Touching Down and Settling in FukuyamaApr 14, 2004
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home sweet home--looks like a seedy motel! The window bars are for...
We honestly have a rice field right outside our apartment!
Our street at sunset - or is it sunrise? We probably didn't...
| Well, it has now been six months since we arrived in Japan, on April 14th, 2004. The plane rides from Toronto, totalled 15 hours in the air, then with the waiting times in several airports and then the 2-hour introduction to the shinkansen (bullet train), we finally arrived at our new home after a day and a half... and on about 45 minutes of sleep! Our main luggage didn't arrive for three days, and at first we couldn't figure out how to use washing machine or activate the gas in our apartment - nothing but cold showers and the same outfit for 72 hours! Attached here are pictures of our apartment (AFTER WE DISINFECTED AND CLEANED IT FROM THE LAST NOVA TEACHER TENANTS) and of our quiet little street. Notice the rice paddy, which is right behind our building. Plus, we were waking up at 6:00 in the morning as we fought jet lag, and the stores didn't open until 9:00. We had absolutely ZERO knowledge of any of the three Japanese alphabets (hiragana, katakana, and Chinese-based kanji), and knew only how to ask for a glass of water and directions to the nearest washroom. Almost nothing was in English, and we walked around in a daze for days just trying to orient ourselves in this oriental town. It probably took us about two months to fight the disorientation, learn a bit more Japanese, and really start to settle in. |
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