Saturday, March 23, 2013

DAY 4


TRANSPORTATION

     On Saturday morning our CEMS group agreed to meet in Hiyoshi station in order to go to the Tokyo central park to watch cherry blossoms (sakura). By the way this year is exceptional. Cherry blossoms started earlier than ever before. 
    To find our way from Huyoshi station (in Yokohama) to the center was not that easy in the beginning. The metro and rail systems are connected and are operated by 5 different transport companies. Additionally, there are different types of trains: metro, local trains, express trains and rapid express. The difference is that some of the trains don't stop on some stations, while others make all the stops. Different types of trains are marked with different colors. Additionally, in metro there are special women's wagons, where only women are permitted from 7:30-9:00 in the morning. 
    Some of the intersection stations are very complex with up to 5 levels. It is not so easy to find your way around, especially during the rush hour.
     Upon entering metro, you are supposed to purchase a ticket in a machine. YOu look at the map, pick your route and then pay an amount that covers that rout. If you traveled more or less, that you have paid, while exiting the metro you can adjust the price by paying additional fee or receiving part of your money back. Quite a convenient system.  But takes quite a while to understand though.
     The announcement are in Japanese and English as well as all the signs (and stations names) are in Japanese and English. 
     We were traveling at 10 in the morning of Saturday, the metro was not packed, but there were some people. Even though the weather outside was not that hot, the air in the wagon was really stuffed and heavy. Let's see what will happen in summer... 

SAKURA and CENTRAL PARK

     Japanese people love and enjoy watching sakura. THis Saturday morning half of the Tokyo has gathered in the central park to watch and take pictures of cherry blossoms. There were crowds of people wondering around. Ondrej, my residence mate and a CEMS colleague from Czech Republic has mentioned, that there was  the whole population of Prague here. Many people were sitting on the grass in big and small groups, chatting, playing cards, drinking beer and wine, some were even playing the guitar. The view was really spectacular and we were really lucky to have such a nice day. 
     We have expected to wonder around the park for a few hours and then to return back, however spent the whole day watching sakura and other sights in central Tokyo. We were quite a large group of people, bug had great fund together and managed to get around in those crowds quite well.































Photos by Borislav Slavov

TECH PRODUCTS

    From my previous experience, I knew that Japan is a tech country. But the wing with wifi has brought some doubts. HOwever a trip to a media supermarket has revealed those doubt away forever. The supermarket was 6 floors high. YOu can find anything you want there and the prices are very attractive. I have purchases great Phillips headphones for only 770 yen (less that 7 Euro) and they are of very high quality! Japan, that is why I am starting to love you! 

RESIDENCE ASSISTANCE FAMILY

     I have already mentioned the main guy in our residence who lives here and takes care of all the staff. His name is Kotani San. He speaks Japanese-English and is a extremely nice person. Very friendly and hospitable. Whenever he sees us, he invites us for a cup of tea in his special room. Last night he has invited us for the special tea ceremony: tea with sake. He, as a true Japanese, had a cup of sake without tea, but to be really hospitable, he has given us tea first and advice to put some sake there. He said we should put as much as we wanted, so we did. The tea has killed the sake taste completely, however I assume the effect was there.
     The funny thing about Kotani San, he always gives us tea, but never Japanese tea. The first day he was given some German tea in teabags, today Indian in teabags. I am looking forward to receiving some real Japanese tea from him. 
     This evening after a long day in the center me and Ondrej were quite tired, but decided to go down for some tea with Kotani San. Downstairs we mat his lovely family, his wife and daughter. They all speak English and are extremely nice. Kotani San's wife used to be a Japanese language teacher in elementary school, so we had great time drinking tea and practicing some Japanese there. All of them now live at the 2nd floor of the residence all the time and help Kotani San to take care of the residence. Yesterday 50 Japanese student moved in. We have 11 floors and around 30 rooms for floor, so quite a lot of people will eventually live here. 

DAY 3: the journey continues


     Due to time differences and lack of sleep during flights, I went to bed really early the first day (around 10) and was already up at 6 a.m. Watching a sunrise in the land where the sun rises is amazing.

