Reicheru's Blog

It has been too long.

Admittedly, I have been busy these past 2 months, having moved to Japan and all, but I really should have updated this blog. My whole reasoning was to have a record of what I am feeling and what I get up to on my year abroad, however my only record at present is the sheer volume of things I post on my facebook account.

Well, from now on I hope that I shall share the load between the two. No-one but me will probably read this blog anyway, unless I direct family and friends to it, and even then they will probably have a quick glance and be done with it. My musings are not really that interesting after all.

So, what have I experienced so far?

Well, the saddest moment in my life, that’s for sure.
It was painful when I had to say my goodbyes tp the family that I love so much. I get all choked up thinking about the emotional few minutes before I left to go to the gate at Newcastle Airport.
My parents, brother, grandparents and boyfriend all got up early to see me off. We got there so early that the place was practically empty. Not to say my check in didn’t have problems, but waiting in a massive queue wasn’t one of them. My luggage was over, but the nice British Airways lady let me carry some stuff as hand luggage and put my suitcase through under the BA weight limit of 23kilos instead of the ridiculous 20kilos of Cathay Pacific. Seriously, packing your life into a suitcase to live abroad for the year deserves more weight than a fortnight stay in a hotel.
If she didn’t do that for me it would have cost a whopping £300 for my excess baggage. I was perventilating at the prospect.

After that there were no problems. I had it all explained to me, as I had never (conciously) flown before, though I was on a plane when I was 4 year old, when I went to Majorca, but I hardly remember it.
Then we had to wait. We got there so early that we had to wait about an hour. In that time I bought some mints and a puzzle book from WH Smiths, and a bottle of water, pasta salad and banana-nut muffin from Starbucks as a breakfast. At about 8.10am, an hour before my flight to Heathrow, we headed upstairs, and I said my goodbyes. I was crying all the way through. First I said bye to my grandparents, then my brother and my parents (my mum got all teary eyed) and then I was left alone with the love of my life, faced with the fact I wasn’t going to see him until Christmas, after having spent the past 6 months practically attached to his side. I admit, I didn’t want to leave, but it was too late. I’d spent too much on my flight, and gotten into so much debt doing my degree I couldn’t possible give up and have it all for naught. So, I left.
My one mistake was nearly forgetting my laptop on the baggage check conveyor belt. I remembered though, when I realised I wasn’t struggling with my hand luggage anymore. Actually, I made another mistake later and that was forgetting to take off my belt for a metal detector. Ended up being frisked… not good. But it matters not. I got through in the end.

The flight was nice, though I was a bit weirded out by the take-off but it was kinda like a rollercoaster ride. The scenery was really pretty and I have to say, Britain is gorgeous from the sky.
Nearly as nice as Hong Kong. Seeing the islands was so amazing, especially after a 15 hour flight. I watched a lot of movies in that time though. I was disappointed when I changed for the flight to Narita Airoprt in Tokyo, as it was one of the old Cathay Pacific planes, so it didn’t have the movie facility or even comfy chairs. It was pretty cold too, so I had to borrow some blankets. Not a very pleasant 4 hours, but it was good to come out in Japan afterwards.
I was out of the airport within 20 mins, after getting my visa checked. I found my luggage immediately, thanks to my Mum’s ingenius idea of drawing all over my plain black suitcase, and getting me a pink luggage strap with my name on. Then I was off to find the limousine bus to my hotel. Surprisingly easy, though I missed the desk completely, went outside and immediately began to use my l33t Japanese skills (not really) to ask which bus took me to the Sunroute Plaza in Shinjuku. I was then asked if I had a ticket, to which I replied no (in Japanese still) and was directed to the main desk where within seconds I was served a 3000yen ticket to my hotel. 3000yen being about £17. It was a long trip (about an hour and a half, I think) but I arrived in Shinjuku in complete awe and full of excitement. Tokyo was a mass of some of the tallest buildings I had ever seen (having not seen many tall buildings as they seem not to exist in the North-East of England) and lots of neon lights, mismatched apartments, random vegatable patches and rivers and lots of zebra crossings.

When I got to the hotel (the bus dropped me off right outside it) I was met with such friendly service I thought I was in a 5 star hotel rather than a 3 star. I was worried incase my online booking hadn’t worked, but I was given my card key and a few info leaflets and directed to go to the 14th floor. My room was 1450, and it was amazing. It had a little bathroom, with a glass wall looking out into the bedroom, a widescreen tv and a LAN cable. The bed was huge. I kinda wanted to live at the hotel but had to go out and find an apartment the next day.
There was a little room round the corner from my room, which had vending machines in. It was my first encounter with the infamous Japanese vending machines. I got myself some Pocari Sweat, which was pretty awful, in all honesty.

The next day I went to the letting agency in Musashino. I was very nervous when I got to the train station, but I recognised the kanji for Musashisakai, and asked an old woman for help in buying the ticket. A man helped me find my way to the right platform and the train driver let me know that I had to change trains at Mitaka station since Musashisakai was on a different line. The trains were very helpful, unlike the metro where you have to either guess the station or listen out for the occasional heads-up from the driver.

I changed trains easily and got to the station, following the signs to the north-exit. I took the stairs down to street level and the letting agency was in plain sight. I went into a book store first though, since I wasn’t supposed to be there until 12. I was amazed at all the manga and I took some photos. I also bought Bakuman volume 4.

