...the more I realise quite a number of things... amongst others. None more obvious than that each time I tell myself that I'll blog, I delay if for a few days; if not weeks.
This particular post is going to cover a few things... the first bit will be somewhat negative, however it will get more positive from there.
Firstly, in 2010 there was a conference in Kansas City which comprised of some of the worlds top academics and educators, discussing study-abroad programs and that in general, there was very little mental health support offered from/between partner institutions of students who are undertaking study abroad given the fact that one in three study abroad students suffers severe depression whilst on exchange.
Now, why do I bring this up? When you have limited access to English speakers (or speakers of your native language) you naturally gravitate towards speakers of your native language; you spend quite a bit of time with them, and even those who you don't spend a lot of time with you start to notice that the way they respond to things. You decide after a while that the defensiveness with which they respond to most things that are said around them, especially in regards to the target language/culture/country, are pretty far out... especially if said person has been in that country for 8 months already.
In my application letter to my university for acceptance to the study abroad programme, I was asked to respond to several questions including but not limited to 'how I thought I would deal with the stress of moving'. Now, I went the whole nine yards and explained that my family had quite frequent contact with families from Southern Asia as well as the central Indo-Pacific region. I explained that there is almost nothing food wise that I hadn't eaten, or wouldn't give a go - except Natto, however I've grown quite fond of that recently, and that I was pretty sure that nothing would surprise me. I discussed that I would maintain constant contact with my family and that there would be a wonderful support network for me in the event that I needed it.
Facebook is such a wonderful social commentary tool; A 'friend's' status was as follows:
"A lot of the popular common courtesies we use in America don't really exist in Japan. That's been really hard for me to deal with without walking around convinced everyone is rude and incredibly self-absorbed. I absolutely despise going to the grocery store."
I have been in Japan for nearly 9 weeks neat now, and every day that I am here, I see two things develop. Firstly, my utter dislike for the Foundation level Japanese classes. There is something in re-learning what you already know in a different format that is incredibly useful, but at the same time annoying/confusing/hate-building to say the least.
Secondly, is most of the people that I know here becoming more than 'fed up' with Japan... Some feel that they don't belong to any particular country, other abhorred more than ever at the difference in Occidental/Oriental countries' cultures
My Japanese Lecturer and I were exchanging emails quite regularly previous to my departure from Australia. Having never been to Japan before, let alone travelling within the country itself, I decided to ask him for any advice. Not wanting to pose the question "so, how do I get there", I included a few options. One of which was a peaceful ferry ride from Narita to Sapporo (where I was under the assumption I would be exchanging to, not to the more south Hakodate).
The ferry ride was going to cost approximately Y13,000 or fly for Y18,000. His response was as follows:
"The ferry ride may be an interesting experience, but you could enjoy the experience from a comfortable armchair, in a vicarious way, by reading a travelog ..."
Overall, I see this as possibly one of the best pieces of advice that I was given in response to Japan travel.
You come to Japan to experience Japanese Culture... the Language... everything as a whole. If you were studying Gaelic, it would be ridiculous to go to Ireland and only eat Chinese food, or American style Burgers and stay with an American Family... not go to an Irish Pub. The idea of cultural assimilation may seem silly to some, however it is absolutely necessary if you want to develop any sort of understanding of a target country.
Just the same, the second most important thing to remember, is that - especially in a foreign country, you will be looked at. Especially if you are different. Occidentals will stand out as much in an Oriental Country, as a White Skinned person would in a North African non-english speaking province. Sure there may be a case of you being able to speak a language as well as a native, but because you are physically different, there will always be the chance, let alone guarantee of your ability being second guessed. Don't take it as an offence, take it as a gift. People in the western world don't generally go out of their way to speak other languages to people; thus, if you are in Japan as a non-native Japanese Speaker and you have English thrown your way, take it as the height of service; remember, they could always speak Japanese exclusively and leave you to suffer.
Just the same, understanding that it's a different country, let alone an Asian country, should be enough for a person to at least garner the idea that things will be different. These people are accustomed to being packed in tighter than the proverbial sardines into a Train, or Tram, push past you like it's no-one's problem in the supermarket, but sitting down enjoying quiet time is maximum-personal-space-bubble time.
