It’s been pretty cold here in Japan lately. Well… I call it cold – there are much colder places on Earth. But let’s keep in mind I come from a part of Australia where winter lows are average around 10°C (50°F) – as opposed to the 0°C (32°F) I’m experiencing here in Japan on a daily basis. Things are fine when I’m out and about during the day because I have a nice down jacket, thermals, gloves etc. But night time, in my zero-insulation wooden home, in bed – now that’s a completely different story.
However recently, out of the blue, a friend of mine introduced me to “Kairo” – and life was good.
What is Kairo? Essentially it’s just a heat pack that lasts for 14 hours! The ones I have come in packs of 10 and only run about 300 yen ($5)! The heat pack has some weird, but safe, chemicals inside as well as 1 adhesive side. All you need to do is shake and twist it up gently, and stick it on your shirt around your chest or stomach before you go to bed. If you want, you can throw a second one on your back too. After a few minutes it warms up and keeps your core warm all night and even the next morning. I’m stockpiling enough Kairo to get me through the winter. Read the rest of this entry »
As of today, tomorrow can be said to be the most important day of the rest of my life. It could very well be one of those pivotal moments that decide the course of the rest of my life. Fast forward 24 hours from now and I might consider it to be something completely different.
Tomorrow I have an interview with a game localization company in Osaka. I don’t know what’s going to happen. Hell, I don’t even know what position i’ve applied for. But they’re pretty big, we’ve emailed each other, they’ve seen my resume, and are still keen to have me in. That only means one thing: I have a shot.
When it comes to interviews I’m usually pretty cool, pretty calm, and kick a whole lot of ass. I go in there armed with enough knowledge, experience and personality to get the job. But, on the flip side I also always think to myself: “Jace, you might not get this.” Which is immediately followed up with “…meh. I don’t care.”
When I go for an interview I go in there knowing that I’ll be quite alright walking away without a shot at the job – this often leaves me with confidence, it leaves me unafraid of the outcome, and leaves me in the right mindset to go in there and wipe the floor with the interview.
So for the past few weeks here at my house I’ve been trying to sort out the garbage thing. It is much more difficult than anticipated.
During my time living in the Seminar Houses near Kansai Gaidai one of the first things I learned was that trash had to be separated into burnable trash, plastics, PET bottles, cans – despite the synthetic nature of the Seminar House lifestyle, this actually simulates the “real world” of Japan. Sorting trash, no problem. My trash is now sorted in appropriate plastic bags (that legally must be see-through!).
So where do I put my trash? Often times there is an obvious trash compartment nearby where you take your trash for collection. It could be a large bin, or some sort of brick receptacle-looking thing with a net covering it, sometimes it’s a net attached to a handrail on the sidewalk. But in my part of Japan we keep things ghetto (correct Japanese terminology) and we use this blue tarp + bricks:
Blue Tarp + Bricks.
Err… Ok… I can manage that.
However here comes the confusing part for me. My landlord informed me that different kinds of trash were picked up on different days but he didn’t know what the schedule was like in my neighbourhood. So I figured I’d keep an eye out for this tarp every morning, and so one morning I woke up at about 8am, looked out of my window and saw it was out, covering trash my neighbours had put out. So, I went down there, lifted the tarp and inspected what they were throwing out. I saw paper and other items that I figured would mean it was the burnable trash day. So I ran inside, grabbed my burnable trash and threw it under the tarp – an hour or so later it had all been picked up.
The long awaited part 3 is finally here! If you have not read Apartments in Japan part 1 and/or part 2 I would recommend you do so!
I have found a place to live. Firstly, I will show you a quick walkthrough:
So, the first thing you’ll notice is: it’s not an apartment! Nope! It’s a house! An oldschool Japanese house!
I was very lucky to have found this place as it belongs to a friend of a friend of a friend. But, I found it and for the time being it is all mine! I’ll have a friend moving in soon.
The house is only ¥30,000 ($400AUD) a month, plus utilities. When my friend moves in it will become ¥25,000 each. Read the rest of this entry »
So like, culture shock. A quick Google defines it as: “The feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes.”
