I am an alien!

Well it is official: ‘I am an alien’. I even have the card to prove it.
So everything many of you and I have ever suspected has been officially confirmed.

As described the trip from our planet was comfortable and our touchdown without trauma. On landing it was hard to tell whether the inhabitants of this new environment were friendly or not. They did not acknowledge you with a smile, facial expression, nod or greeting.  I am still giving the smile and nod a go but I should imagine I will get over that silly habit. If in doubt a bow seems to do the trick. Having said that however, if you look really confused or lost people are very quick to offer assistance. Sadly it is usually no help because of the language barrier.

What does it feel like to be an alien?  Finishing work at home had already given me an insight into life as an alien; it had plunged me into a new and unfamiliar daily ritual. The life of rush, pressure, direction, meetings, reports, agendas, planning, timetables and organisation had been discarded. I realize now that  those feelings I experienced were a precursor to many feelings I have now. Strange, lonely, disoriented, sad, lost, without purpose, confused. Really if you thought about it for too long the list could go on. Of course the only way to overcome these feelings of alienation is to take small positive steps towards assimilating. I suspect mine are going to be miniscule steps, but steps nonetheless. It's a bit like climbing an ice incline, a little bit up and then back down again.

Life in Japan is so different! Presently it is light at about 4.30am (can‘t say sparrow‘s fart because there are none), the ants are on the move constantly (always walking, running, scurrying, catching trains), the written and spoken language is indecipherable (for me), the food is new and the lifestyle is totally different. At home we gravitate towards home at the end of a work day to relax with family, chill out, have tea, watch a bit of television then sleep. Here, because living spaces are so restricted, people never seem to go home.  Working people eat out, many people eat on the move, standing up to eat then scurrying off to the next train. Busy, busy, busy they never stop moving. In that respect I should be able to assimilate quite quickly. As many know, I too have the capabilities of a Duracell battery! People here have the habit of taking a nanny nap whenever and wherever they can. On the train, waiting for the train, in restaurants, wherever!  Don’t be surprised if you find a head resting on your shoulder.

Taking the first step.......I decided, even before I left home, that to survive I would need to give myself a new challenge each day. So my journey in this new and foreign land began.  

Mission............to find food and other household necessities.
Sounds easy enough I hear you say. Don’t assume anything. Pretty quickly we found a couple of places where groceries could be acquired not too far from our temporary apartment. Apartment!! Another alien situation for one accustomed to living amongst gum trees with chooks, mice, wallabies and birds. Birds!! No birds where we are living in Shinagawa, except for the occasional crow or raven.

With this first task we were plunged into the world of a non reader,  very alien feelings for us. As a teacher I have often tried putting myself into that position but like vision you can’t actually understand how that feels until someone blindfolds you. Try buying washing machine powder for a front loader when not one symbol on the packet can be read. The pictures were next to useless, so forget visual clues. Anyway we got home after spending our yen with some things that were edible or useable. We won’t need to buy margarine for a while and an apartment bath towel will have to masquerade as a tea towel for a while. Camembert was the only cheese we recognized.

Of course the money is also foreign and, like Indonesian money, for us is akin to Monopoly money. Naturally it isn’t and is very quickly depleted (the yen is very weak at the moment also). Sourcing money from an ATM machine with no English was initially a bit of a challenge. Fortunately many machines have an English button and you are ‘talked’ through the process. Currently I just return to the same ATM not far from the station. Shinagawa Station is a very busy place and is constantly teeming with people.

Next Mission...........to catch a train!
With my first solo train journey I was again exposed to unknown dangers, thank goodness for colour coding. You can’t be too careful with colour coding though. One slip and you can end up heading in the wrong direction. Don’t expect to ask anyone for assistance. Lots of head shaking and bowing leaves you in the same unsure and possibly lost position.  Orange is the colour I decide to follow. I must only catch a train with an orange stripe if I want to travel between Tokyo and Yokohama (there are others but one colour is enough at this stage). It might have another colour on it. That’s OK as long as it has orange. Steve catches the pale blue stripe because the orange stripe doesn’t stop where he gets off at Tsurumi. To get to Yamashita, where we will be living next, you get off at Yokohama station and then change to another train, pale blue stripe. The stations are huge with gazillions of people and it is possible to do most of your shopping and eating in many.