Frankly, 'get over it'. It gets very hard for me to understand this sort of thing... especially when a person has been here for so long... voluntarily.
Secondly, I can't understand the progression of the development of my Japanese. I get incredibly annoyed with it. I feel that as things stand my spoken Japanese is gradually becoming better. My listening is... well, I feel abhorrid, however I had myself convinced that the service personnel at my regular hangouts had lowered their level of Japanese to suit me. I was standing in line behind a couple today at Sushi Maru, and I understood nearly all of their conversation, so I have a renewed hope.
My written Japanese has come along incredibly - if I may be so bold as to say...writing is my way out of a lot of Japanese situations... it gives me time to put my thoughts together in a sensible manner. As far as reading goes, it gets better with my writing.
One thing that I will work out - one day I'm sure, is how the 'difficulty' levels in the Japanese classes are organised. For example, the classes are organised into 3 levels; Shokyu, Chuukyu, and Jokyu.
Shokyu is Foundation Level, Chuukyu is Intermediate, and Jokyu is Advanced.
This being said... there appears to be no standard 'leveling' system. For example, I take two Shokyu classes a week; these are the Foundation Japanese classes mentioned waaaaaaaaay back at the top of this post. All my other classes are Chukyu and are in some ways 'easier' than the foundation classes. I also tried taking one of the Chukyu classes at Shokyu level; it nearly lead to me ripping my hair out in frustration at how easy it was. There are only a certain number of times you can stay sane whilst responding 'Konnichi wa' to a CD player.
Thirdly, quickly, is money. This nearly deserves its own post and I may even video-blog it at some stage... it's really quite tricky.
Most - if not all - larger establishments will accept Credit Card. Visa, Amex, have your pick. You will have to sign though... apparently Japan doesn't support 'Pin for Credit' even if it's a 'Visa Debit/Mastercard Debit'. The things to remember though, is that Japan is a cash society. I go to the 7/11 Convenience store once every two weeks, and withdraw Y30,000.This equates to about AU$390.00 at the moment and sees me out for two weeks if I am very liberal on spending. I can get by on Y20,000 (AU$260.00) a month quite easily - just remember that cooking for yourself is the way to go, in my opinion. The thing to be careful of however, is that Japanese ATM's which can provide international transactions, dispense Y10,000 notes. Exclusively. So it's easier to withdraw a larger sum, and work out from there how much you are spending monthly/weekly etc.
I shall blog more tomorrow.
It's written on the calendar :D
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Friday, 11 May 2012
Three weeks later...
So it has been over three weeks since I last posted two
significant things have happened... what an interesting life I lead!!
Firstly, and the most recent thing, I have finally been connected to the internet
in my dorm room. Whilst rent is an inexpensive Y4,300 a month with Y9,000 utilities,
which is all there it is; a room and utilities.
Internet is an interesting thing in Japan and I’d like to address that issue first. Japan is an incredibly technologically advanced country from the outside… however when you start to live here, it seems so backwards. The computer system at our university still uses (at least in the International Students Room) Windows XP Home Edition, with the multiple user accounts feature. Yes, that’s right. Sure Vista was far from the best operating system out there, systems bearing a Windows 7 badge on the side, are running XP Home; work it out. The same seems to go for internet. You can get internet, but it’s an incredible hassle to do so. I applied through a company called ‘BBApply’, an independent company that generally is used by JETs to get themselves internet, created due to many JETs having an interest in Japan, but not a functional command of the Japanese Language.
Internet is an interesting thing in Japan and I’d like to address that issue first. Japan is an incredibly technologically advanced country from the outside… however when you start to live here, it seems so backwards. The computer system at our university still uses (at least in the International Students Room) Windows XP Home Edition, with the multiple user accounts feature. Yes, that’s right. Sure Vista was far from the best operating system out there, systems bearing a Windows 7 badge on the side, are running XP Home; work it out. The same seems to go for internet. You can get internet, but it’s an incredible hassle to do so. I applied through a company called ‘BBApply’, an independent company that generally is used by JETs to get themselves internet, created due to many JETs having an interest in Japan, but not a functional command of the Japanese Language.