I was proud of the fact that I talked to the shop assistant in Japanese and she understood me. She praised me on it, but in hindsight it means nothing since the other day I got praised for my good Japanese when all I said was “arigatou”.

I went to a bentou shop along the street and bought a tonkatsu bentou. I couldn’t find anywhere to sit and eat it so I went to the letting agency. The letting agency was up of the 3^rd floor of a building, above a restaurant and a mobile phone shop.

I had to wait for about 40 minutes for Yamashita-san to arrive but after half an hour of waiting one of the men who worked there came over and helped me despite not speaking English and my poor Japanese. The apartment I wanted was gone, but he showed me a few. When Yamashita-san came, she took me by car to view a couple of places. The first one was a short walk from the university ( 2 mins) and the landlady seemed nice, however the place was full of boxes. I liked it though since the landlady said I could use the bed, it also came with a washing machine and a gas cooker, but no refridgerator. Yamashita-san ensured me that there was internet access despite the guy from before telling me there wasn’t.

The second place I saw was about 25 mins from the university, and was totally unfurnished. It was big and had a separate shower and toilet, but had nothing at all in, so would have been expensive to furnish (it needed a bed, a refridgerator, a gas cooker, a washing machine etc)

I decided to go for the first one, Mori no Ie, out of necessity, since I didn’t have enough time to look at others. It was 53,000yen per month and was half furnished. The only problem was that the landlady couldn’t get the boxes removed in time for me moving in the next day (since I checked out of the hotel at 11am), but she was so nice that she said I could stay the night at her house, which was next door.

I needed to get ICU to become my guarantor, so I had to go to the university. Yamashita-san wrote down the directions, gave me a map and told me the bus numbers. I got the 93 bus direct from the south entrance of Musashisakai Station to ICU, however I got off a stop early, at the main gate. It was a long walk but I took lots of photos. ICU is a very pretty place. I found the office without a problem, after looking at the Campus Map board. They gave me the insurance slip and I headed off to the on-campus post office. I also got my travellers cheques cashed when I bought the insurance, so that I could afford the 160-something thousand yen worth of fees. I was paying 6000 and something for the rest of August, 53,000 for September, 1 month as deposit, half a month for thank you money and half a month as agency fees.

Once I paid the insurance I took the slip to the office, where they had already signed everything. I then headed to the bus stop and got the bus back to Musashisakai Station, and I bought some water and an onigiri. Then I went to the letting agency where I paid for everything and was told to come back tomorrow for my keys. I decided to go at 12pm since I checked out at 11am and I was worried about not having internet and so wanted to talk to my family as long as possible.

On my way home I got a little lost, as I got the wrong train from Musashisakai, and ended up changing trains 3 times before I got to Shinjuku Station. I also left the station at the wrong exit, so couldn’t find the hotel, but luckily my trip around the area that morning came in useful as I was able to locate a particular shop and found my way from there, stopping to buy deodorant in a nearby toiletry shop.

When I got home I finally ate my bentou and I talked online. I tidied up, trying to organise my suitcase again for my checking out in the morning.

The time I spent at my landlady’s house was really fun.  She was so welcoming that I felt like I was a member of her family! I ate a homecooked Japanese meal, slept on a futon in a tatami mat room and had a proper Japanese bath (where you wash and shower yourself first, then get in super-hot water and soak for a bit. It was lovely.
After all that, it was a shock to get moved in to my apartment and have to live in comparitive squalor! I did a hard day’s graft, moving the boxes and such, and as thanks my landlady lent me a load of things to help me get set up. I am presently borrowing a low Japanese style desk that is over 70 years old. I am also borrowing some bedsheets, a heater and an umbrella.
My landlady took me shopping a few times to buy what I could afford.

Once university started I was so busy that I forgot about writing my blog. I posted what I could to facebook though.

I got into JLP3 in the placement test, which is midway. The teachers are amazing and I’ve learned so much already, though I have come to terms with the fact it will take much longer than a year to improve my skills. I’m too easily distracted and lured into English conversations!

I had a financial problem with transferring my money over, but I managaed to get it sorted, but only after getting sent loads of money from relatives who were desperate to ensure I had food money!
I bought myself a bike, a contract mobile phone and a refridgerator, and finally got internet access at the beginning of this month, (since the apartment was net-less after all).

I joined a club as well. It’s called Soul Run, and it’s a traditional Hokkaido fisherman’s dance. Tis very hard work – such a work out. I’ve lost loads of weight since getting here already, but unfortunately the rigors of Soul Run training have proven too much for my weak knees, and I’m now walking with a limp. I need to go to the hospital, but that can wait until after the Soul Run performance on Saturday at the ICU Festival. We only get to do 1 performance, so it would be a shame to let all my new friends down. 5 mins of pain will be worth it after all the hours of practice and all the memories I have made and will continue to make with my Soul Run friends.

I’m tired of writing now, but I hope I can update more often. I need to keep practicing my writing skills, so I don’t fail at English Lit next year when I return home fluent in Japanese. (As if.)

I’ve posted some photos. There are more on my facebook, but it is set as friends of friends so… unless you are my friend you can’t see. Sorry ^_^’