(no subject)
12-09-08 Tsukareta
So, woke up early yesterday morning to pack up all my stuff at Akiko's house and, with the help of Bryce, drag my big bag down to the Nishikasai dorm where I am staying. Getting there was easy enough, but I am just glad that I don't need to carry that bag around for about another year or so. Nakakasai is the area in Edogawa ku that the dorm is in, sort of half way between the Nishikasai station and the Kasai station. The area around the dorm seems nice, although I haven't seen much beyond the path I walk from it to the station. I hear it is a pretty nice place though, and it is quite near Sumiyoshi, where I might get a job at Smile Club, not too far from Kameari where Akiko lives and on a direct connection with the central line. Oh yeah, and it's a good price. Anyway, we arrived and the landlord showed us around. The actual room is pretty small, enough for a bed, a small desk, some shelves with drawers underneath, and a wardrobe with some drawers as well but in all it is more or less what I need. The bathroom, showers, common area (which seems more or less like a couple couches at the entryway) and laundry room is all shared of course, but it really shouldn't be a problem at all. So, after she showed us around and layed down the basics of the rules (with Bryce translating when needed), she left us to the room as I unpacked everything and got it all settled in. The whole introduction she gave us makes me realize more how much Japanese I don't know, and how much I really have to work at it. It can be quite disheartening sometimes with how lost I can feel in a conversation, but other times it feels a lot better. It is just the ups and downs of language acquisition really, I just need to work through the lows.
Anyway, I got everything figured out and we headed down to Sumiyoshi since Bryce had to work. I tagged along since I was hoping the boss would be there so I could talk to her about me working and have a few questions answered. Turns out that she wasn't around that night and Bryce also ended up working twice as long as he originally had been told due to some misinformation. But everything was fine, so I left him there after about a half hour and wandered back to my dorm to get some typing done. A little while into my entry the phone rang. It really threw me off since no one had the number yet, and the number calling me was 100. Turned out to be the landlady, and she stopped by my room to give me a LAN cable to connect to the Internet with. She explained how to use the phone to call to out to the states, to another number in Japan and also to other rooms in the dorm. She then noticed I hadn't bought any slippers yet and ran and brought me a pair to use until I had some. So, I went back to typing away, updating things online and more or less killing time for a few hours until I packed some things to stay another couple nights at Akiko's and headed back towards Sumiyoshi to meet up with Bryce.
It is interesting to be the foreigner again. I can usually notice when other people are staring at me on the train and whatnot, but it is most amusing (and also a bit surprising) when I turn to look another direction and find myself right there with someone standing on the train staring at me. For the most part it is amusing for me, but I really wish I knew exactly what they were thinking when they see me. I am kind of curious about what is going on in their heads about it all, but I guess I shall never know.
Anyway, met Bryce at Sumiyoshi and he had some great news for me. Turns out that Zack, another student from BSU who was supposed to be in the Nishikasai dorms, basically showed up, saw the dorms and turned around and was set in finding his own place. What that meant for us is that Bryce was able to snatch up Zacks room, and since Zack owes Bryce some money he is paying for half of the cancellation fee at the other dorm. Now, instead of being on the opposite side of Tokyo, he is in the same building and is a lot closer to his work and Akiko. So we headed back up to Kameari and relaxed at the house for a few hours. I uploaded some pictures to Facebook as we sat around talking for a few hours before falling asleep.
~ . ~
Today Bryce and I woke up around 10:30-11:00. We sat down for some delicious food that Akiko's mom had left for us to eat for breakfast before packing up Bryce's gear and trucking it down to the dorm. The landlady was quite surprised and very happy to see that it was Bryce who was taking Zack's place. She opened up his room and we dropped off his things before heading to meet Zack at a station to get the door card and key to the room. After talking with him about how things are going for us all we wound back to Hibiya to meet Akiko. As I think I said in an earlier entry, she works in that part of town at a place called Freshness Burger. Turns out the place looks quite nice, sort of a Starbucks cleanliness and casual style. Got some drinks there and met Tanaka (sort of, no actual introduction but I believe he knows who I am) who is a co-worker of Akiko's who is a drummer in a band. I am really hoping to see some concerts while here, and it would be even better to see some local groups perform. Apart from a couple times of seeing people out performing on the streets (and it really hasn't been too bad) I haven't had any opportunity yet. Another thing I have noticed, is that from time to time there is some ambient music playing in some parts of town from speakers here and there, or music from stores. It is nice to have what is more or less a soundtrack to walking playing from time to time.
