Disclaimer: That's so not the hardest rain ever, I didn't want to get wet. But been like for awhile now. And because I haven't seen typhoons/bigger storms a lot, this is prolly not the worst one :I
The name is kinda silly, but that's what they call it. Typhoon number 15 so okay lol. I can roll with that, nothing to say. It's nature and all. Still, school got cancelled and I was all like
Sometimes these things apparently just happen. In Finland, you would've just had to go to school...
Okay, nothing else. Until next time :D
Yes, I am here. Safely and all. Been now little over two weeks and it looks good. I have a lot of stuff to write here and I will post things here slowly, post by post etc and so forth. But yes, we arrived to Japan and we got to fill out papers almost right away. I've never filled out so much official papers than in here. And I'm still not done with these. But after that we finally got our apartments. And my, I wondered for so long why this place is so horribly expensive but I can see why. Oh I see why. I live alone in a small apartment that has a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and toilet. This is the first time when I'm not living in a shared apartment and it's so weird.But so, the city also where I live is both big and small at the same time. And guys, there's even a KFC here. I have to visit it just even once. Still, let's not go ahead of things; I'm a bit so-not-organized with writing, especially in a hurry.
First off, I'll show you my apartment.
The brotastic hosue where I live in
The street I live in
You can the kitchen in the left and bathroom and toilet on the right from the front door
And from the other side
Finally I live in a flat that has a bathtub
Guess what is that funky thing on the top there? C:
A GREEN RICECOOKER. IT IS SO NICE C:
Oh yes, a gas stove. How I love it.
Erm.... My computer table and working area.
And oh, the glorious setting above my work space
So as you can see, things are pretty neat. Even though still school hasn't started... Today's classes (that I really actually waited for so much) were cancelled because of a tropical cyclone aka a typhoon. And Friday is a national holiday here again so WHOOP, no school again :I
And guess what, thanks to that It's been basically two things: fascinating and weirdly boring. (Yeah, bit boring for some reason. Just because I haven't been able to do a lot and meet a lot of people. Still met some and they are cool though Just because the uni didn't start right away when we got here. But that's prolly good because after uni really starts, I don't have a lot of time anymore derp around like I've been doing now. And getting over being homesick has been easier too in this really weird way.) But the boring part is because I like it like that too, it's not a negative emotion... Weirdly. Mostly it's been very interesting and everything seems new. That's the basic feeling right now. And I have been here like only two weeks so PFFF, anything can still happen. And I still haven't been able to hang out with my friend who lives on the other side of Tokyo Bay so we have that too in the future!
But so, the city also where I live is both big and small at the same time. And guys, there's even a KFC here. I have to visit it just even once. But rant rant, bitch bitch, that's that for now. Next time I'll write something more exciting... Like about Tokyo. Or school. OR FOOD 8I Or how totally not cool I look here :D
I’M LEAVING TOMORROW AND I STILL HAVEN’T PACKED EVERYTHING
Okay, now. Let's get serious about this. So it’s happening soon now. I’m leaving tomorrow (5.9) Monday to the land of the Rising Sun alone, only to be greeted by a nation of about 125 million people and 35 million neighbours in an area that’s smaller than YOUR MOM (just kidding, no one’s mom is that big) BUT Greater Tokio is roughly about the size of Uusimaa region (Vantaa, Espoo and Helsinki with Kauniainen together) in Finland where lives 1,5 million people. Hmm. That is a lot of people around you and even if I live on the “countryside”, it’s going to be a huge culture shock. It comes to people who visit the country for 2 weeks and I'm going to be there for at least 5 months.