After taking a nice breakfast, I decided to go for a run. I put on a shirt and a t-shirt as the weather was really sunny and warm and went outside. The path I took was went along a small channel. On both sides of it there are blooming cherries (also known as sakura) and in the channel there are huge beautiful carps and other fishes. I was the only one running along that place.






Strangely, before I assumed that Japanese people do many sports. Maybe it was not the right time or not the correct place...

UNFRIENDLY JAPANESE

     I didn't even believe those exist in this lovely country. But here is my story. The day before I have purchased a converter to be able to charge my devices. The funny thing is that I knew the voltage difference, but I didn't exactly know the plug type. So of course the one that I had purchases was wrong. My Japanese friends suggested me to return it an buy a new one. This is what I did. I picked up a correct plug at the store and headed to a cashier desk, expecting a usual Japanese hospitality and friendliness. After a few minutes trying to explain to the guy what I wanted to do, an old lady came to me and ask if I needed help in English. SHe helped me to explain that I wanted to return the thing back. The salesman stared at me and then asked in Japanese-English: Why? Did you open it? I said that I had bought a wrong one. He starred at me again and told to follow him. We went to another "return" desk. I gave him the receipt, a converter that I wanted to return and the one I wanted to buy. He could not understand why I wanted to return two converters and had a receipt just for one... Finally he figured it out, and with an angry stare printed out a receipt. Than he filled it in with some complex Kanji (old Chinese characters also used in Japanese), then he made me sigh it and put a funny small red stamp on it which looked like lipstick to me and it was finally set. However the  impression that those lovely and always friendly Japanese people could be also unfriendly was left. 

RICE

     On the way out I was looking at some other devices for sale and saw a desk with rice cookers. For those who don't know it is a very convenient Japanese device where you simply put rice and it cooks it to a perfect condition. A day ago I have purchased a big bag of Japanese white rice and was excited to try it. By the way, rice here is of very high quality but very expensive. My Taiwanese colleague (much more expert in rice than I am) has said, that Japanese rice is really tasty and much better than the one they have. So back to the rice cooker. Back in the days when I was still living in the East of Russia on Sailing island with my parents we used to have a rice cooker from Japan, so I knew how to get around with it and that it was really convenient thing. So I decided to buy one. I picked the cheapest model for 5000 yen (40 Euro) and got it. The saleswoman was extremely nice and friendly, so the

GRADUATION DAYS

    I figured that out only after, but today was the graduation ceremony in many Tokyo universities. I was wondering before, because saw many young Japanese males in suites and thought, that if I would wear a suit,        I would look completely alike. 
      Our metro station located in Yokohoma and not Tokyo. For those, who don't know, the boarder of Tokyo and Yokohama is now very vague and two cities together create a humongous megalopolis with population up to 40 million people. Near our metro station there is a university campus and the graduation ceremony today was held there. Some girls were wearing traditional kimono and some flowers in their hair. All guys were wearing suits and ties. 
     Another thing that really wondered me, on the road crossing on two sides of the road there were 4 people wearing suits and small red flowers on a suit. They were "traffic regulators". Whenever the traffic light would turn yellow, they would stand in front of the crowd not letting them cross. Apparently, if they wouldn't be there, everyone would be just running across the street on red (which I would never expect from Japanese to be honest). 


OPENING OF A STORE

     Most Japanese stores open at 10. But when I say at 10 I mean it. Exactly at 9:59 the doors open and happy salesmen and saleswomen are standing along the sides, greeting you and bowing. This is something people need to see. It gives such a great feeling of order and that they care about the customers. Will go to the stores again in the morning. 

JAPANESE BARS

    This evening we finally met with a group of CEMS students and headed to an Irish pub. The choice of beer is not really big (only 4 types) and the prices are really high (I paid 850 yen for a pint, which is a little less than 7 Euro). 
     To make an order, everyone goes to a bar and has to pay right away (however it is different when we pay all together and not separately). You are not expected to leave a tip plus the prices are high anyway. 
Seems, that drinking strong spirits in Japan is much cheaper that drinking beer. 
Before coming to Japan, I read in a book that Friday (golden day in Japanese) is a really relaxing evening for Japanese workers. Finally they can relax after a long working week, loosen their ties and drink down their stress. I have also heard that Japanese people don't need a lot of alcohol to get drunk, thus a few beers will do. 
    Our CEMS colleagues who live in a dorm a station away have told me, that when they were traveling home that Friday evening by metro, it was fool of drunk people in suites and looked like Wall Street. Policemen have to take care of many of them, as some were blocking the doors of the underground. 

