Catchup Entry

Konnichiwa!

Hello everyone, I hope you’re doing well! Things have been so crazy here in Japan, it’s been hard to find the time to sit down and actually get something from my mind on to the screen. I can’ believe it’s only been 2 weeks! So I suppose I should start from the beginning.

The trip here wasn’t too great. With a 10 hour stop over in Brisbane and delayed flight to Tokyo I was feeling pretty lousy by the time I got here, especially considering that my flight was not Qantas as expected, but was charted out to Japan Airlines and I got a rather cramped journey on a coach flight to Narita airport. The only two movies on were fairly average. I don’t remember the name of the first, but the second was some movie about a girl and her horse, not exactly riveting to watch!

Once I got to Narita airport it was worrying because there was nobody waiting for me at the airport, as there should have been. After looking around s till no one. After 3 hours and starting to get very worried I finally found the mobile phone number of someone who works for the company and was told that I must have ‘slipped through the cracks’ and could I please make my own way to Tokyo on the subway. It was quite an experience catching a train using language I cannot read or write and barely speak and go to a suburb I’ve never heard. Anyway, I made it 4 hours late and only a little tired and hungry as the result!

There was about 17 of us at training, 14 of which have ended up in my city, Mito. The training wasn’t too strenuous, just very long. I arrived on Sunday night and started Monday morning and went until Saturday afternoon.

The suburb we were staying in, Asakusa, was very nice. Just around the corner from the hotel is the oldest temple in Japan. On the Sunday after training (Easter Sunday) was a big festival for Buddas birthday and the streets were packed with people. I don’t even remember it being so crowded during the Olympics in Sydney! Hopefully you’ll be able to see some photos I’ve uploaded on this site from that day.

So now to Mito. It’s not a bad place. Around 400 000 people here and a bit of a hidden treasure for Japan. They say the park here is the 2nd largest in the world behind Central Park in New York. I haven’t had a chance to look around yet but they name part of it cherry blossom mountain because in spring it’s covered in white and pink and is very beautiful from a distance.

While Mito is a bit out of the way, they still have all the shopping things I could need here. There are plenty of grocery stores and convenience places. I still find it a little odd that I do my banking at 7/11 but that’s just the way it’s done. Crime in this city is very low so that’s good.

My flat is pretty small, but for those of you who saw my place in summer hill, it’s bigger than that (which wouldn’t be hard) and everything is very clean and very new and very nice. The kitchen is sort of small but from shopping around, I think it may be cheaper to eat out here than it is to actually cook the food for yourself! Everything is fresh from the vegetables to the seafood so maybe it costs more to package it rather than get someone to chop it up and put it on a plate?

Well that’s enough from me for now. I’ll write more about my school when I get used to it more. Miss you all, missing Australia, missing warm temperatures (today is 7 degrees max), missing sunlight and blue skies. Enjoy feeling warmth in your fingers while you can!!

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