The service is free to the Client, and once successfully connected,
your ISP pays out of THEIR pocket, a fee to BBApply for ‘recommending you’ – in
reality, doing the entire application process for you. Easy, huh? What I wasn’t
prepared for however, was the wait and over complex nature of my setup… I pay
line rental to NTT, ISP fee to AsahiNET. Ok, simple. I was originally going to
have to wait 13 weeks to have NTT come to my room and see whether it was ‘HikariFibre’
(Fibre Optic) ready even though when I
spoke to them they confirmed several times that the dormitory is already packed
with Fibre lines to each room awaiting connection… a thing they call ‘Mansion
Plan’, and then they were going to make another date to do the ‘Construction
Work’ (installing a 6 inch cable off the main line into my room) then come back
once more, to actually hand me the router… One phone call later from BBApply to
NTT, my construction work and installation date had been brought forward 11
weeks. I’m still not too sure how it all happened, but it did… and I’m
thankful.
It seems that Australia is one of the few countries in the world where your ISP gives you a modem-router set up, and you plug it in and run the CD and you have internet access. Japan? Well, if we reminisce about the good old days of the internet, and creating a dialup connection? Same thing… just… for broadband. It confused the life out of me for a short while, but 45 minutes later I had access to a 100mbps fibre connection. It’s lovely to be able to contact people from the comfort of my room without having to annoy poor people in the International Students Room by Skyping.
It seems that Australia is one of the few countries in the world where your ISP gives you a modem-router set up, and you plug it in and run the CD and you have internet access. Japan? Well, if we reminisce about the good old days of the internet, and creating a dialup connection? Same thing… just… for broadband. It confused the life out of me for a short while, but 45 minutes later I had access to a 100mbps fibre connection. It’s lovely to be able to contact people from the comfort of my room without having to annoy poor people in the International Students Room by Skyping.
Secondly, I have been (past tense… no longer FEEL) swamped
with Kanji study. I am receiving regular Kanji study work and tests in two of
my classes, bringing the total amount of Kanji that I am studying in class time to approximately 35-40 Kanji
per week. This includes both Onyomi (Traditional Chinese) and Kunyomi (Native
Japanese) readings. Prior to studying in Japan, I had never seen a real reason
to study Kanji. This isn’t for any particular reason, it was merely the case
that it had never taken my fancy and all the majority of work in class being
spoken with homework assignments being spaced regularly (but few) throughout
the semester, lead to me being lazy. I could say comfortably that I knew how to
read/write approximately 100-120 Kanji the day I arrived in Japan, and could
gather the meaning of (I believe) maybe another 50-75 in context… so overall, I
would say that I was comfortable with 150 Kanji… I was in for quite a shock. As
of writing this, I have 73 Kanji plastered around my room, and I can
comfortable write all of them, and give common readings for all, and some
alternate for more than three quarters. This is in addition to the other 40
that I have taken down to allow for space.
I have encountered no previously known kanji, so this – I guess, takes my Kanji proficiency to approximately the 300 area…
Detour. My lecturer authored a short book in the early 90’s entitled ‘How to Learn a Foreign Language’ (Kutash, G.) and there is a wonderful illustration within which depicts a woman studying, I believe (I don’t have a copy right next to me so forgive me if it turns out to be incorrect). Her thought bubble reads something to the effect of ‘So if I learn 10 words a day, in a year that’s 3650 words!’.
Now, whilst we know that this sort of study is completely ineffective because we are constantly remembering and forgetting words, I believe that given that I am required on a day to day basis to converse and utilise the Japanese Language – also given the fact Kanji are learnt in study based on the 1,945 general use characters, any Kanji that I learn I will be forced to utilise in day to day activity… I can safely say, if I am learning 30 Kanji a week on average I will have learnt 1,500 in a year. I see this as an incredibly viable target.
Thus far, I have endured 3 kanji tests, and have done well; not spectacularly… that would imply something akin to remembering everything correctly…
On a side note, the sun is rising closer and closer to 4:00am now… 4:08am and the sun is nearly up.
Given the time, I am heading to bed, and will post something more tomorrow.
