Nicole's Adventures in Japan

This one is probably going to be on the short side. Mostly I wanted to give you an idea of what my apartment looks like. So I took a video of my apartment. I apologize if anyone gets seasick watching it. I tried to move slow and capture the apartment as quickly as possible so the download of the video wouldn't take forever. Well after two weeks I am finally in my own place and it is slowly starting to take shape. It is hard finding a balance of making a place livable for a year without spending a small fortune. So far I haven't spent much, but it isn't quite home yet. Finding a place for all my clothes you saw on the floor is my biggest challenge. I have no drawers only a hanging rack so far. However, there is another small obstacle of Buying things, I have to carry what ever I buy to my apartment. No car and getting a Taxi can be an interesting proposition. As I found out when I moved my luggage and some other apartment supplies from the apartment I started in because my current one hadn't been cleaned. It took about a week. I think they used some kind of chemical that took time to dissipate because my a place still kind of smelled when I moved in. However with all the nice weather we are having I have been leaving my back door open to let in the fresh air. Don't worry Grandma I lock it at night and when I leave. Plus I am on the second floor making it difficult to access, especially when your hands are full of groceries or housing supplies. No actually my hole in the wall is growing on me. Here is the video

Hey Everyone,

Well since last writing, I have learned a lot. It is still very overwhelming

Bike riding- there are no rules, as you can see in the picture there are lines on the sidewalk and markings for pedestrians and bikes. In Japan cars drive on the left side of the road like in England and Australia. So one might think that bikes and people would walk on the left side of the sidewalk. However this is not true, from my brief experience there does not appear to be any rules that are strictly followed. It is very crazy and at times a bit frightening. Just the other day I was biking down the sidewalk headed home from school when two kids about 6 or 7 darted out of the building I nearly ran them over. I can’t believe more people don’t get hurt in bike accidents. Oh yeah helmets like don’t exist. (oh wait I saw one person wearing helmet today, but he was riding a 10 speed bike) All new bike come with a lock already built into the bike and you have to register them with the city. If yours gets stolen you can report it to the police and maybe, but not likely get it back.
This morning I was at the Subway/train station near my apartment on my way to Tokyo, where lots of people ride there bikes to the station and catch a train. While I was sitting there waiting for my friend I saw the oddest thing. I almost took a picture maybe some other morning. People had parked their bikes near each other, but then four guys who must work at the station came along and piled in one next to the other leaning against the wall your bike might be in five or 6 deep by the time you get home from work or school, good luck. It’s like a needle in a haystack.
Finding your bike would be even more difficult because many of them are all the same color and there are two styles of bikes. So essentially everyone’s bike looks like each others making it important to personalize yours some how. I am still working on that.

Another cool feature your bike comes with is a light. It runs on friction, when you switch it on it touches the front tire and works when you are riding your bike. But during the day if you leave it on people give you funny looks. Well that could also be the fact that I have blue eyes, brown hair and am white. I have also discovered that the dollar store or the 100 Yen store down the street from my apartment has some very handy bike accessories, I haven’t figured out what they all are. I did buy a seat cover for the rain that is going to start in a couple months, so far this week though the weather has been beautiful. Sunny and low 60’s

Since writing the above it has rained and man when it rains it pours. Next time it rains I will have to try and take a picture. Portland gets rain, maybe every once in a while we get it like this but seriously even with an umbrella you are drenched, it started about 2pm and did not stop till after 8pm. A little taste of what is to come later I guess.

Another side Note: I stayed this last weekend in Tokyo. I was helping WYS the company that hired me with an introduction weekend for inbound and outbound exchange students. It was a quiet weekend, and good practice for school. We all stayed in the Olympic village from the 1960’s I think. They keep up the facilities and use it for all kinds of meeting and things. There is a park next to the village, part of has a Japanese Shrine that was really neat. I saw a wedding party leaving part of the shrine, the whole group was in traditional Japanese dress. It was beautiful. Then the other part of the park is open to the public, to have picnics, bike ride, walk around. Since it was the last real weekend of the Cherry Blossom festival there were tons of people out and about, some picnicking, others playing pick up games of soccer, volleyball, throwing baseballs around. It was great fun to people watch. The most exciting part of the whole weekend was my first earthquake in Japan. They are more common then back home. I was up in my room on the eighth floor of the building, laying on my bed watching a movie on my computer when I first noticed my bed shaking and then the whole room was shaking. When I asked about it later no one seemed to be bothered by it. It was the biggest one I had ever felt. Don’t ask because I don’t know how big it was.

