1st Day Experience:
(November 6, 1995)
Japan: Day 1
After arriving at Narita airport (it looks about the same from the outside
as any other) I headed with the croud on the moving sidewalk. I was excited
but rather tired. I knew the commute ahead would be long.
The sidewalks were the first thing I noticed that was different about Japan.
They had large verticle LCD signs indicating which direction the sidewalk
was moving (along with a voice in English and Japanese doing the same. They
spent far too much money on it I am sure.
After filling out a declaration form and getting through immigration (the
guy asked if I had an invitation from the company which I did not have or
need, and he decided to not persue it and let me through) I met Susan
Hugget, and got my luggage in record time (for any airport... it was pure
luck). I said I had nothing to declare, and the customs person let me
through with no problems. Now that's how an airport should be!
We went to the luggage delivery service, and Susan took over clearing the
way and allowing me to simply pay and trust the destination was correct. We
then headed towards the Narita Express area (a new train service linking
Tokyo and beyond via an express train). Susan again got us through quickly
(although I did understand most of it :) ).
While waiting for the train, Susan bought me a Calpis Water (tastes like a
lemon-gatorade clone) and we discussed Japan and co-op and life in general.
The train smoothly arrived, and we walked in, put our baggage on luggage
racks, and sat in comfortable seats facing eachother. I have a picture of
the inside, but what impressed me is the continuous updated panel indicating
where we were on the route, and a time of arrival (which was accurate to the
minute).
This was the first time I had ever began to felt motion sickness I believe,
probably because of the exhausting plane ride and no sleep the day before.
The ride was extremely smooth, and the speed of objects passing by started
to make me sway.
We arrived at Tokyo station some hour and a bit later, and headed through
the crouds towards the Shinkansen (bullet train). Susan navigated the place
like a pro, but I was too dazed to pay much attention to the signs. One
last time, Susan handled the ticket booth smoothly (even got me a
non-smoking car) and we parted as I boarded the train.
The shinkansen was clean, I definately had more room than my seat on the
airplane, and even though all the seats were on a reserve basis, I luckily
did not have anyone crowding me in the next seat.
As the train started moving, I felt that minor motion sickness again, as the
objects outside were travelling much faster than ever before. If I had been
rested up, I am sure I would have enjoyed the ride much more.
The ride was smooth (no clicks over the rails), but the Shinkansen ride is
not the best view of Japan. On the contrary, it may just go through the
ugliest parts of Japan. They must have bought cheap land, since you see the
backs of dirty houses, small streets, and tons of power lines. I think if
Japan had put their power lines underground like Victoria, it would improve
the looks dramatically.
About every 15 to 30 minutes, a young man or woman would drive a cart
through the centre aisle stating what things they were selling (beer,
obento, ice cream), which each time being a different person and item. They
also were speaking very politely, stressing the massssu at the end of each verb.
So 3 hours later (and 1 nausous stomach) I arrived at Kyoto station. It was
not very impressive, although I was not in much of a mood to be impressed
admittingly. I went to the counter, and grunted ^Tenri no kippu o kudasai^
(I was not about to try to figure out the machines in my state). I also
mentioned kyukou (express), and I recieved my ticket.
BTW, I found out then the difference between express and lmd express then.
Limited express costs 3 times as much, you get a reserved seat in a cushier
chair, and it takes just as long. Unfortunately, I did not realized that it
was not what I had bought. My little ticket even said seat 1, row 10 (or as
I realized later meant Oct. 1). So I sat down for about 5 minutes when the
family who had reserved the seat actually came in and reminded me of this
fact (gomen nasai ne she said).
So after asking a couple of people, I was directed to track 4 where my train
arrived. A standard plush bench greeted me, and the train slowly filled up.
(actually I am writing this on the train to Osaka right now)
Again, all I wanted to do was sleep and not throw up, so I did not remeber
much of that small leg of the journal.
I arrived at Nara station (I haven't a clue why I was not instructed to go
onwards to Tenri station, where I woud have saved about 2000yen on the taxi
fare) and I followed the signs to the taxis. It was really raining then,
and I waited about 20 minutes for a taxi (I really picked the wrong line, as
the taxis kept picking up people from other lines).
A ^Tenri Sharp onegaishimasu^ later, and we were on our way on our 3500yen
excursion. I could not see much in the rain, except that the roads were a)
too busy & b) far too narrow. What could pass for a two way road in Tenri
would be a narrow one-way road in Victoria.
The taxi driver almost tried to go through the main gates at work before I
motioned him over to a bus stop area in front of Rapport Tenri, my home for
the next 10 months. I paid him and on Susan's suggestion grabbed a reciept.