I have encountered no previously known kanji, so this – I guess, takes my Kanji proficiency to approximately the 300 area…
Detour. My lecturer authored a short book in the early 90’s entitled ‘How to Learn a Foreign Language’ (Kutash, G.) and there is a wonderful illustration within which depicts a woman studying, I believe (I don’t have a copy right next to me so forgive me if it turns out to be incorrect). Her thought bubble reads something to the effect of ‘So if I learn 10 words a day, in a year that’s 3650 words!’.
Now, whilst we know that this sort of study is completely ineffective because we are constantly remembering and forgetting words, I believe that given that I am required on a day to day basis to converse and utilise the Japanese Language – also given the fact Kanji are learnt in study based on the 1,945 general use characters, any Kanji that I learn I will be forced to utilise in day to day activity… I can safely say, if I am learning 30 Kanji a week on average I will have learnt 1,500 in a year. I see this as an incredibly viable target.
Thus far, I have endured 3 kanji tests, and have done well; not spectacularly… that would imply something akin to remembering everything correctly…
On a side note, the sun is rising closer and closer to 4:00am now… 4:08am and the sun is nearly up.
Given the time, I am heading to bed, and will post something more tomorrow.
Friday, 20 April 2012
Second and third weeks
My second week at Hokkaido University of Education began with an introduction to classes. I had essentially picked out my classes at the end of the first day, however at that stage I was unaware that the classes that were not labled 'Beginners' or 'Intermediate' had classes run concurrent in a separate room for lower level competency.
International Culture
Japanese Language 1
Japanese Language 2
Japanese Language 3
Japanese Foundations 1
Japanese Foundations 2
Japanese Culture 1/2
Japanese Culture 2/2
Are the subjects that I have been able to select for my competency level this semester.
What does confuse me at times however, is the inconsistency in level of difficulty; for example, I am taking beginners International Culture which is an appropriate level for myself... on the other hand, the Intermediate Japanese 1-3, work out of exactly the same text book as Japanese Foundation 1 and 2, designed for 'beginners' apparently... once again, maybe something got lost.
On the note of text books, that is something that I have had to budget in somewhat... at my home university at least, most - if not all of our study material is provided online or in inexpensive readers available through the University Bookshop... here however, it is a completely different story. For several of my classes, I am required to purchase no fewer than three prescribed textbooks - at roughly ￥3,000 each... whilst I understand that these books may come in good use in the future, I am struggling to justify purchasing $200+ of textbooks when I am actually studying in the target country... however, when in Rome. As a side, I understand that some people have to (I myself have been there, too) purchase hundreds, if not a thousand dollars worth of textbooks a semester, but once again, it's not as if there is an option to be immersed in 'psychology' or 'medicine' language and operate as a language sponge... my thoughts anyway.
I'll find something more interesting to blog about with regards to classes tomorrow... on another note, I get Internet in two weeks. Yahoo!!
International Culture
Japanese Language 1
Japanese Language 2
Japanese Language 3
Japanese Foundations 1
Japanese Foundations 2
Japanese Culture 1/2
Japanese Culture 2/2
Are the subjects that I have been able to select for my competency level this semester.
What does confuse me at times however, is the inconsistency in level of difficulty; for example, I am taking beginners International Culture which is an appropriate level for myself... on the other hand, the Intermediate Japanese 1-3, work out of exactly the same text book as Japanese Foundation 1 and 2, designed for 'beginners' apparently... once again, maybe something got lost.
On the note of text books, that is something that I have had to budget in somewhat... at my home university at least, most - if not all of our study material is provided online or in inexpensive readers available through the University Bookshop... here however, it is a completely different story. For several of my classes, I am required to purchase no fewer than three prescribed textbooks - at roughly ￥3,000 each... whilst I understand that these books may come in good use in the future, I am struggling to justify purchasing $200+ of textbooks when I am actually studying in the target country... however, when in Rome. As a side, I understand that some people have to (I myself have been there, too) purchase hundreds, if not a thousand dollars worth of textbooks a semester, but once again, it's not as if there is an option to be immersed in 'psychology' or 'medicine' language and operate as a language sponge... my thoughts anyway.
I'll find something more interesting to blog about with regards to classes tomorrow... on another note, I get Internet in two weeks. Yahoo!!