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Day 2: first day in Japan


     It was  amazing to fly across my wonderful motherland. For some time we were flying along the boarder with China, but remained in the Russian airspace. The sky was clear and we could see a perfect boarder between the land and the ocean -  amazing view! 
    The plane arrived 20 minutes before scheduled time. 11:34 Tokyo time. The weather outside was great and I couldn't stop smiling reading the signs only few of which were familiar to me. The procedure at the control desk was quite simple. Already there you would feel the Japanese spirit: there were two employees standing in the beginning of the line, showing to which counter you needed to go. At the counter I was met by a Japanese woman wearing a mask (this is a different story, I will write about masks later). I had to leave my fingerprints and photo and a residence card was printed and given to me right away. 1 minute and you are a temporary resident of Japan- that is what it takes! A big sign "welcome to Japan" was just perfect for a picture. Then we proceeded to receive our luggage and we are in TOKYO!!! 

    I has some cash with me in Euro, so I needed to exchange it. To exchange I had to fill in a form (there were two to choose from: red for changing JPY to other currencies and blue for the other way around). Pretty convenient. I filled in the paper, waited in line. The funny thing is that they didn't allow me to exchange more than 500 Euro without putting a Japanese phone number. I didn't have one. So I just put some random number and here it goes: worked! 
    The next challenge was to get to the metro station where our dorms were. Luckily for me I have met a student from Vienna University who has also arrived to make an exchange at the same flight. At least he knew the station we needed to go to which made all the things much more easier. A nice Japanese lady explained to us in Japanese-English how we could get to the place and where we get the tickets. The train and subway system in Tokyo is really complex, with few companies operating. MAP. Our ride was supposed to take 1,5 hours to the final destination. 

SUBWAY

     The subway in Tokyo is nice and clean (everything is clean here). There are special seats for disabled people, but locals didn't seem to obey that rule and occupied those seats to. Close to those special seat there was a sign: talking on mobile phone is not allowed. A little further from those seats there was another sign: please put your phone to silent and avoid phone conversations. I heard from my Japanese friend, the "unwritten rule" was that talking on the phone on subway was not allowed and considered disrespect to others (you don't want that to happen). If a younger Japanese would start talking on the phone, older people could tell him to stop and to behave. However my friend said that not all "unwritten rules" apply to foreigners. 

DORMITORY

    Luckily enough, I knew that the dormitory building (try to pronounce it: Motosumiyoshi) was the tallest in the area and I had to go left out of the metro.  So the place was pretty easily found after a 10 minute walk. A residence hear Kaions San and few residence assistants have met me downstairs with smiles and great hospitality. They offered tea and explained all the rules. I have also received a manual about how to use the residence building. There are quite a lot of rules, especially separated floors for guys and girls. The door downstairs can be opened with high tech key, and the elevator can be used with the key only. Actually the key we received allows us to go to the 1st and our floors only... Strange stuff for me...
    However, the rooms are really nice and fully equipped. I have a microwave, air conditioner, washing machine, bathroom fan and water warming machine.
 View from the other side of the building 
 View from the other side of the building 2
 Coridor
 My room: entrance
 Our floor 4


My room
View from my room's balcony

The balcony faces a small training ground of Japanese police. It is pretty funny to watch them train.

It takes time to figure our how all devices work, but we were provided with a great manual in English. Japanese value water a lot, thus it is important not to use too much water. Warm water is only available after the special heater is turned on. The trash has be separated. This is a long story but should be mentioned here. In Austria we separate paper, plastic, waste, two types of glass and metals. You just have to take it to a special container. In Japan it is much more complicated, have a look:

WIFI 

     When I was coming here, I was assuming Japan is really high-tech country and has wireless everywhere. I was mistaken... Our dorms only have a cable, neither McDonald's nor Starbucks have wifi... It was really strange and I couldn't get connected to the internet for quite some time.

