One thing became abundantly clear on day one of week one: the immersion process is much more complex when staying in a foreign country for a long period of time versus a vacation. While we're fortunate to be residing in a "serviced apartment," complete with a concierge and twice-weekly cleanings, we still had to figure things out - like how to work the remote, thermostat, dishwasher, intercom, water heater, washer machine, toilet (yes, toilet - more on that later), stove, oven, etc. All the instructions were in Japanese - though we were given a manual that had them translated to English. Nevertheless, there was - and continues to be- quite a learning curve.
And that's just living life in the apartment. Paying for and then navigating the metro (as well as learning how to work the app that helps with that) has taken some time. But Japan's subway and rail system is one of the best in the world - you can virtually get anywhere fairly easily and all signs and announcements are in both Japanese and English. It really is just a matter of becoming more familiar with it. I'm sure it'll be second nature eventually.
Our phones are another story - it's not as easy as buying and installing a SIM card here. AT&T locked our phones, and unlocking them has been a challenge because their website keeps crashing. Plus, we're here on tourist visas and do not have residence cards (which you need for the SIM card we require). Long story short, it's complicated. Until we've figured it out, we're being charged $10 per day for AT&T's International Day Pass. It's amazing how dependent we are on phones to get around. I need WIFI when I'm roaming the streets to get from point A to point B. Yes, I know how to read a map but when it's in Japanese, the degree of difficulty increases exponentially. I prefer having my phone literally tell me when to turn left and right.
Grocery shopping is just plain intimidating (and I expect it will continue to be the entire time we're here). Google Translate is my new best friend, but even with the help of that tool, it's stressful. There are fruits and vegetables I've never seen before, and some of the ones I recognize are GIGANTIC. Even buying rice is hard - there are all kinds of textures, degrees of firmness, rinsed vs. unrinsed, etc. I guess I've taken Uncle Ben for granted all these years... Every once in a while I'll see branding I recognize so I can assume I'm looking at a Tide laundry pods or Activia yogurt for example, but that is a rarity.
They drive on the opposite side of the street in Japan too. Thankfully, we do not have a car so we don't have to stress about that. However, we have found ourselves waiting for the bus on the wrong side of the road. Rookie mistake.
It's the little things that got in the way this first week. Like finding the nearest pharmacy and the closest clinic that accepts our health insurance. Yes - I managed to contract Hirohito's Revenge (Japanese version of Montezuma's) on day 3. Thankfully, I was able to recover on my own without the need for outside intervention - but Paul got all our medical ducks in a row just in case. The illness also gave me a crash course in how to operate our fancy commode (temperature controls among other things - there's more to it than I'm used to - lol!) Needless to say, I found it to be a bit of a God-send...
Another example of actually living life as opposed to vacationing was today's journey to an international vaccination clinic to get our Japanese Encephalitis shot (Japan's version is more effective and we need it because of the length of our stay). The trip on the subway was easy enough, but finding the actual office in the actual office building was a bit of a scavenger hunt. Google Maps is only so good.
English is not as widely spoken here as it is in Europe, but we're finding ways to communicate. We managed to find an English-speaking Catholic church not too far from us. That was a relief. I was not looking forward to attending mass in Japanese. It's hard enough to follow along back home when a priest is speaking English with a strong native accent.
Ordering off menus is another challenge. Some things just don't translate into English. We've been on the receiving end of some undecipherably strange things to eat on more than one occasion and I suspect that will only continue. But, we're up for the culinary adventure - that's half the fun, right?
Even though we've been busy figuring life out, we have managed to see a few sights, like the grounds of the Imperial Palace, Shibuya Crossing and Tokyo Tower. I making it my mission to go somewhere new every day.
In my next blog, I'll share some first impressions about this fascinating culture, the people we've encountered, and what we've experienced as outsiders looking in. Until then...
Sayonara!
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