The first few days in Tokyo
Door: Natasja
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Natasja
10 Januari 2014 | Japan, Tokio
Hi everyone,
As you probably already knew i went again to Japan to learn the language at an international school.
Before i begin i want to excuse myself for possible typo's (typefouten) as i will tell this in english and it wil take a lot of time to correct them. Nevertheless i will try my best!
Also, excuse me for telling much details. Maybe it does not interest you, but i still want to tell you those.
The story begins and continues in Japan!!
Well not excactly. I have prepared myself for a while for this trip by working and organising some documents for a visa. This went all well as you probably know. Also, i met my friends in the past few weeks.
My parents brought me to the airport and some family came to have a nice drink and talk before i go. Still the trip made me a bit nervous and i could not take a bite of the Dutch ''krentenbol'' my mother gave me.
This feeling disapeared when i took a step in the airplane.
During the flight
This is my 2nd time making a trip to Japan and i prepared myself accordingly (i still remember the jetlag of the first trip to Japan) E.g. Enough food for when i am hungry, enough to drink (i am not going to wait on the foods and drinks of KLM). Also i had earplugs, a masker for my eyes and sleeping pills which had to help me to sleep in the airplane...
Well i did not sleep a lot but rested instead, mostly because i talked to the guy beside me (i was in a aisle chair) about where he comes from, what he does etc. By the way he was French. I noticed that he only drank red wine... is that typical for french people?!
After having talked to him i wanted to sleep, took the pill and prepared for sleeping. The whole time i was just laying/sitting peacefully in my chair... That was good enough. (There were a few young children nearby and they made a lot of noice -_- Shut up!!)
Arriving in Japan
The last time i did not write about it much... but when i arrived i had to wait really long to get out of the plane as my row was in the back of the plane (row 43 of 45). After that i did do the same as the last time ''going to the toilet'', but now i knew where the flush was XD
Then i filled in a document for the things i have brought. It is a sort of checklist that you did not bring any illigal stuff. After giving my passport and visa at the douane i received an alien registration card. Yay!! Whoehoe!!
However after that i made the same mistake as last time. I stepped back from the counter to go back and look were i have to go. That is a normal reaction... in my eyes. But!! in this case it is not. I had to go to the left or right (depends on the mark at the counter). Thus when i wanted to back out the guy of the douane panicked a bit and directed me to the right path.
Had to wait *** long to get my bagage which an ''inhoud'' of 120 L. Sorry i just had to mention that XD
Compared to the last time they were more alert and were checking everything thoroughly. They even had dogs to smell possible illigal drugs or bombs?? They went with them 4-6 rounds around . They even gave the dog sometimes a command that he/she had to sniffle at the bag.
Narita arrival hall 1 and travelling to the dorm
There i was. Through everything and ready to go the dorm. Just exchanging some money before i go and organising the Yen i had from last time. At the exchanging point i met the guy from the airplane.
As we had to go the same way (he a bit further) we traveled by train. It was less comforting then i thought as he was looking a lot or most of the time on his mobile...
Sometimes i just spoke out of habit Dutch to him and i thought i was speaking English to him the whole time XD
At Funabashi i had to get out of the train and walk to the next station... i met some really nice older people on my way which helped me. Thereafter i got on the train with an older couple i met and traveled to the destinated station (Shin-koiwa) with them (they also had to stop stere). Then they helped me by telling me which exit i had to take as that is mostly one of the most confusing points when you want to go somewhere. From there on out i could easily find the dorm.
The first impression of Shin-koiwa was ''wow there are a lot of advertisements and colours when you get out of the station''. While i walked towards the dorm it became quieter and the surroundings became more like a residental arrea.
Arriving at the dorm
I arrived at the backdoor. That did not matter. Luckely someone (Nickname Kuma, Sweden) opened the door as the manager was out from 12:00 till 02:00 and i arrived 12:20. Soo unlucky...
He took me to the general room/kitchen were also a few other people were. Roberto (Spain), name already forgotten while typing this (Swiss) and also name forgotten (Japanese). Those are really nice and open people. We talked a bit and they told me several stuff about the residents and the manager. I also heard that a lot of students go to Kudan Institute. That was something i had not expected.
The manager is... acoording to them... not very concerned. He shows up every now and then. He can speak a bit English. Even saying ''a bit'' is to much. The Japanese people cannot even understand him when they talk to him... Thus i waited there and listened to those stories.
After a while one student, name unknown, came to me with a telephone and said that a man of Kudan Institute wanted to talk with me. That was the contact person from school.
He told me that the manager wont be in today but tomorrow. He also told that the room is open en the key is on the table.
Describing my room and dorm
After this message i went to my room.
My room is small, but everything neccesary is in it. A pole on the wall to hang my clothes, refrigator, bed and underneath drawers for clothes and stuff, chair, desk with some boards above.