First Week
Although I was told to be at the University at 9:00am on
Monday, April 2, I arrive there and again some sort of miscommunication had
occurred and I was not supposed to be there until the following morning...
nevertheless, it got me out of the dorm and in a mood to start exploring the
walking distance area of the city near the Uni/Dorm... and find Ichizenya
Donburi, as well as Sukiya... two places that I frequented quite a lot during
my first week and a half in Hakodate.
Fast forward to the next morning.
I arrived at the university and met the two other new Australian exchange students; Eleanor and Savannah. Savannah is one Japanese Level higher than myself at James Cook, and Eleanor attends university in Sydney.
The overarching purpose of meeting at the university was to allow the International Student 'handlers' in want of a better word, to set us up with things to allow us to function in Japan more easily. This involved the following:
Fast forward to the next morning.
I arrived at the university and met the two other new Australian exchange students; Eleanor and Savannah. Savannah is one Japanese Level higher than myself at James Cook, and Eleanor attends university in Sydney.
The overarching purpose of meeting at the university was to allow the International Student 'handlers' in want of a better word, to set us up with things to allow us to function in Japan more easily. This involved the following:
1) Gaikokujin Toroku Shomeisho
2) Hokuyo Bank Account
3) Japanese National Health Insurance
3) Japanese National Health Insurance
The University took us through the applications in this
order, however I will discuss them in reverse.
The Japan National Health Insurance is a wonderful
programme; in the event you are required to pay medical bills, it creates a
thing called a 'Self Pay Rate 30/70". This means that you (or hopefully
your travel insurance) will only have to pay 30% of the medical bill. On that
note, if you are required to source your own Travel Insurance, you may be able
to barter them down on cost given that it is mandatory to register for the
Japanese National Health Insurance initiative.
The Hokuyo Bank Account is the account from which Hokkaido University of Education will automatically draw your rent from on a monthly basis... It is (at current) an in expensive ￥4300 a month, and on the proviso that you are not a recipient of the JASSO Scholarship, you will receive a payment from the University of ￥100,000 a year for the duration of your exchange, paid into your Hokuyo Bank account each quarter. It's not much, but it covers rent per month and roughly half of utilities (￥9000 a month).
The Gaikokujin Toroku Shomeisho is, other than being quite a long work when Romanised, an ID card that allows you to act as if you were a Japanese National... nearly. It allows you to get a bank account, and the bank account and the Gaijin Card act as your "100 Points of ID" and allow you to get National Health Insurance. It also allows you to get things such as a Mobile Phone, Internet, and anything else that you have to prove your 'validity' in the country for. It's about a three week waiting period from application to receipt of the actual card, however until then, you are provided with a temporary one which you are required to keep on you at all times - and by rights with your passport. The overarching purpose of meeting at the university was to allow the International Student 'handlers' in want of a better word, to set us up with things to allow us to function in Japan more easily.
The Hokuyo Bank Account is the account from which Hokkaido University of Education will automatically draw your rent from on a monthly basis... It is (at current) an in expensive ￥4300 a month, and on the proviso that you are not a recipient of the JASSO Scholarship, you will receive a payment from the University of ￥100,000 a year for the duration of your exchange, paid into your Hokuyo Bank account each quarter. It's not much, but it covers rent per month and roughly half of utilities (￥9000 a month).
The Gaikokujin Toroku Shomeisho is, other than being quite a long work when Romanised, an ID card that allows you to act as if you were a Japanese National... nearly. It allows you to get a bank account, and the bank account and the Gaijin Card act as your "100 Points of ID" and allow you to get National Health Insurance. It also allows you to get things such as a Mobile Phone, Internet, and anything else that you have to prove your 'validity' in the country for. It's about a three week waiting period from application to receipt of the actual card, however until then, you are provided with a temporary one which you are required to keep on you at all times - and by rights with your passport. The overarching purpose of meeting at the university was to allow the International Student 'handlers' in want of a better word, to set us up with things to allow us to function in Japan more easily.