SHOPS

     Those who have ever been on exchange know, that in the first week you usually spend more than in two entire upcoming months. Why does it happen? Firstly, you have lots of necessary big one-time expenses (things for your kitchen, cables and other stuff). Secondly, because that you don't know where exactly you can buy things cheaper, thus you buy those in the first store you find. Thirdly, you don't cook to much in the beginning, you more often eat out and thus spend more money. 
     The first day after arrival it was necessary to go check out Japanese stores. 10 minutes from our dorm inside the Hiyoshi metro station there is a big mall - so I headed there. The first floor of the supermarket is a huge groceries store. The only two things - really expensive and with lots of stuff I have no idea how to cook or eat. Many fishes are available in the assortment, already prepared sushi sets etc. A sack of bananas under 1 kilo was 250 yen, which is around 2,05 Euro. Quite expensive for European standards. Actually, all the meat and fruits are more expansive than in Vienna. After doing some purchases, I headed to the next floor to purchase internet cable. Having successfully done with my "perfect" Japanese, I headed one floor up to explore the mall more. This is where I got lucky! A 100-yen store was there! This amazing 100-yen store (which is exactly 105-yen store) I remember from my first visit to Japan when I was 12. Back then I came to Vakkanai with a trip from school and we lived for 5 days there. 100-yen store back then left an unforgettable experience as there I could find such a variety of items and couldn't believe they were of such a good quality and so cheap. So in this amazing store I was able to purchase all the little things I needed and this was the success of the day.

Street near Hiyushi station

SUMIMASEN (角ません)

     Sumimasen is a magic word you will here a lot everywhere. This is similar to English "excuse me" mut has slightly different touch to it. Japanese people always apologize for everything: in the store while passing by you, in the supermarket, on the streets. I will write about it when I get to know more about it. 

STREET WORKERS

     To me it seems there are lots of unnecessary jobs here. However, starting to understand the culture deeper, I begin to understand their value more. For example, a piece of sidewalk is under construction (2 meters long). Along the constructions the barriers are set up and the sighs "Attention" are hanged. However on every side of these 2 meters there is a person appointing to you that there is construction going on and with a special gesture suggesting you to go by. It is pretty nice feeling to be so much cared about! When I was leaving the building of our dorm today, downstairs there were workers bringing furniture. All of them said "Ohayou godzaimasu" to me and made a small bow. I need to teach Russian workers those things too  :)

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

It starts now


    This is about how it all started. I always wanted to write a diary when living abroad. However never have I ever did it for longer than a week. Now I hope the things will be different and I will be able to continuously share news and stories. 
     Today is the 20th of March 2013. Long awarded exchange semester in Tokyo has started! Beautiful and a little snowy Alps are now literally under me. Great sunny day to start something new!
     Already in the airport few thoughts have come to my mind that I would love to share. First of all, Vienna is so small! It has become a good tradition to meet someone I know in the airport or in the airplane. Today we are flying to Moscow together with Alicia, a wonderful person I have met on one of the Vienna Model United Nations event. That's such a great feeling to see someone you know in a crowd. Very enjoyable ;)
     Secondly, somehow it happened, that a Japanese guy looking very Japanese was sitting next to me. And I did ask him where he was from, turned out China. Almost luck. :)
    Moscow has met me with -5C and friendly officers of customs officers, as usually ( those who have been to Moscow have seen those). When I asked, why the controlled my password again - I didn't leave the transfer zone and my Tokyo flight was scheduled to depart in next 3 hours - they said that they don't answer any questions and I was lucky enough not to get a "special checking procedure" (whatever it means). Waiting in the airport was like waiting in the airport, nothing special. Strangely, there were really few Japanese on a plane. It was a joined flight with Italian airline and there were more Italians, than Japanese (I love Italians though).

     The great thing flying along the time zones: you often arrive at the same time that you left. The great time about flying the other direction: you depart today and arrive tomorrow... So the night has quickly changed to the morning and the new day began.

About this blog

I will write about things related to Japan and Tokyo in particular: stories from exchange semester in Tokyo at Keio university (CEMS program), about learning Japanese language and integrating with the culture and locals.