Minna-san, konbon wa!
My trip from Oslo to Tokyo went well, although it was the longest trip of my life. Not because I was homesick or anything, it was just really, really long, physically. First I spent six and a half hours in the plane to Hamad Airport in Doha, the Arabic Emirates. They gave me a lot of water, Banana Toffee Cheesecake and Mango sponge cake, so I had no worries.
I had to wait in Doha from 17.00 pm to 01.45 am though, so that was a bit too long for my taste. The plane from Doha to Tokyo took around ten hours, but I think I slept 70 % of the time. We arrived in the evening, and spent the first night at an inn near Narita Airport, and took the train to diBec's office in the center of Tokyo the next day. We couldn't bring our big luggage on the train, so we had the inn send it to our host families. It arrived safely this morning while I was still sleeping.
At diBec's office we got to know the staff, we got what I'd like to call the "Living in Japan 101"-class, as well as pre-paid phones and PASMO cards. (I already had a PASMO though, so I felt a little guilty of the fact that they still had bought one for me). PASMO cards are absolutely amazing by the way, I'll write more about their magic in a later post.
Since Japanese school starts later than schools in Norway, I have a super long summer vacation. I'll have my hands full, though! The coming two weeks we'll have a preparation course with diBec. The schedule involves both Japanese classes as well as "field trips" to different famous locations in Tokyo. We're also going to a Natural Disaster Simulation Center to experience a simulated earthquake. Earthquakes are frequent in Japan, so we're guaranteed to experience some ourselves during this year. Many foreigners are not used to those things though, so I'm glad they'll teach us!
Some of you may be wondering about my host family? Well, first of all, my host family is very traditional. They're an elder couple (both 70 and still working!) and one of their adult daughters living at home. There's also another host student here; an university student who's half French and half Japanese. She's extremely beautiful! If I had been a boy or lesbian I'm sure I'd fall in love with her. I forgot all my Japanese and French the moment she spoke to me. She's going back to France in a few days though.
My room is super fancy, with tatami floor (a kind of bamboo carpet), sliding doors made of tree and paper, and I sleep on a futon! A futon is a type of thin mattress that you put directly on the floor. You take it out of the closet every night before you go to sleep, and put it away in the morning. Gives a new meaning to "make your bed", huh? We also sit on pillows on the floor when we eat our meals. It's not as uncomfortable as one may think, it's actually quite laid-back. And it saves a lot of space, as well! As for the food, there are still some things I don't find that tasty, but I make sure to at least taste everything. At least I can rest assured that everything is ridiculously healthy! Oh yeah, and we drink tea to every single meal, of course. Now in summer it's mostly barley tea.
I really want to show you some photos, but at the time I don't have any camera... So you guys will have to wait for me.
My Japanese has blossomed up these last days, just by being here, and I'm especially getting good at small-talk, haha. I'm not so worried about language anymore, it will all come to me eventually. What I am worried about, is my school. It's a very good school, with strict rules and high expectations, and I really want to live up to them. Well, as my host mother said: "At least the school uniform is very cute", and I agree! I won't mind wearing it for a year. There are several options to make variations as well, such as blazers, vests and sweaters. You can also choose between a tie and ribbon (Ribbon, I choose you!). I won't have to think about that for another two weeks though. The third week my area coordinator, Ohashi-san, is taking me to meet with the school administration...
That's all for now! Please wait for me ~ 
No comments:
Post a Comment