I was taken that afternoon to the Softbank Store which is
nearly right beside the Male Dorm by one of the existing exchange students. He
turned the potential three hour event of me being in there by myself, into a
thirty five minute experience. I walked out with unlimited texts* and a 30
dollar recharge, and a brand new prepaid mobile for less than ￥6,500. Roughly $70 Australian
Dollars.[*Japanese Mobile phones tend to send emails rather than 'texts',
and the best thing is that you can email ANY address. You will also be able to
set up an Email Address that goes directly to your phone only... quite a useful
feature.]For the rest of the week, I - unfortunately, frequented Sukiya and
Ichizenya Donburi... say no more.
Monday, 16 April 2012
19 days past the mark.
Although I have been in Japan for close to three weeks now, it is only now that I have been able to get access to the Internet on a regular basis (which disappoints me quite a lot, as I was hoping to be blogging on a regular basis from the time I arrived in the country).
I currently have Internet access at the University's International Students Room, and have intermittent access to the WiFi connection of another Exchange Student in my dorm; I have however, applied for my own Internet service and should be receiving it in the next three weeks or so at the low price of ￥4400 a month.
The following will be my best attempt to surmise the last three weeks including my arrival to Narita, transit to Tokyo, flight to Hakodate and arrival at Toka-Ryo.
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March 29 Arival in Narita:
Arriving in Japan was quite a surreal experience. It was my first time out of Australia, and I honestly had no idea as to what I should be expecting. It was quite comforting arriving at Narita Airport and having English spoken to me, yet, at the same time put me into a false sense of security when I had to clear customs. Realistically, the last time I had seriously spoken Japanese was during my end of year examination, and that had been November of 2011. Whilst I had done some personal study in the five months between then and departing/arriving in Japan, it had been nowhere as effective as I would have liked it to have been, and I suffered severely; it was quite a humbling experience to have done relatively well mark wise at university and then arrive in the target country and feel that you might as well be classified as mentally retarded. The one thing that I gained from this however as I continued my stay in Narita, was the more uncomfortable a situation I placed myself in, the harder I had to work to get/convey what I wanted.
Clearing customs with no problems arising, I stepped out of the Airport into a chilly 11*C evening. Knowing that I had a shuttle bus coming at some stage in the next 30 minutes, it was time to throw English out the window. I made my way to the Bus rank beside the airport and asked the closest guide from where the Shuttle Bus to the International Garden Hotel Narita was leaving from and when. My flight - having come in a few minutes early, I was able to catch the earlier shuttle bus. It took about 35 minutes to transit from the Airport to the International Garden Hotel via the Narita Hilton and the Hotel which has a perpetual Christmas theme, just opposite my own.
Arriving at the Hotel, I experienced Kei-Go for the first time in my life. Not only was it confusing, it made me feel like what I'd been studying for the last three years might as well have been Chinese... the staff however were used to providing service to Flight Crew of International Airlines and even the trainee behind the counter was able to look at me and say 'Check In?' and "Passport please", which was a great help.
The ￥4300 which I paid for my room for a night was an absolute joke. The quality was excellent, and although the room consisted of a bed, en-suite and television, trying to find anywhere of that quality in Australia for an equivalent price would have been impossible. The restaurant downstairs is Italian themed, and whilst I love Italian food, there is just something about it being cooked in Japan - That is not to say it was not delicious because it was... I've just never seen Italian food served with Wakame on the side.
March 30 First Day in Narita:
I walked the short distance (probably 25 minutes or so) from the Hotel to the Aeon shopping centre and spent a few hours there. Whilst a wonderful experience, it was somewhat daunting (again) to have such a lacking command of the Japanese Language... I did however meet a couple of English speakers with whom I was able to converse.
I broke my Denshijisho - probably by putting it in my pocket... although it wasn't a tight fit, perhaps I ran into something at some stage... very disappointing to say the least. So, ￥32,000 later, I had myself a brand spanking new 'Sharp Brain PW-A7000'. A far cry price wise from my 'PW-AT790', but functionality wise pretty much the same.
March 31 Second Day in Narita:
Again, I walked to the Aeon Shopping Centre, and from there to the Shinto Temple nearby. I have quite a few photos of this, and will upload them when I get the chance... nothing more to say about Narita Really.
