MAN!!! It has been rather hectic and mad for the past few days..so apologies for the possibly veeery long blog, as I try to summarise the highlights of my adventure so far.
I am also writing this on Martin’s laptop so can’t put any pictures up, until I get to my laptop…so I apologize for the lack of imagery.
Ok so I arrive in Numazu on Monday, in the early evening. We get back to my beloved “hotel aria” and my beloved clerk, who can speak about 6 sentences of English but is the sweetest guy ever. I also get a call from Rina welcoming me back – so far so good. I arrange to meet up with Fran on Tuesday, as she is looking for a housemate and the Tokyo office suggested it as a possibility if I felt like it.
Her flat is nice..very Japanese! Tatami mats! Slidey doors! A Balcony, a high tech toilet and a tiny washroom. 3 Issues; very little privacy (thiiiiin walls), cold (there’s a radiator which runs on petrol), and no internet. But it would save a lot of money.
I am in 2 minds about it, when a woman from the company calls up, to ask whether I have decided yet and when I’ll move. Talk about pushy!!! Basically I find out that the hotel has only been booked for 2 days instead of the whole week, as I was informed. Apparently she just wants me to decide quickly, and then move. I try to explain to her the dilemma of not owning a keitai (phone) or internet – therefore being totally un-contactable to the company, if I move now. She doesn’t seem to care very much, just telling me that the company isn’t responsible for stuff like that…I almost swear at her. I then ask about moving my luggage..it’s heavy…and I was only at this apartment once – in the dark. She tells me the company isn’t responsible for that and neither is my coordinator. I almost swear at her again.
Thank the lord my coordinator is an angel in human form! After I almost give in to temptation to pack up and fly back home, she calls me up and basically tells me she will help me move, help me get my documents, help me with the phone, and help me buy a futon etc etc. So Rina, her husband and me end up driving around Numazu sorting out gaijing documents, a phone (daaaamn phone companies…more stress!!!), and buying a futon (sleeping in Japan seems to be an art). So finally on Thursday I have my first night in my new apartment. Fran had bought strawberry cake to celebrate and I had bough cookies ice cream. It was a feast! I now have a phone and an address. I do not have internet..but that’ll hopefully get sorted soon.
Friday I go to Narita airport and meet Martin (my stepdad – or mamachichi in Japanese)! We go and spend the night in the Tokyo Hilton hotel in Shinjuku!!! It’s amazing! Seriously, we’re on the 32nd floor overlooking Tokyo…all the staff are amazing at English, and I had croissants and jam…and fruit…and salad!!! Heaven! They had nutella tooooo! It’s all very exciting, and a nice break from stressness!
So I think that’s it for the update. I shall put pictures up of my new place soon!
I am also writing this on Martin’s laptop so can’t put any pictures up, until I get to my laptop…so I apologize for the lack of imagery.
Ok so I arrive in Numazu on Monday, in the early evening. We get back to my beloved “hotel aria” and my beloved clerk, who can speak about 6 sentences of English but is the sweetest guy ever. I also get a call from Rina welcoming me back – so far so good. I arrange to meet up with Fran on Tuesday, as she is looking for a housemate and the Tokyo office suggested it as a possibility if I felt like it.
Her flat is nice..very Japanese! Tatami mats! Slidey doors! A Balcony, a high tech toilet and a tiny washroom. 3 Issues; very little privacy (thiiiiin walls), cold (there’s a radiator which runs on petrol), and no internet. But it would save a lot of money.
I am in 2 minds about it, when a woman from the company calls up, to ask whether I have decided yet and when I’ll move. Talk about pushy!!! Basically I find out that the hotel has only been booked for 2 days instead of the whole week, as I was informed. Apparently she just wants me to decide quickly, and then move. I try to explain to her the dilemma of not owning a keitai (phone) or internet – therefore being totally un-contactable to the company, if I move now. She doesn’t seem to care very much, just telling me that the company isn’t responsible for stuff like that…I almost swear at her. I then ask about moving my luggage..it’s heavy…and I was only at this apartment once – in the dark. She tells me the company isn’t responsible for that and neither is my coordinator. I almost swear at her again.
Thank the lord my coordinator is an angel in human form! After I almost give in to temptation to pack up and fly back home, she calls me up and basically tells me she will help me move, help me get my documents, help me with the phone, and help me buy a futon etc etc. So Rina, her husband and me end up driving around Numazu sorting out gaijing documents, a phone (daaaamn phone companies…more stress!!!), and buying a futon (sleeping in Japan seems to be an art). So finally on Thursday I have my first night in my new apartment. Fran had bought strawberry cake to celebrate and I had bough cookies ice cream. It was a feast! I now have a phone and an address. I do not have internet..but that’ll hopefully get sorted soon.
Friday I go to Narita airport and meet Martin (my stepdad – or mamachichi in Japanese)! We go and spend the night in the Tokyo Hilton hotel in Shinjuku!!! It’s amazing! Seriously, we’re on the 32nd floor overlooking Tokyo…all the staff are amazing at English, and I had croissants and jam…and fruit…and salad!!! Heaven! They had nutella tooooo! It’s all very exciting, and a nice break from stressness!
So I think that’s it for the update. I shall put pictures up of my new place soon!
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