日本
Jesse and I made it to Tokyo! It's been a little lot crazy since we arrived.
We landed at Narita late Sunday afternoon, then took the express train to Shinjuku Station. I stepped off the train, felt immediately overwhelmed, and started sobbing. In general, the larger stations, as well as the areas outside of them, are perpetually populated by what my friend Chris lovingly describes as a "complicit solitary crowd." I agree with his evaluation, though in my case, the "lovingly" part doesn't apply.
It isn't as though I dislike it here. In fact, I love my neighborhood, Numabukuro. The area in which I live feels entirely like a real place--people are out and about day and night, so it never feels lonely. Yet it strikes a perfect balance between busy and quiet, and most of the buildings are aged. By contrast, Shinjuku, for example, seems to be teeming with people at all hours, and many areas are too perfectly maintained. And there are stores like Don Quijote, which, as Wikipedia states, "packs its goods from ceiling to floor in a distinct merchandising strategy encouraging the customer to 'discover treasure' and possibly return to the store to find a remembered item." It all sounds very interesting-- and it is, in a very postmodern way. But for me, the hyper-real is also hyper-stimulating, and my eyes and ears and brain feel exhausted after a very short time in these heavily urbanized spaces. I know I will become increasingly accustomed to all of this-- the highly efficient yet, for me, visually confusing train stations, the crowds, and the sweltering heat-- as the jet lag wears off.
Monday was a national holiday (Umi no hi, AKA Marine Day), so we didn't do much of anything. Tuesday was, in seven words, the most stressful day of my life. I arrived here with a high-priority to-do list comprised of the following: register my address with the Nakano City Office; sign up for national health care; sign up for the national pension program; acquire a bank account. I was advised to bring a native Japanese speaker with English skills to the city office in case I found it difficult to communicate something in Japanese. I failed to do this, yet surprisingly communication was the least of my troubles. Through no fault of my own, I gave them an address that didn't appear in the city system, and it took a very, very long time to get that sorted out. After my registration was completed I received my health insurance card with ease, but when I attempted to inquire about my discount--as a JSPS fellow, my income is not considered "income" in the traditional sense-- the city officials were suspicious of my claims! Fortunately I had brought the JSPS bylaws to the office and was able to convince them I was not a fraud seeking cheap healthcare. I went through the same thing with the woman at the pension desk. But in the end, it all worked out. I'm exempt from pension payments, and my health insurance is a whopping 1050 yen (about $11)/month.
And then I went to Citibank Japan, where I nearly lost my shit. That place is the most polite hell on the planet. The representative was both patient and kind, yet behind the mask (literally-- she sounded like she had tuberculosis and was wearing a medical mask) she, too, was suspicious of me. After a very, very long time arguing with her over everything-- her successful attempt to call my cellphone, which she didn't believe worked--I had acquired a bank account. Unfortunately, despite having the requisite two forms of identification to receive one I was denied an instant ATM card (read: because I am a foreigner), which means I have to wait for a packet from the bank to arrive, call the post office with a secret code, and then wait again for my card to be delivered.
So, that was yesterday. Today was significantly better! I was scheduled to meet with my adviser, Professor Anwei Liu at Tokyo Institute of Technology, this afternoon. The journey from Numabukuro Station to Ookayama is an expensive train ride (over 1000 yen, or $10, round-trip) involving several transfers. Surprisingly, however, it wasn't too confusing (the stations at which I changed lines are relatively small), and the campus was pretty easy to locate and navigate. Once we met I repaid him the postage money I owed him, gave him the almonds I brought from Colorado, and submitted my final batch of JSPS paperwork (until I leave Japan, anyway). Then, he said that he thought the chapter I sent him was interesting, told me to enjoy my time in Japan, and said to call if I need anything. I have to return to his office once my first JSPS payment arrives-- I had it deposited into his bank account since I did not have a Japanese account prior to my arrival--but I get the feeling he will be a very hands-off adviser, which was entirely expected (he signed on for this as a favor to my previous affiliate, who decided to retire before I received word that I had been awarded a fellowship).
Other than bureaucratic things, we have been exploring, albeit slowly. We had a lovely evening out with my dear friend Patrick from CU on Monday night, and I have plans to see many, many more friends old and new in the upcoming weeks and months. For now, we're taking a few days off of socializing to recover from the jet lag. It has actually gotten worse the longer we've been here, and we find ourselves feeling exhausted in the middle of the day, and again in the early evenings. That will subside over the course of the next week or so, and in the meantime, now that I've taken care of all of the things I HAD to do, we're going to get back onto a regular work schedule (obviously I'm dissertating, and Jesse has some deadlines to meet), as well as making some time to roam around, get lost, rinse, and repeat.
Other things of note: Tokyo is really expensive. Once my payments start coming in I'll be fine--I'm pretty good at budgeting-- but we've spent way more than we intended since we arrived! It's also abysmally hot and muggy here. In order to cover up my tattoos, I've been wearing cardigans for business and academic-related things, and it's absolutely miserable. Hoping for more rain soon!