April 01 Transit from Narita to Haneda:
It's nearly ￥30,000 from Narita to Haneda by Taxi (an hour and a half), ￥900 by Train (two to three hours) or ￥3,000 by Airport Limousine (bus) (one hour). You can take as much luggage as you want by Airport Limousine, it's comfortable, takes a relatively short amount of time, and gets you to the terminal you want without any hassle.
April 01 Transit from Haneda to Hakodate:
The flight went smoothly and took approximately an hour and a half... nothing interesting apart from that.
April 01 arrival at Toka-Ryo --> April 2 first trip to the University.
This event nearly needs it's own section and I plan to address the specifics of it in a later post, however it I shall briefly cover the basics of what I experienced.
It was interesting to say the least. Toka-Ryo is a 3 level dorm with approximately 45 rooms per floor. It is a Male only dorm... don't let a pigeon-hole form too soon, although you may be somewhat correct.
I was told that I would meet an English speaker on my arrival, however upon stepping into the dorm, there was not one in sight... I bumbled along in Japanese not knowing what I really wanted to say, until the Japanese Student I was speaking to decided to take me to one of the other exchange students who thankfully, was a native English speaker.
They took me to my room, on the second floor which had been utilised as a storage room for that floor. Although it was a bit disappointing at first (and now, I'm not really sure why) my room at that stage consisted of three pieces of 2x4 timber (which was used to store things above the floor, the pieces sat on the half inch ledge about 7 foot off the ground), a box containing my futon, and a plastic tray with my towel and face washer in it... not what I expected. I was then informed that the store rooms are to be used in such a way that anything that belongs to you, must have your room number on it... anything else is fair game.
I spent that night slightly disappointed... not that I had expected anything to be done for me, I had just expected the words "we will have your room set up for you" to not have meaning lost in translation... it obviously did, but looking back now, so what.
Over the next 24 hours I 'acquired' a lamp, bookshelf (being used at current to place my folding), a fridge (which are a highly sought commodity, a small table, cork flooring and a bed-frame and thick futon floor mattress (to go under my futon), and a kilo of washing powder.
The first night was rough... I didn't know how to use the heater - although the room wasn't cold, then I woke up to the information about showering. Although I'd told myself from the beginning - and knew the case was, there would be communal showers/baths, having a room with over a dozen shower heads and a single (read: huge) communal bath for soaking somewhat blew my mind... Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Japan; body confidence capital.
[I'll continue to post over the next few days my previous two weeks, followed by my preparation for exchange, including relevant forms as well as doctors visits and vaccinations]
I currently have Internet access at the University's International Students Room, and have intermittent access to the WiFi connection of another Exchange Student in my dorm; I have however, applied for my own Internet service and should be receiving it in the next three weeks or so at the low price of ￥4400 a month.
The following will be my best attempt to surmise the last three weeks including my arrival to Narita, transit to Tokyo, flight to Hakodate and arrival at Toka-Ryo.
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March 29 Arival in Narita:
Arriving in Japan was quite a surreal experience. It was my first time out of Australia, and I honestly had no idea as to what I should be expecting. It was quite comforting arriving at Narita Airport and having English spoken to me, yet, at the same time put me into a false sense of security when I had to clear customs. Realistically, the last time I had seriously spoken Japanese was during my end of year examination, and that had been November of 2011. Whilst I had done some personal study in the five months between then and departing/arriving in Japan, it had been nowhere as effective as I would have liked it to have been, and I suffered severely; it was quite a humbling experience to have done relatively well mark wise at university and then arrive in the target country and feel that you might as well be classified as mentally retarded. The one thing that I gained from this however as I continued my stay in Narita, was the more uncomfortable a situation I placed myself in, the harder I had to work to get/convey what I wanted.
Clearing customs with no problems arising, I stepped out of the Airport into a chilly 11*C evening. Knowing that I had a shuttle bus coming at some stage in the next 30 minutes, it was time to throw English out the window. I made my way to the Bus rank beside the airport and asked the closest guide from where the Shuttle Bus to the International Garden Hotel Narita was leaving from and when. My flight - having come in a few minutes early, I was able to catch the earlier shuttle bus. It took about 35 minutes to transit from the Airport to the International Garden Hotel via the Narita Hilton and the Hotel which has a perpetual Christmas theme, just opposite my own.
