Friday, 31 March 2006

So I arrived at Narita Airport at 7.30am and practically whizzed through immigration and customs. They didn’t ask me any questions or even ask to look in my back pack, so while I certainly looked disheveled, I must still have had an aura of honesty. I managed to pick up my unaccompanied bag without too much trouble, if you call spending an hour traipsing around the cargo part of the airport a trouble-free experience. Actually, it was ok and everybody was helpful even if they only had limited English, which, let’s face it, is still more than my Japanese.

I even managed to get on the right bus to Takasaki. They let you put one bag in the baggage compartment of the bus but I had to take my backpack on the bus with me. So I lugged it up the stairs and tried to lift it up onto the overhead baggage shelf but I just got the giggles because it was so heavy. There was a young Japanese couple in the seat across the aisle and the guy asked me if I wanted help getting my bag up and then I realized that it was actually too wide to fit in the gap. I said thanks for the offer and then went to sit down and promptly whacked my head on the ceiling. After that stylish introduction to Japan, I just left my backpack on the floor and rested my feet on it. Then the battery ran out on the Ipod. Damn thing. I wish I could describe the view of Tokyo from the bus but frankly I was so knackered that I went to sleep almost straight away.

My new boss, Carl, met me at Takasaki Station and drove me straight to my new apartment. I’ve moved into Megan’s old apartment because she has moved in with her sweetheart, Kevin. Wait, wait, wait. You guys know Megan? No? Ok, Sarah, Megan and Emily are the girls that I’ll be working with for the next year. All three are from Brisbane and both Sarah and Megan have signed up for another year in Takasaki. The apartment’s pretty small but nowhere near as cupboard-like as I had expected. I have a kitchen and dining room in one and a lounge room through a big sliding door. The tiny, submarine-style toilet and bathroom are off one side of the kitchen and the bedroom is up in a loft and only accessible by ladder. And when I say ladder, I mean ladder. Not just a couple of rungs but nine of them - I swear I get vertigo from halfway up.

This is the lounge room in my apartment.

And this is how big it is if you stand at the window.

After dropping my stuff off, Carl took me to the supermarket to buy some supplies. It wasn’t as bad as I feared and I even bought the same jam and the same instant miso soup that we have at home. They have so much stuff already prepared that I’m frankly surprised that anyone cooks. I bought bread, butter, jam, instant miso soup, edamame, miso paste, salmon sashimi, tea, milk, salad and some diet coke. The shopping list of champions. The only thing I really need help to identify was the low fat milk because they don’t have pictures of skinny cows on the cartons.

After I got back to the apartment I had a shower and went to bed at 6pm.