I walked around the corner, and into the Rapport Tenri dorm. It looked
exactly as the distance pictures in the Sharp brochures like a large
apartment building. I almost did not notice how early one had to take off
their shoes, which was almost as soon as you enter the building, even before
being able to approach the main dorm office.
The dorm manager, Izumi, greeted me in English, and I found out later that
he had studied in the US for his masters degree (in business or something
similar). He was very friendly, and gave me the quick tour around the dorm.
Every person gets their own shoe locker (with 4 shelves) which is openable
by the owner's key, where slippers are exchanged and mail is delivered.
There's also a button which lights up indicating whether you are in the dorm
or not.
The bathroom (in the main lobby) is open from 5:00pm to 7:30am everyday.
Now since I have the shower in the morning (or else I can write the day off
as a bad hair day) this mean I have to get up even earlier than normal
(around 6:30). More people seem to take their showers at night so it's
normally not that busy in the morning (I try to get my shower in before the
last rush around 7:15). The bathroom consists of a changing area with cubby
holes and sinks, and the main bath area. Since this is a men's only dorm,
there's only 1 bathroom, and only mens restrooms on the upper floors. The
main bath area consists of about 12 normal standup showers in partially
isolated stalls, and a lot of traditional squat spots where there's a mirror
and a shower brush where people can fill their buckets with hot and cold
water and dump it over their heads. These spots are very close together and
in a general area. Finally, there is a large tub (which no-one has time for
in the morning, and a sauna which I still haven't tried).
(I am right now on a very crouded train at 7:23 heading to Saidaji station
for this Info-Tech conference in Osaka)
Anyways, he continued the tour of the food facility. The cafeteria in the
dorm is open 5 days away (except holidays) and on Sunday evening. He
explained the food system, and I get to grab 1 main dish (of a choice of 1
or 2) and 2 side dishes (from about 3 or 4) plus rice and soup for dinner.
For breakfast it is a hard-boiled egg, 2 bread rolls (like ones found in
Canada), a small green salid with the choice of 3 cream Japanese salad
dressings, and a cup of english tea (although Japanese tea, hot or cold, is
always available). On Thursday morning, there is a hot dog equivalent
instead of the rolls and egg (but the onions they put in it is unlike
anything I have ever tasted).
Unfortunately, this cafeteria is what I would compare to a greasy diner in
Canada, and unlike my neighbour Richard, I have to pay for my food. So I
try to alternate going to the dorm cafeteria.
My actual room is on the second floor (244), and next door is an American
from Maryland named Richard. He is the only other North American in the
dorm, and is here till April. Later on I found out that he is a 33 year old
working on his PhD (direct from his B.Sc.) in Engineering. I get along well
with him, and he often uses me to try out the new phrase he learned from
Japanese for Busy People (he came here 2 weeks ago with no Japanese on an
invitation from a friend he has working at Sharp for a research exchange
(and gets paid over twice of what I do because of it).
The room itself is larger than I thought it would be, and it even had a TV
set in it (a small ancient one, but at least it has cable). There is ample
closet space (almost too much, as the ceiling is extra high and the cabinets
go all the way up), a desk (but no lamp), a regular bed with a futon on top
of it, and an air conditioner (which is rather noisy). The room smelled
stale, but not smoky (I always leave a small window in my sliding glass door
open to give the room some circulation). I have a small deck as well,
although being on the 2nd floor does not give me much to look at. The power
is turned on by putting my key into a panel next to my door (to ensure that
when a person leaves, they turn off the power). So it is a nice enough room
to survive me for 10 months I think (although I may grab a small fridge soon
though). I was surprised there was no garbage can in the room.
Downstairs there is a bar (called The Shades) and a convience store that
opens around 6:30pm on normal days. There also are a bunch of vending
machines selling liquor, pop, juice and cigarettes. At least Coke is only
100yen ($1US), one of the few things that are not twice the price.
After this quick tour, I went back to the dorm office, where I was servered
coffee (automatically... I guess they think North Americans always drink
coffee) and I chatted about Canada, the trip and such. After a little
while, they let me have dinner at the cafeteria and retire.
The cafeteria food was extremely dry (since the various parts had been
sitting in their respective heating/cooling cases for hours at this point,
and for some reason the thought of preparing food as time goes on instead of
all at once hours before the dinner time has eluded them :-) ). This
coupled with my exhausted nausia made for a bad introduction to the cafeteria.
Heading to my room (with my 2 carry bags), I did a quick unpacking, made the
bed (in a manner that looked confortable), set my alarm for 6:45am with my
watch as backup, and went to sleep around 7:00pm.
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