Arriving at the Hotel, I experienced Kei-Go for the first time in my life. Not only was it confusing, it made me feel like what I'd been studying for the last three years might as well have been Chinese... the staff however were used to providing service to Flight Crew of International Airlines and even the trainee behind the counter was able to look at me and say 'Check In?' and "Passport please", which was a great help.
The ￥4300 which I paid for my room for a night was an absolute joke. The quality was excellent, and although the room consisted of a bed, en-suite and television, trying to find anywhere of that quality in Australia for an equivalent price would have been impossible. The restaurant downstairs is Italian themed, and whilst I love Italian food, there is just something about it being cooked in Japan - That is not to say it was not delicious because it was... I've just never seen Italian food served with Wakame on the side.
March 30 First Day in Narita:
I walked the short distance (probably 25 minutes or so) from the Hotel to the Aeon shopping centre and spent a few hours there. Whilst a wonderful experience, it was somewhat daunting (again) to have such a lacking command of the Japanese Language... I did however meet a couple of English speakers with whom I was able to converse.
I broke my Denshijisho - probably by putting it in my pocket... although it wasn't a tight fit, perhaps I ran into something at some stage... very disappointing to say the least. So, ￥32,000 later, I had myself a brand spanking new 'Sharp Brain PW-A7000'. A far cry price wise from my 'PW-AT790', but functionality wise pretty much the same.
March 31 Second Day in Narita:
Again, I walked to the Aeon Shopping Centre, and from there to the Shinto Temple nearby. I have quite a few photos of this, and will upload them when I get the chance... nothing more to say about Narita Really.
April 01 Transit from Narita to Haneda:
It's nearly ￥30,000 from Narita to Haneda by Taxi (an hour and a half), ￥900 by Train (two to three hours) or ￥3,000 by Airport Limousine (bus) (one hour). You can take as much luggage as you want by Airport Limousine, it's comfortable, takes a relatively short amount of time, and gets you to the terminal you want without any hassle.
April 01 Transit from Haneda to Hakodate:
The flight went smoothly and took approximately an hour and a half... nothing interesting apart from that.
April 01 arrival at Toka-Ryo --> April 2 first trip to the University.
This event nearly needs it's own section and I plan to address the specifics of it in a later post, however it I shall briefly cover the basics of what I experienced.
It was interesting to say the least. Toka-Ryo is a 3 level dorm with approximately 45 rooms per floor. It is a Male only dorm... don't let a pigeon-hole form too soon, although you may be somewhat correct.
I was told that I would meet an English speaker on my arrival, however upon stepping into the dorm, there was not one in sight... I bumbled along in Japanese not knowing what I really wanted to say, until the Japanese Student I was speaking to decided to take me to one of the other exchange students who thankfully, was a native English speaker.
They took me to my room, on the second floor which had been utilised as a storage room for that floor. Although it was a bit disappointing at first (and now, I'm not really sure why) my room at that stage consisted of three pieces of 2x4 timber (which was used to store things above the floor, the pieces sat on the half inch ledge about 7 foot off the ground), a box containing my futon, and a plastic tray with my towel and face washer in it... not what I expected. I was then informed that the store rooms are to be used in such a way that anything that belongs to you, must have your room number on it... anything else is fair game.
I spent that night slightly disappointed... not that I had expected anything to be done for me, I had just expected the words "we will have your room set up for you" to not have meaning lost in translation... it obviously did, but looking back now, so what.
Over the next 24 hours I 'acquired' a lamp, bookshelf (being used at current to place my folding), a fridge (which are a highly sought commodity, a small table, cork flooring and a bed-frame and thick futon floor mattress (to go under my futon), and a kilo of washing powder.
The first night was rough... I didn't know how to use the heater - although the room wasn't cold, then I woke up to the information about showering. Although I'd told myself from the beginning - and knew the case was, there would be communal showers/baths, having a room with over a dozen shower heads and a single (read: huge) communal bath for soaking somewhat blew my mind... Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Japan; body confidence capital.
[I'll continue to post over the next few days my previous two weeks, followed by my preparation for exchange, including relevant forms as well as doctors visits and vaccinations]
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