When we finished up we wandered down to a game center where Bryce and I played some Virtual Fighter V and Street Fighter IV. Afterwards we just spent some time walking around the area, looking at some really neat architecture. Some day when I get back there I hope to have my camera to take pictures of some of the really neat buildings we saw. One of them bent and twisted a little at it climbed up how ever many stories it was. Another had one face of the building a gigantic screen that played neat looking black and white design ads. We continued to walk and slowly started back in the direction of the station. We passed by a place that had a sign advertising its happy hour prices. What is notable about this is not necessarily the good prices for the beer, but that there are two happy hours. One from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and another from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. Yes, there is a 2-6 in the morning happy hour. There are many bars here that are open until five in the morning or so, and many karaoke places won't even say anything until after that time when they let you know that you should be finishing up. I have yet to do any real bar hopping, and apart form the Izakaya I haven't even gone to a bar, but James also told me that our dorm is within walking distance to the biggest club in Tokyo (should be fun! Not cheap, but fun!).
After getting back to Kameari we walked down to a fruit stand where I picked up a couple ruby grapefruits for around $3 (310 en) and then over to the local mall. It is quite big, probably bigger than the Town Square Mall in B-Town, and we went into one of the bigger import stores. It's strange to see the prices of things that are so common in the states. For one jug of Tide with downy it was roughly $26. Something tells me I should go into business selling detergent here and just have people mail it to me. Anyway, we walked on back towards the house and I have to say that I do really enjoy the feel of this part of town. It is hard to explain the scene, just a residential city with the vibrancy of Tokyo, but there is something unique to it that makes it all work. While the people here don't seem quite as friendly as the ones in Osaka, I still can't help but enjoy it all. For now I am in the room with Bryce typing away as dinner is being prepared. I really am very thankful to Akiko and her parents for letting us stay here for these past days and making us feel so welcome. I told Akiko that we want to get her parents a present of some sort and she is going to help us figure out what would be best. For now I believe I have run out of things, but it will not be too long until I have more to say. I shall end this with the promise of stories of the matsuri (festival) that is this weekend here in Kameari. It is being organized by Akiko's mom, and she has invited us to take part as well. So, that shall be fun, and there will pictures to accompany. For now, signing out.
So, woke up early yesterday morning to pack up all my stuff at Akiko's house and, with the help of Bryce, drag my big bag down to the Nishikasai dorm where I am staying. Getting there was easy enough, but I am just glad that I don't need to carry that bag around for about another year or so. Nakakasai is the area in Edogawa ku that the dorm is in, sort of half way between the Nishikasai station and the Kasai station. The area around the dorm seems nice, although I haven't seen much beyond the path I walk from it to the station. I hear it is a pretty nice place though, and it is quite near Sumiyoshi, where I might get a job at Smile Club, not too far from Kameari where Akiko lives and on a direct connection with the central line. Oh yeah, and it's a good price. Anyway, we arrived and the landlord showed us around. The actual room is pretty small, enough for a bed, a small desk, some shelves with drawers underneath, and a wardrobe with some drawers as well but in all it is more or less what I need. The bathroom, showers, common area (which seems more or less like a couple couches at the entryway) and laundry room is all shared of course, but it really shouldn't be a problem at all. So, after she showed us around and layed down the basics of the rules (with Bryce translating when needed), she left us to the room as I unpacked everything and got it all settled in. The whole introduction she gave us makes me realize more how much Japanese I don't know, and how much I really have to work at it. It can be quite disheartening sometimes with how lost I can feel in a conversation, but other times it feels a lot better. It is just the ups and downs of language acquisition really, I just need to work through the lows.
Anyway, I got everything figured out and we headed down to Sumiyoshi since Bryce had to work. I tagged along since I was hoping the boss would be there so I could talk to her about me working and have a few questions answered. Turns out that she wasn't around that night and Bryce also ended up working twice as long as he originally had been told due to some misinformation. But everything was fine, so I left him there after about a half hour and wandered back to my dorm to get some typing done. A little while into my entry the phone rang. It really threw me off since no one had the number yet, and the number calling me was 100. Turned out to be the landlady, and she stopped by my room to give me a LAN cable to connect to the Internet with. She explained how to use the phone to call to out to the states, to another number in Japan and also to other rooms in the dorm. She then noticed I hadn't bought any slippers yet and ran and brought me a pair to use until I had some. So, I went back to typing away, updating things online and more or less killing time for a few hours until I packed some things to stay another couple nights at Akiko's and headed back towards Sumiyoshi to meet up with Bryce.
