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]
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