Also, i have an airconditioner, but i have no idea how that works... (there are just to many kanji's on the remoter control) Just have to figure that out as soon as possible!
The dorm is like this (the name of the floors are different then we know)
First floor (ground floor) : general area, kitchen, sport and activity room, showers for men of the 2nd floor and also a bathroom. Ofcourse the entrance, backdoor and the managers office.
Second floor (first floor) : Rooms for only men. Girls and woman are not allowed.
Third floor (second floor) : One part is for only men and the other part for only woman. Each have their own bathroom room.
Fourth floor (third floor were i will be staying at) : Only woman and no men are allowed. We have our own bathroom and wasmachine's.
Fifth floor : This is the rooftop and a nice place to have an overview of the surroundings.
There is an elavator and there are stairs.
Doing things after that
In The Netherlands i could not find the small part between the Japanese electricity network and the Dutch electicity network at home which i bought the last time i was in Japan. If i still want to use my mobile phone then i have to buy that part. Thus i decided to go to Akihabara. Finding a shop wasnt that easy, but in the end i found it!! Soon i realised that my body and my mind were getting tired and i decided to go home (dorm) directly. I also needed to buy some food for the next day. When i arrived at the dorm and in my room i was going immediately to bed...
Well... now we are almost at the part i am typing this. I have slept from 18:00 till 03:00. After 03:00 i was wide awake. As i do not want to get lay down in bed with eyes closed and mind running like it saw daylight, i thought that i could type what i experienced untill now.
Also, as i was wide awake i was thinking of taking pictures of the sunrise on the rooftop.
Does anyone know when the sun will start rising?? I dont. Only that 06:00 the sun is already up. XD Thus i have to wait for that moment...
My apologies that i write this in English but i thought maybe some people who i already know from my last time in Japan and are back in their home country want to read my story to.
It is not perfect English, but i have tryed my best!!
P.S
05:15 still no sun, maybe it is cloudy?? I have not looked at the weather forecast :-S and when i look outside i cannot see it clearly.
06:15 it became a bit lighter outside...
As you probably already knew i went again to Japan to learn the language at an international school.
Before i begin i want to excuse myself for possible typo's (typefouten) as i will tell this in english and it wil take a lot of time to correct them. Nevertheless i will try my best!
Also, excuse me for telling much details. Maybe it does not interest you, but i still want to tell you those.
The story begins and continues in Japan!!
Well not excactly. I have prepared myself for a while for this trip by working and organising some documents for a visa. This went all well as you probably know. Also, i met my friends in the past few weeks.
My parents brought me to the airport and some family came to have a nice drink and talk before i go. Still the trip made me a bit nervous and i could not take a bite of the Dutch ''krentenbol'' my mother gave me.
This feeling disapeared when i took a step in the airplane.
During the flight
This is my 2nd time making a trip to Japan and i prepared myself accordingly (i still remember the jetlag of the first trip to Japan) E.g. Enough food for when i am hungry, enough to drink (i am not going to wait on the foods and drinks of KLM). Also i had earplugs, a masker for my eyes and sleeping pills which had to help me to sleep in the airplane...
Well i did not sleep a lot but rested instead, mostly because i talked to the guy beside me (i was in a aisle chair) about where he comes from, what he does etc. By the way he was French. I noticed that he only drank red wine... is that typical for french people?!
After having talked to him i wanted to sleep, took the pill and prepared for sleeping. The whole time i was just laying/sitting peacefully in my chair... That was good enough. (There were a few young children nearby and they made a lot of noice -_- Shut up!!)
Arriving in Japan
The last time i did not write about it much... but when i arrived i had to wait really long to get out of the plane as my row was in the back of the plane (row 43 of 45). After that i did do the same as the last time ''going to the toilet'', but now i knew where the flush was XD
Then i filled in a document for the things i have brought. It is a sort of checklist that you did not bring any illigal stuff. After giving my passport and visa at the douane i received an alien registration card. Yay!! Whoehoe!!
However after that i made the same mistake as last time. I stepped back from the counter to go back and look were i have to go. That is a normal reaction... in my eyes. But!! in this case it is not. I had to go to the left or right (depends on the mark at the counter). Thus when i wanted to back out the guy of the douane panicked a bit and directed me to the right path.
Had to wait *** long to get my bagage which an ''inhoud'' of 120 L. Sorry i just had to mention that XD
Compared to the last time they were more alert and were checking everything thoroughly. They even had dogs to smell possible illigal drugs or bombs?? They went with them 4-6 rounds around . They even gave the dog sometimes a command that he/she had to sniffle at the bag.
Narita arrival hall 1 and travelling to the dorm
There i was. Through everything and ready to go the dorm. Just exchanging some money before i go and organising the Yen i had from last time. At the exchanging point i met the guy from the airplane.
