Week 1 - Week 2

Internet at last! Time to start updating you guys on life in Japan!

Week 1:

Note: I'm about to recall things that happened 4 weeks ago.. so, hopefully I can still remember.

Day 1 - Vancouver Airport - Narita Airport

The day started with me going to the airport, this was it! I was all packed and ready to leave! So I arrive at the airport, and was quite surprised to see Mark, Hong and Mandy + co. there. I was actually quite touched, but of course I would never show it +p. Well, now you know +D Oh yea, Mark, nice instructions, hopefully I'll be able to carry through with it +D

Well, nothing much here to talk about so.. fast forward to Japan! Narita Airport!

When I arrived at Narita Airport approximately 9 hours later.. I was quite tired but excited of course. It was all adrenaline since I didn't sleep on the plane... Instead, I watched Wild Hogs and Ghost Rider... both movies sucked by the way. So when I arrived in Japan, I believe it was 3-4 pm local time, 11-12 midnight Vancouver time.

First day was quite brutal, and definitely an eye-opener. To summarize, I left Narita Airport with a 27kg luggage, 15kg luggage and my over-stuffed backpack. Luckily, my supervisor, Akihiro Miyata helped me with my smaller luggage. We soon got on a train for 2 hours, and once I got on that train.. English was useless. My supervisor knew English, but I used a lot of hand gestures to communicate. After that train, I got on another train for 40 minutes which took us to Yokohama, a welcome party was being held by NTT (my employer) for me and several other employees. Everyone mingled in Japanese, so I sat there quietly, I was getting tired and the luggages were definitely taking a toll on me. I ate a bit and drank tea because I was still sick from Vancouver (crazy sore throat and fever, no thanks to badminton that night lol) Anyways, the party was really awesome and the food was really good, had I not been sick and ridiculously tired, I would have definitely enjoyed myself a lot more, I was however, missing English... Not being able to communicate sucks ass! Anywho, we left Yokohama early.. luggages were getting heavier... I was getting tired... but we got on another train from Yokohama and 40 mins later arrived at Yokosuka, where my home is. It was probably 5-6am in Vancouver by now, and I was ready to sleep... but unfortunately, when I got to the dorm, the dorm manager was unavailable... I sat in the commons room for another 45 mins and finally he showed up. Got my key, went into my dorm and damn.. it was dirty and dusty as hell... I was tired and sick.. so I wiped the bed off with a towel (which turned all black after) and just slept... What a brutal first day...

Day 2 - Free Day

I managed to sleep quite well, and felt really good the next day! Except my flem was literally solid... yea... that was gross lol. I spent a good 3-4 hours cleaning my dorm. I wiped and vacuumed all the tables, cabinets, floor and washroom, and at the end, it felt good. Finally, I could call it home and didn't feel disgusted by it. Next, I started to do some exploring around my dorm. Guess what I had for my very first lunch in Japan? Yes, that's right! McDonald's Teriyaki Mega Burger!! It was quite good and I must say, the fries in Japan are much better than in Canada.

After lunch, I went out and bought essentials.. cup, plate, knife, fork, spoon, toilet paper, soap etc. Needless to say, I was feeling a bit lonely in Japan now and quite bored. Therefore, at night, I went to a park nearby called Umikaze park. Fortuntely, I met a guy from Turkey. He could speak Japanese a bit better than me and had been living in Yokosuka for 3 months now. He really helped me and showed me around Yokosuka that night (including the internet cafe that I used that night) and showed me the "lively" parts of Yokosuka! Yes, life was getting better and I was damn happy to speak in English again! He gave me some tips and where some fun spots were, so things were starting to look up!

Day 3-7 and Week 2

The 3rd day I started work, nothing too special to say about that. Actually from Day 3 to the end of Week 2 it was quite boring and insignificant. Mostly, I spent my days working, and after work, I would watch a movie and eat dinner. For the first 2 weeks, I just bought bento boxes from convenient stores... It was pretty unhealthy and I ended up always being hungry because Japanese portions are quite small.. There were also a lot of forms to fill out for water, gas, electricity, dorm, internet, phone etc. So the first 2 weeks was where I had to "setup" my life in Japan, at least it kept me busy. Also, I was starting to get use to Japan but it definitely felt quite lonely.. I was unable to speak much at work except to another intern from France named Martin Rolland +D, and after work, I would go home, eat and watch a movie before going to bed early.

(Top: My bed, My jacket and the Hello Kitty blanket makes up my blanket lol. Bottom: My desk, and my new bought microwave!)

I think the highlight between this period was when I went to Kojima (think future shop), I was unable to get a cellphone at that time since I needed my alien registration, but I took a look at the cellphones and decided on the one I was going to get when I did obtain my alien registration... yes my cellphone is ultra pimp +p Anyways, while picking out phones, I saw this really pretty girl working there, I tried to ask her which cellphone company was best, but she didn't know any English.. so they sent an English speaker and she gave me the low-down. (More on this later +D) That day, I also signed up for internet at Kojima and they had this crazy promotion going on. By signing up for internet, they gave me 10000yen (~$100 CDN) to use at the store (I bought a microwave and rice cooker), 20000 yen 2 months later to be spent in the store (I'm thinking either video ipod or camera.... or maybe DS) AND I get 2 months of internet for free! Plus, they gave me a pack of.. "presents" for signing up, it wasn't much (tissue box, wet wipes, and pencil crayons.. lol) but it was free and it was the gesture that counted!

In summary, not much happening in Week 1 and Week 2... Mostly adjusting to life in Japan and work. Overall.. I felt a bit lonely, but at least the culture shock and living independently was becoming less overwhelming.

Week 3-4 Coming soon!