My first train trip was to Kawasaki.  So mission was successful.....I arrived safely!!! Every station has different exit/entries. It is very important to know which entry to return to. I took a quick visual snapshot in my head (very risky) and then started out on my next challenge.  

Mission.....to source a computer cable and wireless router.  Remember no packaging has English instructions. Much to my surprise one of the first shops I saw in the spectacular shopping plaza was a Camper outlet....suppliers of excellent shoes, bags etc. I had fun buying a few gifts for the grandkids in a 100 yen shop and a shop, which I have called Japan’s Bunnings. I bought a router and computer lead in Bic Camera. Mission accomplished!

Do you fancy a fan or maybe a pair of slippers???

Lunch was successfully hunted and gathered. The only slip I made was to return my tray to the wrong outlet. Japan has very few rubbish bins and many outlets use crockery.
The issue of toilets had been avoided in the hope that I could wait until returning home. Impossible. Following International symbols they were easily found. Unlike the toilets in our apartment with their warmed seats and internal fans to suck odours away, this toilet was set into the floor. First dilemma: which way to face? Who cares? No one can see. Gosh! Which button do you push? ‘Oh good one Jenny. Typical that you would push the alarm.’ So with the alarm sounding throughout the store I scurried off with my head down. One Japanese habit I can see I will easily master.

Always the teacher I couldn't resist taking this shot of these little ones. Very young and as they headed off on their walk they quickly formed into single file. Impressive!!!

Summary... Mission accomplished.....caught a train.......purchased what I needed.....returned home safely! Home????

Some silly 'oop’s' moments.....Getting locked out of the apartment building, not just room, in my pyjamas....setting the alarm off in the shopping plaza.....thinking my computer had died when the real reason was that I had plugged my new triple adaptor into itself not the wall outlet.
It’s good to see the real me still survives even in Japan.

Farewell to Australia!!

Finally the day had arrived. My life in limbo was about to take a dramatic turn. Up until the day I had been busy with all the final preparations but nothing had prepared me for the moment when our driver arrived to take us to the airport. Suddenly my heart did a total back flip and I went into instant panic mode. 'I can't do it!' was all I could think. This feeling of total despair was not to leave me for another two days.

As we drove off down the gum tree lined driveway I felt as though I was being taken away in a hearse. How ridiculous is that?? Our departure from Melbourne was trouble free and we instantly got to sample the life of a Business Class traveller. The Kris lounge (Singapore Airlines Business Class lounge) was very nice and we were able to relax and enjoy yummy nibbles. Once on the plane we were treated like celebrities (well I thought so). Hot face washers were instantly dispersed (a habit which was repeated many times all the way to Japan). The food was delicious and the foot room quite ridiculous for such a vertically challenged person. The seats were so large my feet didn't touch the floor and I could almost touch the seat in front!!

We had a 2 hour stopover in Singapore which meant we got to sample another Kris Lounge. I was impressed with the one in Melbourne but this one was huge and offered whatever you wanted. It was very impressive indeed. By the time we left Singapore it was 2-30am Melbourne time.

Excitedly we boarded the next flight on one of the latest design planes. What greeted us inside was very luxurious. More hot face washers and seats of ginormous proportion. Once off the ground it did not take long to pull out the bed, complete with duvet, sheet and pillows, to have a sleep. The next stage of the flight was another 7.5 hours so we ended up getting about 5 hours napping. Two hours before landing we were woken for breakfast. The bed was folded away and the run into Tokyo began. We arrived in Tokyo at about 7.50am Tokyo time (8.50 Melbourne time). The trip had taken 17 hours total.

Once at Narita Airport we cleared customs with no problems and then found a Limousine bus to take us into Tokyo. This trip took about 1hour 10minutes. Once off the bus we had to lug our very heavy 4 pieces of luggage (one of mine weighed 31kgs) plus 4 pieces of hand luggage. The weather was beautiful, in fact we were very hot when we reached our temporary apartment. After a quick unpack, cuppa and biscuit we headed off to find some food.....but that is another story.
Our home in Australia.....our surrounds in Japan....well.....it's like chalk and cheese!!