Nihongo Baby!

Osaka

We arrived in Kansai Airport in Osaka at 7am after a solid 36 hours of flights, stop-overs and transfers which included only about 5 hours of sketchy airport/aeroplane sleep. After some friendly pat downs in customs walked out into what felt like an arctic winter after 9 weeks in equatorial Asia. Kansai is that cool airport you always see on the discovery channel which is built on a man made island in Osaka harbour. The wind was howling off the sea, it was raining and we were dressed for the beach.

The differences between Japan and everywhere else we had been were instantly apparent. Everything was spotless. I went to the bathroom in the airport, the water and soap were automatically dispensed then on the way out a pre-recorded voice thanked me and told me to have a nice day (I think!). We brought bus tickets from an automated machine, waited a few minutes for our bus which turned up bang on schedule, then two little Japanese men loaded our bags and issued us luggage receipts. A far cry from India where you buy a ticket from a dodgy looking man, stand around for an hour, get on a bus that looks like it probably wont make it and have your bags thrown in a dirty hold with a cage of chickens!

At that point we drove into Osaka, met Jamie who shambled hungover out of a McDonalds and got a number of clean, efficient, timely trains to our place in Kobe. We didnt actually see Osaka properly until a few days later when we had to make an appearance at the head office of the evil corporation for which we are now employees. Downtown Osaka is all about the bright lights and the bling. I always thought Bono from U2 was a bit of a dick for wearing his sunnies inside, but you can probably justify it here. Went for a wander down Namba mall which is a few kilometres of shops interspersed with huge billboards for Suntory Whisky or the Spiderman 3 movie. The are all sorts of people about from old women in Kimonos to young guys/girls who look like they have walked out of a Japanese cartoon (big hair, elaborate clothes/makeup).

Kobe

Kobe is cool. It`s 40 mins or so out of Osaka (although the buildings and houses dont actually stop) in and around hills. It still has that big city feel yet it is much nicer and way more chilled out than Osaka. The centre is an area called Sannomiya which is where all the businesses and bars are. Most nights they have live bands playing in the centre and everyone around is really friendly. We live 15 minutes by train in a suburb called Nagata.

Nagata

Nagata is quiet, really quiet. Most of the people living there are elderly and there isnt a bar to be found. It is really nice due to the fact that most of the buildings here were levelled in the earthquake 10 years back so have been re-built. Nagata is at the bottom of the hills so there are plenty of places to go for a run and check out the views of the city while running through native bush. We`ve got a few favourite supermarkets and convenience stores that we frequent, so it looks like life`s going to be a little more domesticated for the next month or so.

El Casa de Grande

I`ve lived in some bad houses in my time, but nothing like this! Our apartment itself is really nice probably under a year old, its weak point however is that it is tiny. In fact get a thesaurus, look for a word that is smaller than tiny and you`re getting close. It`s cramped for one person, so with three of us in there it`s packed. The best way to describe it is a camper van that`s not going anywhere. We have on main room which covers the functions of: lounge, dining room, living area and Jamie`s bedroom. Above the lounge, up a grand staircase/ladder is the loft, a.k.a Marcus and Kev`s room. As the loft is only maybe 80cm in height you have to crawl in, rotate then lie down. Fortunately the loft goes back quite a way so we do have our own sleeping space each. We have an entrance way which also doubles as: hallway, laundry and kitchen (the kitchen is a small alcove with a sink and two elements). The only remaining feature in the mansion is a door off the grand hall with a toilet and shower inside.

In saying all this it has been pretty fun living in close communal quarters. You can have a conversation with anyone in the house from any point as you are never far away from each other! Also, the tree-hut/fort-like novelty of sleeping in a loft hasnt worn off yet either!


Nova

On Monday we turned up at the head office for Nova Kobe, along with an Aussie girl, to start our training for English teaching. It's situated right near the train station in Sannomiya. And unfortunately, that's pretty much the best thing about it. Training lasted three days, today is our first proper shift. It became apparent fairly quickly that there are two types of people working there; those that are going to be there for a year at most and those that are trying to make a career out of it. Those lifers that are in for the long haul think it's the best thing imaginable and their unabated exuberance is quite possibly a mild form of psychosis.

Regimented doesn't even begin to describe the atmosphere there. The people are friendly enough, especially the Japanese staff but the protocols are overbearing to say the least. On the one hand it does make it easy to learn and teach, as everything you need to do is written out to the letter. But the rules seem a bit over the top. First day in, the Aussie girl was told she would have to change her walking shoes before she arrived in the office. Second day in, Kev was told his hair needed a cut. Can't wait to see what's next. If you look past all the rules and regs, the teaching itself can actually be quite enjoyable though, depending on what level students you get. The really high-level and the really low-level are the hardest to teach. Neither of us would like to do it for a year or full-time. However, since we're going to be bailing on them in a couple of months it shouldn't pose much of a problem...

Random Bits and Pieces

Here's a few random bits of info...

There are vending machines everywhere here. On the streets, in the subway stations, in malls and shops, airports or anywhere else you might be you can get everything from a drink (hot or cold) or cigarettes to batteries or underwear from a vending machine.

We love the bow. The Japanese are incredibly polite people and everywhere we go there's somebody prepared to give us a bow. The cashiers at the supermarkets do it, the waitresses in the restaurants do it, even people wandering down the street do it. Awesome.

Everybody takes there jobs quite seriously here and performs it as well as they can. It doesn't matter if you're a street sweeper or a business man, you put the same effort in to your job. Our personal favourites are the parking garage wardens and in particular one in Nagata that we see everyday. This tiny lady is constantly looking back and forth checking for cars and pedestrians and always double or triple checks before letting a car out of the garage. She has got a series of well practiced hand gestures for every possible situation and she never fails to crack us up.

The general efficiency of this place is amazing. Trains (and people) are never late, everything runs like clockwork and there is someone employed to do every possible thing to make life easier and run more smoothly. Even the homeless people here are tidy and efficient, with their well packed trolleys and neat clothes.

Also for all those rugby fans out there, we thought we'd give you a taste of a Japanese rugby (and soccer) pitch. We've joined a sports club here that caters for rugby, touch, soccer, hockey and a range of other sports. It's also got a gym so we're slowly getting back in shape after a couple of slack months. The grounds at this club (and most others around here) consist of concrete covered with sand. Apparently it's very difficult and expensive to grow grass here. While acceptable for soccer, it tends to make rugby an even more punishing sport than usual. Looking forward to my first game...