbled in and then we were off through what I thought were the backstreets of Nagoya to the hostel where I would stay until my apartment was ready. In reality, I think Japanese roads are just quite narrow, with lots of one-way streets.

That night was interesting. By then I think I was approaching 28 hours without any sleep, and made a great first impression on my fellow teachers who were already there by, um, resting my eyes in the common room and having people point at me and exclaim in the time-honoured Japanese tradition: 'Kawaii!' ('How cute!'). We went out for dinner to an izakaya, or Japanese pub, where I sampled the delights of Japanese cuisine, including a dish I vaguely recall being described as chicken knuckles. All I remember for certain is that it was pretty nasty. Everything else we had was great though.

Food in Japan: weird at the best of times. 

I had a sakura flavoured fish sweet thing. I think I'll go for the chocolate one next time...

And so life in Japan goes on. I got to know my fellow teachers better, who are uniformly great chaps, and I'm so grateful for that. I've had a week of training with one more to follow, and after that my employer will let me loose on some students! The apartment's a bit of a dive, but it's in a good location, so everything balances out. I've had two karaoke sessions, no karate lessons, and I think I'm learning how to make a gyoza, (Japanese dumpling), tonight.

One final story for your amusement: In my never-ending search for food, (harder than you might think), I eventually stumbled across a supermarket close to home. Such joy! Brands I actually recognised, staple foods to fill my cupboards with, and abundant quantities of fresh fruit! I got to the checkout and said hello to the girl, who kindly put all my purchases in a yellow basket and gave it to me. Not knowing what to do next, I followed everyone else with their yellow baskets to a long shelf, where they were transferring items from said yellow basket into rucksacks that they brought with them. Taking a rucksack with me to a supermarket was not an idea that ever crossed my mind. Oh dear. After bothering a lady with a plastic bag, and politely enquiring as to where she got it, she told me that it was from a different shop. Oh dear indeed. It transpires that you need to buy plastic bags from supermarkets in Japan, but I didn't know that. So in the depths of my increasing worry, a kindly old Japanese man shuffled up to me, started mumbling something, and produced plastic bags from his magical coat pockets that had an inexhaustible supply of them. I bowed, said thank you profusely, and he shuffled off, still mumbling, with nary a backward glance. Anonymous Japanese man, I'm sure you're not reading this, but if you are: thank you.

Hopefully it won't be too long until my next post, but do keep in touch! I hope you're all well, and I'll try and get some nice pictures of the sakura trees for you as they come into bloom. So, in the words of the sinister sounding Keisuki M: