I promised people back home that I would try to keep a blog whilst I am here in Japan, so here it is!
It's been slightly hectic and very confusing to say the least!
To begin with, the flight was veeeery long but the views were amazing. When I arrived in Narita the standard procedure of going through immigration and collecting baggage etc. went smoothly.
Pretty much all staff in the airport spoke English, so it didn't seem too weird yet... haha.
I bought the N'EX Suica deal, one way to Shinjuku (as that is where I had to get my apartment keys and pay my first months rent.)
Again, some lovely views (I'll stick links to all videos I've made through this period at the end of this post.)
When I got off at Shinjuku it felt like a maze, anyone who's been to Shinjuku will probably know what I mean.
I had been given a map which indicated I should take the west exit, of course I couldn't find it, and after an 11 hour flight and not having slept in two days I looked like crap and just wanted to get out of the station.
I think I took the south exit, they always seem easier to find.. or maybe that's just me lol!
Anyway, so I'm out of the train station and EVERYTHING is in Japanese, I was pretty much wandering aimlessly for 10 minutes. I managed to find a landmark that was on the map I was given and headed up to the office for my keys.
I got stared at. A lot. I knew before going to Japan that this sort of thing happens to most foreigners, especially those not of Asian descent. It still didn't help as I am naturally quite self-conscious and paranoid (pretty much a normal woman haha!)
I managed to find the office and paid my first months rent etc.
The worst part was heading to my apartment. I was told to take the Seibu Shinjuku line to get to my area, which is Numabukuro. So I get to the station and I'm on that blasted platform looking for something in English. Nothing, it was all in Japanese apart from to let you know if the train was Express or Local. (I didn't know what that meant at the time.)
So I just got on the next train, and unfortunately for me, it was the Express train.. so of course it passed Numabukuro and I ended up having to ask a train driver (LOL) how to get to Numabukuro. One thing you can never fault the Japanese for is their politeness and willingness to help someone, especially a stupid foreigner like myself. :]
I managed to get on the right train anyway, thanks to his help.
I, again, got stared at a lot, but one thing I did notice is people actually sat next to me on the train even though there was plenty of space to sit elsewhere. I've read and heard of a lot of people having people avoid sitting in the same carriage as them!
Maybe this was just a one off, who knows..
So yeah, I'm now at my apartment and haven't really left my neighbourhood in the last 2 days.
I've been really ill from jet lag (I won't go into details!) but I'm hoping this will pass by next weekend when I'll be going to Shinjuku again with a Japanese friend I met. This time at night, lol.
I've only met one person since I've been here (yesterday) which is the Japanese friend I mentioned. He's very nice and speaks very good English, he wants me to speak Japanese with him though but I'm too scared.. well, embarrassed!
Next thing for me to do, is to go to my local ward office and apply for my Foreigner Registration Card (AKA Gaijin Card) as today is a public holiday I don't fancy trekking it up there just to find it's not open. Plus I feel so crap right now..
Anyway, I'm waffling about nothing now.. I'll try to update this relatively often. With pictures and videos!
The Plane - Airport - Tokyo and my apartment:
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