Now, I’ve lived in Japan before. Granted the last time I was here it was a different “way of life” and I had a different “set of attitudes” at the time that needed some tweaking to live here. Well this time around is no different, I’ve been hit pretty hard, despite how much I thought I knew about this crazy place.
So, no real posts this past week. The Apartments in Japan: Part 3 is yet to be posted. Then there are 2 posts I’ve promised to write for people that I’ve yet to do. I must have been busy right? Wrong. Dead wrong. Read the rest of this entry »
About half way through my study abroad at Kansai Gaidai a little cafe opened up just outside Kansai Gaidai’s east gate called “Cafe Istanbul”. As somewhat of a turkish food enthusiast, I was wrought with excitement and anticipation. I also became Cafe Istanbuls first paying customer.
Since then Cafe Istanbul has become quite the hotspot for foreigners studying at Kansai Gaidai due to Cafe Istanbul’s super convenient location, amazing food, atmosphere, and good, cheap drinks. The food is not strictly Turkish; there definitely is something for everyone. The drinks range from beer, to an assortment of spirits, cocktails or even some Turkish Tea (which is amazing!). Read the rest of this entry »
First things first, it isn’t entirely necessary to read Apartments in Japan: Part 1, but I would recommend doing so if you already haven’t.
Ok, so we know about Leopalace, what are the other options? Where can I find them?
Well I don’t know ALL the other options, but a few to get you started.
Initially you may need a place to stay whilst you get sorted, of course friends etc. are a great option to those who have friends willing to put them up temporarily. But for those who don’t, there is an alternative that will roughly run you the same cost as your own apartment.
Now, I’m not fully educated on this matter, but I believe there is a certain niche grouping/culture of people who either temporarily reside in Japan for business (aka foreigners in Japan for business, they may stay for 1 month or so) and there are also Japanese contract workers that, due to the instability of their employment, cannot commit to a lease or something like that. It was told to me a while ago so I’m a little rusty on the nitty gritty details but either way there are accommodation services that cater for these people – the beauty is that YOU can use them too! Read the rest of this entry »
My first week in Japan was quite a ride. In the beginning I found myself immediately questioning my being here in Japan, truly realising everything I gave up to be here. You know, the whole “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” kinda thing. I still miss my old job, my friends, my FAMILY (I’ve never been much of a family person before, so this has pleasantly surprised me), and last, but by no means least, my lovely and wonderful girlfriend.
The first few days were tough, I was alone, searching for apartments that were much too expensive, stressing out about how on earth I was to pull this off, stressing about how I was to find work and that the work I was going to get into (most probably teaching English) was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was stressing that this wasn’t quite what I expected or signed up for, that this could be a huge mistake.
I met up with a Real Estate agent on Wednesday morning in a hunt for apartments. We only got around to checking out 2 apartments that day as we had to rush around trying to open a bank account, register for my alien registration card etc. etc. But on Thursday I checked out 4 more.
Both apartments were very similar, and both were in Miyanosaka (one station away from Hirakata-shi station). They were Leopalace apartments. Leopalace is a company that offers furnished and unfurnished apartments. The great thing with them is that they have English support. They are also still willing to rent to you even if you don’t have a job or a guarantor. A little more about Leopalace and the costs in a second, check out some pics!
Now for the costs, and let me say, the upfront costs of these apartments are astronomical. Also, right now, I am only talking about Leopalace apartments here. Also the following figures are an approximate average based on the figures I was given. Read the rest of this entry »
The flight to Japan was fine, I pretty much slept the whole 9 hours. However, upon arriving in Japan I was met by the unruly queue that is Immigration. Throughout my 4 other entries into Japan none of them tested my patience as much as this one.
First of all, the line of foreigners was huge, there were even more Japanese people (although they join a different queue)! So I lined up, and waited patiently. After about 10 minutes I had moved a grand total of about 5 metres (16.4 feet for those of you playing at home), but a quick look at the Japanese line saw that 90% of them were processed.
I figured that the processes between the Japanese and the foreigners would be different, and that the Japanese would naturally get processed quicker. But I quickly noticed that there were approximately 8 or 9 counters for the Japanese, and only 4 counters for the foreigners. Things were moving slowly.
90 minutes later, I was free from Immigration, picked up my bags and flew straight through customs without a hitch. Although, another realization dawned on me: I had too much stuff.