We landed at Narita late Sunday afternoon, then took the express train to Shinjuku Station. I stepped off the train, felt immediately overwhelmed, and started sobbing. In general, the larger stations, as well as the areas outside of them, are perpetually populated by what my friend Chris lovingly describes as a "complicit solitary crowd." I agree with his evaluation, though in my case, the "lovingly" part doesn't apply.
It isn't as though I dislike it here. In fact, I love my neighborhood, Numabukuro. The area in which I live feels entirely like a real place--people are out and about day and night, so it never feels lonely. Yet it strikes a perfect balance between busy and quiet, and most of the buildings are aged. By contrast, Shinjuku, for example, seems to be teeming with people at all hours, and many areas are too perfectly maintained. And there are stores like Don Quijote, which, as Wikipedia states, "packs its goods from ceiling to floor in a distinct merchandising strategy encouraging the customer to 'discover treasure' and possibly return to the store to find a remembered item." It all sounds very interesting-- and it is, in a very postmodern way. But for me, the hyper-real is also hyper-stimulating, and my eyes and ears and brain feel exhausted after a very short time in these heavily urbanized spaces. I know I will become increasingly accustomed to all of this-- the highly efficient yet, for me, visually confusing train stations, the crowds, and the sweltering heat-- as the jet lag wears off.
Monday was a national holiday (Umi no hi, AKA Marine Day), so we didn't do much of anything. Tuesday was, in seven words, the most stressful day of my life. I arrived here with a high-priority to-do list comprised of the following: register my address with the Nakano City Office; sign up for national health care; sign up for the national pension program; acquire a bank account. I was advised to bring a native Japanese speaker with English skills to the city office in case I found it difficult to communicate something in Japanese. I failed to do this, yet surprisingly communication was the least of my troubles. Through no fault of my own, I gave them an address that didn't appear in the city system, and it took a very, very long time to get that sorted out. After my registration was completed I received my health insurance card with ease, but when I attempted to inquire about my discount--as a JSPS fellow, my income is not considered "income" in the traditional sense-- the city officials were suspicious of my claims! Fortunately I had brought the JSPS bylaws to the office and was able to convince them I was not a fraud seeking cheap healthcare. I went through the same thing with the woman at the pension desk. But in the end, it all worked out. I'm exempt from pension payments, and my health insurance is a whopping 1050 yen (about $11)/month.
And then I went to Citibank Japan, where I nearly lost my shit. That place is the most polite hell on the planet. The representative was both patient and kind, yet behind the mask (literally-- she sounded like she had tuberculosis and was wearing a medical mask) she, too, was suspicious of me. After a very, very long time arguing with her over everything-- her successful attempt to call my cellphone, which she didn't believe worked--I had acquired a bank account. Unfortunately, despite having the requisite two forms of identification to receive one I was denied an instant ATM card (read: because I am a foreigner), which means I have to wait for a packet from the bank to arrive, call the post office with a secret code, and then wait again for my card to be delivered.
So, that was yesterday. Today was significantly better! I was scheduled to meet with my adviser, Professor Anwei Liu at Tokyo Institute of Technology, this afternoon. The journey from Numabukuro Station to Ookayama is an expensive train ride (over 1000 yen, or $10, round-trip) involving several transfers. Surprisingly, however, it wasn't too confusing (the stations at which I changed lines are relatively small), and the campus was pretty easy to locate and navigate. Once we met I repaid him the postage money I owed him, gave him the almonds I brought from Colorado, and submitted my final batch of JSPS paperwork (until I leave Japan, anyway). Then, he said that he thought the chapter I sent him was interesting, told me to enjoy my time in Japan, and said to call if I need anything. I have to return to his office once my first JSPS payment arrives-- I had it deposited into his bank account since I did not have a Japanese account prior to my arrival--but I get the feeling he will be a very hands-off adviser, which was entirely expected (he signed on for this as a favor to my previous affiliate, who decided to retire before I received word that I had been awarded a fellowship).
Other than bureaucratic things, we have been exploring, albeit slowly. We had a lovely evening out with my dear friend Patrick from CU on Monday night, and I have plans to see many, many more friends old and new in the upcoming weeks and months. For now, we're taking a few days off of socializing to recover from the jet lag. It has actually gotten worse the longer we've been here, and we find ourselves feeling exhausted in the middle of the day, and again in the early evenings. That will subside over the course of the next week or so, and in the meantime, now that I've taken care of all of the things I HAD to do, we're going to get back onto a regular work schedule (obviously I'm dissertating, and Jesse has some deadlines to meet), as well as making some time to roam around, get lost, rinse, and repeat.
Other things of note: Tokyo is really expensive. Once my payments start coming in I'll be fine--I'm pretty good at budgeting-- but we've spent way more than we intended since we arrived! It's also abysmally hot and muggy here. In order to cover up my tattoos, I've been wearing cardigans for business and academic-related things, and it's absolutely miserable. Hoping for more rain soon!