Getting Used to Things

I think I'm starting to learn to not hit my head on my bathroom door each time I come out of it. The top of the door frame is a bit above my eye level.

Today was the first day of the two-day orientation. A little over eight hours of information was a little tiring to take in, but I think I managed. I met both Japanese students and exchange students, all of which seem very nice so far. Also, so far all the Japanese exchange students I have met have studied education in one form or another, so I was happy to find that my tutor studies science as well. I had started to think they didn't exist.

Since I still lacked some necessities, we went shopping with Arva and her tutor Kana, and went to eat again afterwards. A decent bowl of ramen and large deep fried shrimp, 500 yen (~4 euros).

Some interesting things/facts that I learned:

- Usually you don't say anything when either coming in to a store or restaurant nor when leaving there, even though the staff greets and thanks you.
- Starting next April, the students of the dorm need to clean the whole (inside of the) building themselves, instead of just their own rooms (I'm mortified about how that's going to work out, especially in the boys' dorm).
- The Japanese honestly do bow a lot.
- The chirping outside is really, really loud. I have my earphones on and am listening to music, and can still hear them.
- Apparently -5 degrees Celsius is really cold.

Also, I'm not surprised that these dorms are supposed to be cold in the winter. I'm rather sceptical about the insulatory properties of the balcony door and the small window my room has...

Day One

I meant to write this yesterday, but I was too tired to stay up any longer than necessary.

The first day and the journey to here had a little more excitement than planned. From the Kansai International Airport we (I and Arva, the other student from Jyväskylä and the person I travelled here with) were supposed to take the airport express train Haruka. Already a bit weary from not sleeping on the plane, I guess I either misheard the announcement or misread the track number (which wasn't very obviously written anywhere). And since the train we got onto was bound to Osaka, I figured it was the right one. Trouble was, we needed to get to Shin-Osaka. Once the train was over fifteen minutes late and still wasn't at Osaka (or Shin-Osaka) it started to seem that we had took the right train, which was a little disheartening since the tickets to Higashi-Hiroshima had cost over 10,000 yen (~100€) apiece. We got to Osaka station three minutes before our Shinkansen train was due to leave from Shin-Osaka station. Luckily our distress seemed to be obvious enough for a Japanese girl to ask whether we needed any help. I explained the situation and we hurried off to the platform that would take us to Shin-Osaka station. There she consulted a Japanese man, who consulted the train station staff. The staff person kindly wrote on our ticket that we missed our train and said that we should show it to the ticket officer at Shin-Osaka station. Obviously we missed the train, but the staff at the Shin-Osaka station figured out that we could still take another faster train to Okayama and transfer there to the train we were supposed to take in the first place. All in all, 5/10 for the clarity of written guidance from the airport to the Shinkansen station, 10/10 for the helpfulness of the Japanese people we met. It certainly isn't exaggerated.

When we finally arrived at Higashi-Hiroshima we took a taxi to the student dorm, which cost 1,600 yen (12 euros). The taxi driver stopped to ask for the right turn for the boys dorm from a male student, who turned out to be Masataka (or Masa for short), my tutor. After moving my luggage to my rather small dorm room which brought loving memories of my time in the Finnish army, we went off with our tutors and Kazuma to eat (sushi!) and get some necessities. I decided to be brave and try a natto sushi. Mmmm mm. Not so yummy. But maybe it is an acquired taste. Otherwise, the food was delicious. Since the dorm room was pretty much empty apart from a bed with a thin mattress, a small desk and chair and a closet, we needed to get bedding as well. There were rather a lot of choices with sets of 1, 2 or 3 pieces, each of which was further divided into how warm they were. I ended up with a 3/6 set of mattress, blanket and pillow, costing me 8000 yen (~62€).

The room before unpacking

The rest of the evening was spent gathering the rest of the necessities. I still haven't really figured out what to do about cooking at the dormitory. The kitchen looks filthy, to put it mildly. Eating out is cheap though, but I don't know if I want to do that every day.

All in all, a good first day and start for the exchange year. Special thanks to Masa, Kana (Arva's tutor) and Kazuma!

T Minus 24 Hours and Counting

Woah. And I thought I had a long summer ahead of me.

By now almost all of my packing has been done, just a few shirts need a place from my two already overpacked bags. I have a feeling I'm overestimating my need when it comes to clothing, but I'm not sure I'll be able to find clothes and shoes for me that fit in Japan, being 197 cm tall and all.

It feels weird that all the formalities (that can be done in Finland) have been done, and all I have to do is wait. Well, I still need to tell the Finnish post office that I have moved...

When I arrive in Japan, I should be given a residence card at the airport. Then to Shin-Osaka station and onboard the Shinkansen to Higashi-Hiroshima station. A short taxi drive and then I should be meeting my tutor in front of the dorm building.

Exciting!