As we had to go the same way (he a bit further) we traveled by train. It was less comforting then i thought as he was looking a lot or most of the time on his mobile...
Sometimes i just spoke out of habit Dutch to him and i thought i was speaking English to him the whole time XD
At Funabashi i had to get out of the train and walk to the next station... i met some really nice older people on my way which helped me. Thereafter i got on the train with an older couple i met and traveled to the destinated station (Shin-koiwa) with them (they also had to stop stere). Then they helped me by telling me which exit i had to take as that is mostly one of the most confusing points when you want to go somewhere. From there on out i could easily find the dorm.
The first impression of Shin-koiwa was ''wow there are a lot of advertisements and colours when you get out of the station''. While i walked towards the dorm it became quieter and the surroundings became more like a residental arrea.
Arriving at the dorm
I arrived at the backdoor. That did not matter. Luckely someone (Nickname Kuma, Sweden) opened the door as the manager was out from 12:00 till 02:00 and i arrived 12:20. Soo unlucky...
He took me to the general room/kitchen were also a few other people were. Roberto (Spain), name already forgotten while typing this (Swiss) and also name forgotten (Japanese). Those are really nice and open people. We talked a bit and they told me several stuff about the residents and the manager. I also heard that a lot of students go to Kudan Institute. That was something i had not expected.
The manager is... acoording to them... not very concerned. He shows up every now and then. He can speak a bit English. Even saying ''a bit'' is to much. The Japanese people cannot even understand him when they talk to him... Thus i waited there and listened to those stories.
After a while one student, name unknown, came to me with a telephone and said that a man of Kudan Institute wanted to talk with me. That was the contact person from school.
He told me that the manager wont be in today but tomorrow. He also told that the room is open en the key is on the table.
Describing my room and dorm
After this message i went to my room.
My room is small, but everything neccesary is in it. A pole on the wall to hang my clothes, refrigator, bed and underneath drawers for clothes and stuff, chair, desk with some boards above.
Also, i have an airconditioner, but i have no idea how that works... (there are just to many kanji's on the remoter control) Just have to figure that out as soon as possible!
The dorm is like this (the name of the floors are different then we know)
First floor (ground floor) : general area, kitchen, sport and activity room, showers for men of the 2nd floor and also a bathroom. Ofcourse the entrance, backdoor and the managers office.
Second floor (first floor) : Rooms for only men. Girls and woman are not allowed.
Third floor (second floor) : One part is for only men and the other part for only woman. Each have their own bathroom room.
Fourth floor (third floor were i will be staying at) : Only woman and no men are allowed. We have our own bathroom and wasmachine's.
Fifth floor : This is the rooftop and a nice place to have an overview of the surroundings.
There is an elavator and there are stairs.
Doing things after that
In The Netherlands i could not find the small part between the Japanese electricity network and the Dutch electicity network at home which i bought the last time i was in Japan. If i still want to use my mobile phone then i have to buy that part. Thus i decided to go to Akihabara. Finding a shop wasnt that easy, but in the end i found it!! Soon i realised that my body and my mind were getting tired and i decided to go home (dorm) directly. I also needed to buy some food for the next day. When i arrived at the dorm and in my room i was going immediately to bed...
Well... now we are almost at the part i am typing this. I have slept from 18:00 till 03:00. After 03:00 i was wide awake. As i do not want to get lay down in bed with eyes closed and mind running like it saw daylight, i thought that i could type what i experienced untill now.
Also, as i was wide awake i was thinking of taking pictures of the sunrise on the rooftop.
Does anyone know when the sun will start rising?? I dont. Only that 06:00 the sun is already up. XD Thus i have to wait for that moment...
My apologies that i write this in English but i thought maybe some people who i already know from my last time in Japan and are back in their home country want to read my story to.
It is not perfect English, but i have tryed my best!!
P.S
05:15 still no sun, maybe it is cloudy?? I have not looked at the weather forecast :-S and when i look outside i cannot see it clearly.
06:15 it became a bit lighter outside...
-
10 Januari 2014 - 14:50
Rachel:
Genius!!! I had to laugh already! Do French people always drink red wine? and the guy of the douane panicked! Incredible!!
big hug -
10 Januari 2014 - 15:13
Natasja Verhoef:
LIKE! your post rachel
Big hug from me to! -
10 Januari 2014 - 17:42
Gusta:
Lieve Natassy. Zo net om 17.30u gekeken of er al wat geschreven was op je site.
Je zou mij plezieren om voor de ouderen onder ons, ook wat hollandse taal erbij te vermelden.