Again, culture shocks typically have phases. I can't remember them but it's goes roughly like this:
EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL AND NOTHING HURTS
SHIT HITS THE FAN, EVERYTHING SUCKS
I WANNA GO HOME
EVERYTHING WAS FINE THE WHOLE TIME
(EVERYDAY I'M SHUFFLIN')
Everything is different and works differently in Japan. Like it has that extra twist your brain cant compute at first. I've said to myself (and to various people around me) that I know that it's going to be hard at first. To get used to everything, everyone etc. There's going to be a minimum amount of trees and other plants in Japan. No more random parks, everything's planned so that the little ant nest works perfectly. Even such trifle things as going to the grocery store is going to be at least 10 times harder there than here. And you cant listen to music while riding your bike or you get a fine :'C The mentality of the Japanese is close to Finnish though. Such things as enjoying peaceful moments, sauna and a sip of booze with company is not an uncommon thing among the Japanese. It's just that us Finns maybe tend to act little bit too Southern European/American when we talk to other people, especially Japanese/Chinese/Korean. I plan to be polite my a bit quirky, Finnish way. Quiet and helpful at times, not too pushy and some other things I can't think of right now :D And oh, the food. THE FOOD THERE. I will write about it more later but for now I'm just mainly superexcited about it.
Plastic food all across the glass cabinet
VENDING MACHINES, SO WAITING THEM
That golden thing up on the roof is A GIANT, GOLDEN POOP
And I have to smile a lot more in Japan. The polite, gentle smile that's just there.
New challenges ahead but what I’ll miss from Finland? A lot of things probably like I always do. Lol. But seriously, I really like Finland. The Funland of Europe. It sounds really cliched but I enjoy the nature, the food, the atmosphere, the weather... And most importantly, my family and friends. I'll get new friends in Japan, that's for sure but people that commonly use the name MOM and DAD aren't around. I know that I'll miss them but they've supported me and approved my idea of moving to the other side of the world so I'm going to be okay. And there's this thing called Skype that's been invented. I could rant forever about this, don't feel like doing it though (And I have too much to pack anyways). This is prolly the part one of two about this culture shock. I'll write another one as time goes by.
Times have been really busy lately. Getting things settled with Kela, gathering stuff together, buying tickets and stuff I need there immediately, meeting people and travelling (I went to Helsinki, Ikaalinen and Pori), moving…
Yes, I have a life. And now it’s all mostly in boxes. Several but not in as any as I thought. Still in various, various boxes of different size and shape and colour. All my Moomin mugs and plates are in a green box for example.
Reima didn't help me :'C
In the end this whole corner was full of boxes and suitcases
Surprisingly empty bookshelf
My little tent where I escaped all the packing stress in Joensuu
And this is like only the phase one of the whole move from Finland to Japan.
Yes, there are phases needed here people. I need them and they need me so that my head stays together easily. I’ve tried to sort things so this whole thing is easy to handle inside my head really. The first phase was relatively easy: packing my stuff at my apartment in Joensuu. Everything had to be checked, packed “properly” and cleaned. Before that I threw away so much unimportant stuff. Mostly old papers and bills, bad sketches, ugly and broken clothes etc… The usual stuff that gets discarded when you’re moving from place A to place B anyways. In fact even now this whole moving rumba from place A to place B is actually going from place A.1 to A.2 and from there to place B. This what I call the phase two, is managing stuff at my parents’ place so that I don’t leave a horrible mess here and everything else is put in a storage place to wait me. Simple but it’s actually really not. Just nerve wreckingly annoying.
Then it’s the phase three of hard stuff when I’m at my parents place. Deciding what to bring with me to Japan. Basically it means I have to fit everything and all my life into two suitcases and one shoulder bag. And a laptop bag. Sheesh. Shoes, clothes and the basic things. It’s a good thing I don’t own a lot of clothes in the first place; otherwise this would be even harder to do.
I’ve been searching info about the weather in Japan and how it’s going to be later. Now it seems that on next week’s Tuesday it’s going to be at least +25 Celsius. And moist like what. NOT COOL. Like literally. I’m really not a fan of warm weather and this is just great. It’s like summer all over again when it’s autumn here in Finland…
But that’s that for now. Until next time and that’s going to be before Tuesday, the 5th.