PS: I totally recommend coming to a Cherry Blossom festival in Japan. Beautiful and the park is an experience.

Today I bought a bike and I must say after not riding a bike for about 2 years I did pretty good. I only almost ran into 2 or 3 people. No big deal!!! In Nagoya everyone, walks, Bikes, and subways. I think I have mastered where OZONE station is. IT is the big subway/ train station near both my apartments. I also think I know how to catch the bus to and from the school.
At school this morning I met the vice principal Adachi sensei, very nice women. I also met Michael and Dustin my co teachers. It was an interesting contrast between Michael very laid back go with the flow, compared to Emi (WYS guide) who has lots of energy go go go! and follows rules. The school seemed very nice, it is an all girl's Sr. High School. Justin and Mike cleaned up our office area today, so we shall see what it looks like on Wednesday.
Emi and I left shortly after morning meeting so we could work on cleaning my current apartment. I learned how to fix Japanese paper doors. It took a lot of time to clean the old paper off the door and cut and iron the new paper onto the wooden fram of the doors. I must say it looks very nice compared to the torn paper we found on Sunday. We also had fun shopping, hence the bike. WYS also purchased bedding for me and I bought some towels. There is a very dangerous store, similar to a bed bath and beyond not far from my apartment. Very cute pillows and chairs. After shopping Emi and I went for a nice long bike ride. To school, found lunch which was more like an early dinner 4pm. I had a very Japanese dish of pizza. I must say it tasted really good. (I feel I must in my own defense tell you I had real Japanese lunch box on the train from Tokyo ot Nagoya on Sunday. Many of the vegetables are pickled in Soy Sauce. I tried two kinds of fish, to kinds of clams. The mushrooms are very different then the ones back home.) Then we were off to Justin's he lives one floor above where I will be living in about a week. It is small but not bad. Nice big glass door at the end. Think small studio maybe 300sq.ft. But I will make it my home.

3/30/08 @ 9am Japan Time
Yatta ( I did it!!!)
I made a sad discovery this morning. I think I lost the gorilla for my Camera in the chaos of trying to move two 70lb bags through the airport, on to a train and then into a Taxi and finally arriving at my hostel. I have attached picture. It was not a bad room just a very small one. I have the pictures to prove it. I had a small window in which looked out onto a wall, so no real view.
Yesterday was a very long day. It did not end till around 3:30 am your time. I was trying to stay awake so I could sleep, it sort of worked. Emi will meet me at the Hostel this morning and we will send my luggage to Nagoya. I am still not exactly sure how we are getting there ourselves, the adventure continues. When we get to Nagoya tonight I will get to stay in a Hotel, while they clean the apartment of the teacher who is coming later this week. My apartment is also being cleaned and will not be ready until Tuesday night at the earliest. So I will continue to have fun moving two 70lb bags around. Actually I owe a big thank you to Emi she has been very kind about helping lug them around. I think we will both be happy to see them sent to Nagoya this morning where we won’t have to deal with them for at least a couple hours.

Monday is a teachers meeting and Tuesday is the opening ceremony for the freshman at the High School. Oh yeah I found out I will be one of three teachers teaching the High School students. This should prove an interesting challenge since I am used to working with much younger students. Then next Monday the 7th is the First day of school and opening Ceremony for all the other students and the 8th is the first real day of school.

PS: Mom the PDay Bars have been great. Thank you☺

How does a person pack for a year in Japan. Nagoya, is suppose to be really Humid and HOT in the summer and come winter be snowing!! Oh! did I mention it all has to fit in two bags weighing 50lbs each. Well I am slowly figuring it out. However, I am quickly coming to the conclusion that I may need to ship and box with some clothes.