It is interesting to be the foreigner again. I can usually notice when other people are staring at me on the train and whatnot, but it is most amusing (and also a bit surprising) when I turn to look another direction and find myself right there with someone standing on the train staring at me. For the most part it is amusing for me, but I really wish I knew exactly what they were thinking when they see me. I am kind of curious about what is going on in their heads about it all, but I guess I shall never know.
Anyway, met Bryce at Sumiyoshi and he had some great news for me. Turns out that Zack, another student from BSU who was supposed to be in the Nishikasai dorms, basically showed up, saw the dorms and turned around and was set in finding his own place. What that meant for us is that Bryce was able to snatch up Zacks room, and since Zack owes Bryce some money he is paying for half of the cancellation fee at the other dorm. Now, instead of being on the opposite side of Tokyo, he is in the same building and is a lot closer to his work and Akiko. So we headed back up to Kameari and relaxed at the house for a few hours. I uploaded some pictures to Facebook as we sat around talking for a few hours before falling asleep.
~ . ~
Today Bryce and I woke up around 10:30-11:00. We sat down for some delicious food that Akiko's mom had left for us to eat for breakfast before packing up Bryce's gear and trucking it down to the dorm. The landlady was quite surprised and very happy to see that it was Bryce who was taking Zack's place. She opened up his room and we dropped off his things before heading to meet Zack at a station to get the door card and key to the room. After talking with him about how things are going for us all we wound back to Hibiya to meet Akiko. As I think I said in an earlier entry, she works in that part of town at a place called Freshness Burger. Turns out the place looks quite nice, sort of a Starbucks cleanliness and casual style. Got some drinks there and met Tanaka (sort of, no actual introduction but I believe he knows who I am) who is a co-worker of Akiko's who is a drummer in a band. I am really hoping to see some concerts while here, and it would be even better to see some local groups perform. Apart from a couple times of seeing people out performing on the streets (and it really hasn't been too bad) I haven't had any opportunity yet. Another thing I have noticed, is that from time to time there is some ambient music playing in some parts of town from speakers here and there, or music from stores. It is nice to have what is more or less a soundtrack to walking playing from time to time.
When we finished up we wandered down to a game center where Bryce and I played some Virtual Fighter V and Street Fighter IV. Afterwards we just spent some time walking around the area, looking at some really neat architecture. Some day when I get back there I hope to have my camera to take pictures of some of the really neat buildings we saw. One of them bent and twisted a little at it climbed up how ever many stories it was. Another had one face of the building a gigantic screen that played neat looking black and white design ads. We continued to walk and slowly started back in the direction of the station. We passed by a place that had a sign advertising its happy hour prices. What is notable about this is not necessarily the good prices for the beer, but that there are two happy hours. One from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and another from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. Yes, there is a 2-6 in the morning happy hour. There are many bars here that are open until five in the morning or so, and many karaoke places won't even say anything until after that time when they let you know that you should be finishing up. I have yet to do any real bar hopping, and apart form the Izakaya I haven't even gone to a bar, but James also told me that our dorm is within walking distance to the biggest club in Tokyo (should be fun! Not cheap, but fun!).
After getting back to Kameari we walked down to a fruit stand where I picked up a couple ruby grapefruits for around $3 (310 en) and then over to the local mall. It is quite big, probably bigger than the Town Square Mall in B-Town, and we went into one of the bigger import stores. It's strange to see the prices of things that are so common in the states. For one jug of Tide with downy it was roughly $26. Something tells me I should go into business selling detergent here and just have people mail it to me. Anyway, we walked on back towards the house and I have to say that I do really enjoy the feel of this part of town. It is hard to explain the scene, just a residential city with the vibrancy of Tokyo, but there is something unique to it that makes it all work. While the people here don't seem quite as friendly as the ones in Osaka, I still can't help but enjoy it all. For now I am in the room with Bryce typing away as dinner is being prepared. I really am very thankful to Akiko and her parents for letting us stay here for these past days and making us feel so welcome. I told Akiko that we want to get her parents a present of some sort and she is going to help us figure out what would be best. For now I believe I have run out of things, but it will not be too long until I have more to say. I shall end this with the promise of stories of the matsuri (festival) that is this weekend here in Kameari. It is being organized by Akiko's mom, and she has invited us to take part as well. So, that shall be fun, and there will pictures to accompany. For now, signing out.