Well, I have finally arrived in Sendai - where I am supposed to be spending this entire year. After Tohoku (the uni over here) told me that I had to turn up before the end of the first week in February at the latest, and (in a different sentence) that I would have a room in the International House, I made what turned out to be a very foolish assumption.
I assumed that the room in the International House would be for the whole time I will be here. Oh, no, that would only be logical, and the single most important thing I have learned about Japan since arriving is that logic is never permitted. Japanese uni's start in April, so so did the 'year' that I can spend in the International House. Also because of this, I was not able to join in any classes before now, since starting mid way through a semester is rather pointless. So, for the last two months I have been expected to be in Japan, but doing nothing.
I also asked why I had to be here from February, given this case, and apparently that was because I could not recieve any scholarship unless I came at the start of February. This makes very little sense, because the scholarship, though funded by the federal government (of Japan), is paid to my bank account directly by the university, so it stands to reason (my reasoning, at least, not Japanese reasoning) that the uni can start paying it whenever they choose...
Oh well, Im here now and theres not much that can be done about that. At least no more ANU students will have to go through the farce I have had to put up with, being offered a 'cheap' place to stay (a thousand dollars a month rent PLUS utility charges on top of that, plus food costs does not meet my definition of 'cheap') until able to move into the place they really should have put me in when I arrived, plus finding out eventually the details of precisely what I need to study has just been exhausting,
The trip up here was reasonably smooth, though going out the night before I left Saitama for a 'farewell party' (I'd only been there six weeks..!) for me meant that I didnt finish packing until about four in the morning, then having to get up at nine to still be in time to do everything else I wanted to do that day meant I was rather tired.
Mr Shimada from RAYs doesnt come in on Thursdays, so I guess I was supposed to say goodbye to him the night before, but he left in a flash as soon as the lessons had finished, so I didnt get to see him. He's a funny old bloke with bad breath, so if you see him tell him I said 'bye'. Gregtheamerican 'inspected' my room, which was basically to make sure I hadnt removed a wall while staying there, and returned my deposit, which I had forgotten about, so that made a nice little bonus while waiting for my scholarship to pay for March (looks like, if I sign any time after the 5th, they make me wait until the last day of the month before they pay out). Tomtheamerican and Larrythecanadian dragged themselves out of bed to see me off, and even walked up to the train station with me.
Remember I told you about the lack of lifts at Urawa station? That makes it very difficult to carry a 30 kilogram suitcase and a 20 kilogram bag, plus a backpack, down the stairs to the walkway, then back up another flight of stairs to the platform. Normally I had been able to make the trip from the ticket gate to the platform in about thirty seconds, but it took me about five minutes, trying not to break my computer, nor strain any muscles.
Transferred to the shinkansen, and sat in peace and had a coffee while being whisked across Japan at, quite literally, over a hundred miles an hour. At least getting off at the other end was easier - Sendai station being busy enough to warrant both lifts AND escalators. I was stunned. Flagged down a taxi and told him precisely where to take me.
Triumphantly the taxi driver pulled into a place that claimed to be the Sendai International House, but something about the kanji across the door told me it might in fact not be Tohoku University International House.
It was, in fact, not Tohoku University International House. The place I should have been was, thankfully only about a seven hundred metre walk away, but it was still uphill. So, off I plod, shoulders being dragged to the ground by my backpack, and my arms being lengthened behind me by pulling two suitcases. Remind me to thank the caveman who invented wheels next time I see him. I think he might live here - there are cavemen running the beauracracy in this country, they just wear suits instead of sabre-tooth tiger skins. Anyway the Japanese often claim to have invented most things... the most recent I heard was that the Japanese invented the internet about five years before those Americans did.. but apparently they just didnt tell anyone, so no one knew.
Back to the story... I made it into the right place, told them who I was, they gave me a key and proceeded to show me to my room. Under strict instruction, I left my suitcases in the foyer where they promised to watch them for me, and I was showed to my room, taught how to operate the light switch (its a little bit of plastic on the wall near the door; you push one end of it and the lights come on, you push the other end and they go off! It takes most people three or four tries to get the hang of being able to operate it correctly... I did it in only two, I must be above average), the gas stove, the hot water tap. I was also instructed to never leave the gas stove on and go to sleep, with or without a flame.
Once I had practised operating the light switch once more, I returned to the foyer to collect my bags from the watchful gaze of the receptionist.
No bags.
I pointed this fact out as calmly as I could to the staff who promised to watch them, who promptly went into a panic. They tracked them down pretty quickly - turned out an oompa-loompa had taken them to someone else's room instead of mine. Bags recovered, I carried them to my room myself, for safekeeping.
The room is quite good, and you could fit the nest I had in Saitama three or four times into it. Its even longer door-to-window than the rooms at Ursula, though the far end of the room is triangular, which gives an illusion of more depth. Its a little narrower than college rooms, and the big wardrobe along the wall makes it feel narrower. Still no carpet, but at least the walls are solid, not that weird squishy stuff I had before. I will put some photos up on my photo page soon.. have to wait til my posters properly unsquash (I put a textbook on each corner to hold them down overnight, theyve been rolled up tightly for far too long) then I can put them and some photos up on the wall and make it look more lived-in. First decoration that did go up was of course framed photos of Sarah, which now live on my desk.
Theres a fridge, which is very useful, a sink, a desk and a separate eating-bench, two chairs, a bed with a futon on top (makes for the most comfortable sleep I have had since arriving in Japan - theres a bonus to this place!), plenty of wardrobe space, and two gas burners on the stove. No oven, of course, so I will have to track down probably a little toasteroven for making... well, toast, I guess.
Eugene left me some stuff thats handed down from one ANU student to the next - though it differed a little from what he said he had. He said he had some pots and pans, plates and the like, a rice cooker, and a coffee maker. What he actually left for me was a CD player, extra speakers, a video deck, and an old towel.
Close enough.
These will be of great use anyway (well, maybe not the towel), especially if I can find a cheap TV to go with the VCR.
Once moved in and familiar enough with the door to be able to find the place again later, I set off to find the uni. Having not a clue where it might be, I set off, stopped in at the bank on the way for some stuff (which was hard to explain to them, so I had fun squeezing another oompa-loompa) (not literally), and kept a-wandering. Things must have been going all right, because just when I began to think I might actually be lost, I walked around a bend in the road and saw the university right there in front of me. Headed in, had some lunch, meandered across to the kenkyushitsu (place im supposed to be studying in this year), and said Hi to people.
Uchiyama san (the fellow who wears polar fleeces in primary colours) (he's also the fellow supposed to be helping the students there - maybe he does, he at least tries) gave me the keys to a bicycle that one of the previous students had left behind for me - so now I have a real live bike, which I plan to start using whenever I need to go anywhere... otherwise its a forty-five minute walk to uni from my burrow.
I have met about nine people who also live here so far ... one Aussie (Sydney), one Korean, and about seven Americans. Have seen plenty of people speaking Chinese, plenty speaking Hindi/Urdu, but other than that English is the other great superpower of language groups here. Hopefully as time goes on I shall meet more people and the like, but it seems like an OK place to live for now.
As long as the futon is this comfy, Im going to enjoy being curled up in bed.
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