The First Week

The First Week- Learning How to Shop

We have been in Japan for one week now but it feels like much longer.  Steve has been at work for 5 days now, Tristan has been at day camp for 5 days, and Alyvia and I have been shopping up a storm for the last 5 days. Our shipment comes in on Wednesday but we moved from the hotel to the house on Friday and our now living with rental cots, a fridge from the staffroom, a kitchen table and chairs that we purchased from Ikea, and 2 pots and 2 towels that we borrowed from another teacher- it kind of feels like camping.

Shopping here has been interesting to say the least.  There is not much in the grocery store that we recognize and so we find ourselves wandering the isles and looking at pictures on labels to see if we can find something familiar.  In the cereal isle you can only find 3 different types, Special K, Frosted Flakes, and Bran, and if you are looking for peanut butter and jam, the jars are mini size (but then again so are most things here).  Tristan and Alyvia may have to change their morning eating routine.   What you can find a lot of is fish (I really need to learn how to cook this), seaweed snacks, white bread (the Japanese love the stuff), noodles (that I do not recognize) and beer (Steve is happy about this one).  I guess the good thing about this is that our grocery cart will be the bare essentials and this should result in a lower grocery cost (I hope).  There is a COSTCO 1.5 hours away that I will be checking out on Monday and I hear that there are more English labels so I will have to stock up on our family favorites. Since we will not have a car I will have to try and bum a ride to COSTCO every now and then.

The Japanese tend to grocery shop each day to ensure that food is fresh.  The carts in the grocery store only fit 2 baskets and so you cannot by more than this amount at one time.  The reason for the 2 baskets is that a large number of Japanese opt to cycle rather than drive, and so, only 2 baskets will fit on a bike, one on the front and one on the back.

I bought a “shopping bike” today.  It has a big basket on the front and baby carrier on the back so Alyvia can come along.  Since most Japanese ride bikes, every store will have a bike “parking lot”.  You simply find a parking stall, put down your kickstand, and leave your bike.  There are very low incidents of theft here because there are police EVERYWHERE!  If I end up buying a mountain bike I will need to lock it up, but for now I am safe with my $200 shopping bike.

Shopping for other items other than food has also been challenging.  Most store clerks do not speak English and so I am forced to look up a few words and try my luck at speaking some Japanese.  (Once we are settled I really need to begin language study).   Because it is SO busy here, shopping can be time consuming.  Who would of thought that trip to Ikea would have taken 9 hours!  It took 1.5 hours to drive out there, and the next 6 hours were spent battling the crowds.  At one point I felt like hiding in a corner.  Even Alyvia could not get into the play area as when we got there I had to take a number and she was 148- they were only on 90.  Needless to say, Ikea will not be a regular trip!

Eating out here is generally expensive.  We learned this when a meal at a Japanese restaurant cost $75 and most of the food we were not able to stomach- liver (thought it was beef), fishy noodles, and other mystery meat on skewers.  The cheapest place to eat here would be a Raman Noodle House (Japanese noodle soup).  For $7-8 you can get a big bowl of soup, but again, you never really know what you are ordering as no one in these places speaks Japanese.  Our first experience was getting pork instead of chicken- it was pretty good though.

What I have noticed during my shopping trips is that everyone working in a store takes pride in what they do.  There is always a Japanese welcome and people will do their best to help you out.  When paying for a purchase, money is placed in a small tray and the receipt is always passed back with 2 hands and a small bow.  The receiver also receives with 2 hands and bows as well.  This old custom is a nice way to personalize a money transaction.

I think that most of our major shopping is now done.  Now it will be the little things that we will need to live the day to day.  I am sure I will be making lots of trips back and forth to the grocery store- just like tonight when I realized that I had no dish soap.

I look forward to getting our shipment in one Wednesday and getting settled into our new home.  Hopefully by this time next week we will be ready to focus on getting to know the surrounding area. 

The First 24 Hours

The First 24 Hours

We have been in Japan exactly 24 hours and we have already experienced so much.  I am always amazed at how time warps itself when you encounter, what I like to call, the third dimension- an experience very unlike the day-to-day experiences we all live.  Suddenly time seems to stand still as your senses take in so much.  A day feels like a week, especially when you get up at 3am due to jet lag.

I cannot but help compare our first 24 hours here to our first 24 hours in Kuwait.  The two worlds are drastically different.  If there were to be an instruction booklet on the “how to’s” of arriving as a teacher in a new country, here is what it might say:

Kuwait: Airport Arrival: Before the plane even comes to a stand still, take off your seatbelt, get up, find your luggage in the overhead compartment and begin pushing your way out of the plane.  Once off the plane, if you have not been swallowed by the cigarette smoke, navigate yourself to the visa station and push your way in line to receive a visa.  Continue to wait while 25 different people stamp your visa, and while another 10 people handle the visa, only AFTER they finish their cigarette or coffee.  Proceed to immigration where some customs attendant will ask you to turn to the correct page in your passport and proceed to complain about how hard his/her job is.  Once at baggage you will need to fight your way to the belt, or if you are a little smarter, higher one of the orange suited porters to fight his way to the belt, where you will wait, and wait, and wait for your luggage.  Once (and if) your luggage arrives, you will proceed to the security check, where your luggage will be scanned by one or two workers who are more interested in having a conversation about last night’s happenings, rather than watching the computer screen for illegal substances.  2 hours later (or more), you will exit arrivals and will be swallowed by mass crowds where you will try to find the American International School representative. 

Japan: Airport Arrival: Once the plane lands you will quietly wait for it to come to a complete stop.  You will then find your luggage in the overhead compartment and quietly wait until the exit line begins moving.  Once off the plane, you will follow the signs to immigration where you will wait in line with your already acquired visa and use the “time signs” in the line-up to determine how long you will have to wait for an agent.  Once at the immigration booth, you will be asked to place your fingers onto 2 probes, which scan your fingerprints and then be asked to look at the little red dot, which then takes your picture.  Once through customs you will collect your already arrived luggage from the well numbered luggage belts and then proceed to customs.  Customs will simply look at your customs card and neatly stamp it before you proceed out of the building where you will be greeted by a small crowd and an American School in Japan rep who is right outside the doors greeting you with a can of beer!

Kuwait: Driving to Your New Apartment: You will leave the airport on a bus with 20 other jet lagged people.  As you make your way out of the airport, the 50+ degree dry heat outside will have taken over the bus and you will be forced to crane your neck to the air conditioner vent above your head which only spits out warm air.  For the next 30-45 minutes you will battle BMWs, Porches, Hummers, and other luxury vehicles going at lightening speeds past you.  If you arrive at your new apartment without being scared to death by the drivers on the road, you are one step ahead of the other 90% of the people on your bus.

Japan: Driving to the Hotel: Exiting the airport you will be hit by 30 degree heat and 80% humidity.  You will leave Narita airport by a private school car with high quality air conditioning, drinking your ice-cold beer.  As you make your way towards Tokyo, and then Chofu, you will encounter traffic, traffic, and more TRAFFIC.  There is no such thing as “lightening speed” here!  If you do more than crawl you are doing well.  The trip from the airport to the hotel in Chofu should take 1.5-2hrs.  If you are unlucky, as were the Bennett’s, the trip will take you 4 hours!