Misschien een verslag half engels en half ned ??? -
10 Januari 2014 - 17:45
Gusta:
Vervolg.Lieverd veel plzier én geniet lekker in het mooie Japan.
liefs xx mams -
10 Januari 2014 - 20:19
Britt:
Klinkt goed!! Ik ben echt blij dat je ook serieus alle details schrijft trouwens! Vind ik alleen maar leuk! 8DD Have fun!!! Wanneer is je eerste schooldag? -
11 Januari 2014 - 03:29
Natasja:
Hii,
Mam, dat nederlands zit er even niet in... aangezien ik ook hiermee mee engels wil verbeteren. ik kan wel een vertaling geven in nederlands maar dan gebruik ik google translate en zoals bas al aangaf het zal niet de beste vertaling zijn... na een paar kleine aanpassingen waar nog best wat tijd in gaat zitten. Dus dat zal ik dan later naar jouw opsturen wanneer ik de tijd heb om dit te doen.
Britt chan, wow , dan beschrijf ik echt aardig wat details... als jij dat al vindt ;-)
Zal wel idd niet zo erg zijn voor de mensen die de details interreseren en de andere mensen kunnen het skippen... ^_^
Eerste schooldag wordt dinsdag de 14e van January. Dus nog een aantal dagen dagen te gaan.
Bas san, thank you for the comment. ^_^ -
11 Januari 2014 - 13:54
Zorah:
Heeeeeeeey:D:D
hahah i couldn't agree with Rachel more! I also already laughed hahaha about the red whine and such. Was he a cute guy? *wink wink* sorry^^ mabye he was a vampire and the ''red whine'' was actually blood...;) hhaha oke I'm will stop it! Really happy to hear you arrived safely! I hope you have a great time with lots of new adventures! ^^ Knuffelsss xxxxxx -
11 Januari 2014 - 18:42
Paps:
Hallo Natasja ,
Een heel verhaal en erg uitgebreid.
Ontzettend leuk om het allemaal in het engels te lezen.
Volgens mij heb je nu minder last gehad van een jet-lag.
Spannend over 1 dag begint het echte werk, want daar ben eigenlijk voor gekomen
Succes
vgr paps -
12 Januari 2014 - 08:07
Natasja:
Zorah, lets talk about that another time wont we ;-)
I think all my friends would agree with the commen rachel made XD
Thank youuuuu XXXX
Hoi paps,
Ja ik had daar zin in, aangezien ik toch niets te doen had nadat ik wakker as geworden sochtends en inderdaad ik heb nu veeeel minder last van een jetlag. De vorige keer was denk ik gewoon te veel stressfactoren bij elkaar. Bv. eerste keer naar Japan, eerste keer alleen, geld gedoe, hostel zoeken, druk om te slapen, de volgende ochtend opgehaald worden door iemand van de school om gebracht te worden naar de hostfamilie, een super warme en benauwde dag waar ik niet op gekleed was.... etc.
Maar leuk om te horen dat je het leuk vindt om het verhaald in het engels te lezen :-)
Gr, je dochter ;-)
-
13 Januari 2014 - 17:11
Zorah:
hahahah yes I also think that:D i will remember it for sure;) -
14 Januari 2014 - 14:46
Gusta:
Lieve Natasja,
Voor Oma Gre 86 jr. is het nederlands fijn,zodat ze ook wat verhalen kan lezen van jou.
Ze leest het vaak 3x of 4x want een telefoongesprek om het verhaaldoor te geven vergeet ze gauw. -
14 Januari 2014 - 17:22
Gusta:
Hoi Lieverd,
Ben erg benieuwd naar je 1e schooldag !!
Dat is/was vandaag, dus. Gezellig dat je misschien samen kan reizen met dorm-genoten!!
Ik zie uit naar je nieuwe belevenissen !!
xxxxx mams -
15 Januari 2014 - 20:43
Daphne En Marion:
Hi Natas,
Mijn moeder had een brief ontvangen van je ouders over je blog.
Super leuk om te lezen wat je tot nu toe hebt meegemaakt in Japan!
Erg gaaf om de taal te leren en daar voor een lange tijd te blijven.
Heel veel plezier en geniet!!
Liefs, Daphne en Marion
-
16 Januari 2014 - 15:12
Margreet:
Hoi Natasja, kreeg bericht van je moeder dat je reis naar Japan is begonnen.Knap om dit alleen te doen. Wens je veel succes met het leren van de taal en heel veel plezier daar. Groetjes Margreet -
18 Januari 2014 - 12:25
Henny:
Hallo Natas, vandaag met veel plezier je verhaal op mijn gemak gelezen. Ga zo door.
groetjes Henny -
19 Januari 2014 - 07:50
Natasja:
Hi Daphe en Marion,
Leuk dat jullie ook deze blog lezen ;-)
Dankje wel. Het wordt zeker een leuke tijd!
Dank je Margreet en Henny ^_^
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