I made it here safe and sound. The JAL flight was long and the seats were crammed together like a charter flight. Fortunately there was no smoking - they've banned it now, but only since April 1! Somebody did sneak a cigarette, though. Everyone in the vicinity could smell it and we kept looking around at each other, sniffing pointedly. The flight attendants went to great lengths to spray the scene of the crime. They have "No Smoking" signs in the toilets, but they also have ashtrays...talk about mixed messages.

I've never had luggage arrive as fast as it did at Narita. Both of my bags were in the first 10 or so off the plane. When I got out of customs etc I was approached by an Aussie who had only arrived a few hours before.Our NOVA "greeter" had shown him the photos of the other new arrivals. When we had all been collected, the NOVA rep helped us arrange for our luggage to be couriered to our new homes, and then sent us on the train to Shinjuku, one of the main stations. We were met by another greeter, who promptly introduced me to my landlord, who took me to his car and drove me home. It was about 5pm and the streets and sidewalks were v. busy - it was a holiday (Green Day) and Shinjuku is a big shopping area. Neon everywhere. I was trying not to lose my landlord in the crowds! I finally settled into my new room in the "gaijin house" at about 7pm, almost exactly 24hours after I left home!

I met a few people and found out how to get to the grocery store, taking care not to get lost in the narrow, winding streets of my little suburb. Also it was dark. In the supermarket I couldn't read anything, of course, so I went for noodles! I had dinner and a shower and was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. It was an effort to stay awake for the shower!

Yesterday my luggage was delivered pretty early - I'd been told "between 9 and 1", well it arrived at 930 which was pretty impressive! The housekeeper helped me carry it to my room - she's a tiny Japanese woman of 50 or so, but stronger than me! She made it look easy. I unpacked a bit and met a few more of my fellow residents, who took me to the train station. I went to the supermarket there and found all the packaging both entertaining and worrying. For example, boxes of 15 perfect, big, beautiful strawberries - it's like a box of chocs, a place for each berry! Individually wrapped apples and tomatoes, neatly packaged carrots and potatoes, nothing is sold by weight in the way we'd expect it.

I spent an exciting afternoon unpacking. My room is small by western standards but 2x as big as my cabin on the cruise ship I used to work on!!! It has a tatami mat floor, a small table (a bit like a breakfast-in-bed table) and a little bookshelf. And a huge cupboard, where everyday I must fold up and put away my futon. There is also a washbasin/vanity. Toilets are down the hall and showers are downstairs. I'm lucky, because I have a room that faces over my landlord's tiny backyard and across where a new gas station is being built. I get the sun all morning, and as I realized this morning, that starts at about 430am. I know it gets dark early here, but I never noticed how much difference daylight savings makes! Anyway, most of the other rooms seem to face walls, so I'm better off than the others, as the housekeeper told me "This room good - other rooms, not good", she said, pointing at my window.

It's weird to be so unable to communicate. In European languages that I haven't already studied, I can at least try to sound things out. I get by in Italy by speaking French with an Italian accent. Here I can't even READ the words. I want to learn, so I'm keeping my grocery bills and trying to figure out what's what!

So, to sum up, I've got culture shock. Tokyo doesn't look all that different from any other big city - there's McD's, ToysRUs, Subway - and Club Monaco!

It's pretty warm here at the moment, summer is definitely on the way. I will be teaching at Hanno, at the end of the Seibu Ikebukuro line (the one nearest me), out in the mountains apparently. But my orientation will be in Tokyo, starting on Monday. I am already confused on the train here - I'm sure it's quite straightforward if you can read the signs!

Copyright Ailsa Wylie 1999