I Really Don't Like Ube/Yamaguchi
27 September 2010
I don’t have an internet connection at the moment but I’m going to write this now so I can see if my opinion has changed by the time I publish it. I arrived at my university in Yamaguchi a few hours ago. Although it was a really nice, sunny day when I set off from Nagoya, by the time I reached Okayama it had begun to go cloudy. And by the time I arrived in Yamaguchi it was pissing it down. The rain seemed to get heavier as I rode on the local train to my destination too. It wasn’t exactly the most reassuring of welcomes… The countryside was really mountainous and full of rice fields. Dotted throughout the landscape were small, traditional Japanese houses, which I assume would have looked very picturesque had it not been pissing it down all over the place. Every now and again there would be a few more built-up areas that seemed to have some large stores. But it was nothing like Nagoya.
I think I may have inadvertently created a culture shock for myself by visiting a big city like Nagoya as soon as I arrived in Japan. The place where I am at now is nothing like that. It’s most definitely more on the rural side of Japan, and even though it’s classified as a city, it doesn’t really feel like one in most places. I haven’t had any time to explore the area yet (what with the rain and the lack of daylight) but there doesn’t seem to be very much around. There does appear to be a few large supermarkets near the campus, though, so that’s not too bad. And there’s even a Uniqlo here, if this map is to be believed. Any place that has a Uniqlo can’t be too bad; although I can’t imagine the shop being very big…
I think the biggest disappointment has to be my room. While I got my wish and ended up on the second floor (third if you use Japanese/American system), the quality of the accommodation is really poor. I know the rent is really cheap (not that cheap once you add all the utility bills onto it, though) but it should be a bit better than it is. The furniture that they’ve given me is really old and dirty, and the bathroom is tiny and doesn’t even have a proper shower basin. And the worst part is there are tons of little cockroaches and beetles crawling out of every little crevice. I’ve already vacuumed up about 30 of the bastards since arriving, but I think there are loads more hiding somewhere. I’m going to have to see if I can get some traps or something for them.
I’m not sure how long it will take for me to get an internet connection in my room, but it seems like it will take the best part of this week at least to set everything up. I’m told that there are computers to use in the library that’s on the campus but I can’t go in until I’ve made my library card. I’m supposed to be heading into the city tomorrow to register for my alien card, open a bank account, and register for the health insurance. I’ve also been given a bike to use (I say given, I had to pay for it) but if it’s raining again tomorrow I doubt I’ll be able to use it yet. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get a prepaid mobile phone in the next couple of days so I can at least e-mail my girlfriend without needing an internet connection. I’ll see how it goes. Right now I’m tired from today’s travelling and the shock, so I’m going to bed.
Posted byHocchan at 9:48 pm 0 comments
Neuroticism
06 September 2010
I had never fully understood the definition of 'neuroticism' until today when I decided to look it up. I had a sneaky suspicion that I would have some aspects of it in my personality but I never expected it to be a completely accurate depiction of what I'm like. It was as though they'd based their definition of the word on me. Everything trait of neuroticism was something I could identify with. From the constant feelings of depression and anxiety, to the borderline obsessive-complusive behaviour, they were all to be found in my personality. So I guess that makes me a neurotic? I don't know if that's the term. But it's not exactly a pleasing discovery (even though I had kind of expected it - which in itself is sort of neurotic).
I have no idea why I'm such a classic case of neuroticism. I don't know where it stems from. Could be why I always focus on the crap stuff that has happened in my life, rather than the good things. Though I swear, in my head, the number of majorly bad things far outnumber the number of good things that have happened. But maybe that's just my neuroticism clouding my judgement and making me biased. I don't know if there's any way to fix this personality problem. It's not quite as easy as saying 'don't worry, be happy' and expecting life to be sunshine and rainbows. I do wish I had the ability to stop worrying about things so much and to stop expecting the worst in everything. But it's difficult (there comes that negativity again). Sigh...
Posted byHocchan at 12:07 am 0 comments
99.9% Of Bacteria
04 September 2010
I've noticed an annoying trend recently with television adverts. There seems to be an obsession with getting rid of "99.9% of bacteria" in almost every product. And from the way they present it you'd think that you'd die a horrible, crippling death from these 'dangerous' bacteria if you didn't buy their products. There's one advert for some washing powder that has bacteria-killing action in it (99.9% of them). Seriously, what the fuck? Unless you're trying to launder the contents of a sterile room in a hospital, why the hell would you need to kill bacteria on your clothes (not that there's much to begin with). How have people survived until now with just normal washing powder if this product is so important? The answer: it's not required at all. It's a completely bullshit product.
There's another one for anti-bacterial wipes that's used to clean surfaces. Now I'm all for keeping surfaces clean, especially if they're used for food preparation. But seriously, in the advert they have someone eating food from the surface. Who would do that? Use a fucking plate! That way you won't give yourself food poisoning, and you won't need to use that product as much, if at all. And why is it that everything can only kill 99.9% of bacteria? You might as well say 100% of bacteria. Is it really 99.9%? Has anyone actually checked? Such bullcrap.
Posted byHocchan at 9:30 pm 0 comments
Calm Down, Dear!
Phew! Now that that small (massive) irritation is out of the way for the time being, I'll try and write a more constructive post. Not that anything's been solved by venting my frustrations on the blog, but at least it's taken my mind of the matter for a short period of time. That should give me a brief respite to calm down (dear) and think of a solution to the uber-crap situation I now find myself in. In the meantime though, I suppose it would be a good idea to update the current situation regarding the year abroad in Japan. I've finally heard from Yamaguchi University and they sent me my Certificate of Eligibility, as well as some other information regarding accommodation and stuff, in the post. I can't tell you how good it was to actually receive this stuff in the post. After months of anguish and torment, my nightmare was finally over. I could, at last, book my flights and begin preparations. Having gotten my Certificate of Eligibility, I recently went down to London to get my student visa from the Japanese Embassy.
The train tickets down to London were a rip-off. Cost me just under £100 altogether. And for that money, I got a seat on a train that was cramped and 45 mins late there, and 10 minutes late back. Shitty trains are so shitty in the UK. Thanks to the train being so late I wasn't able to spend as long as I would have liked in London. I spent about 30 mins in the Underground trying to buy tickets, then I went straight to the Japanese embassy and got my visa application sorted. Then I decided to go through Green Park and take a look at Buckingham Palace since it was so close. After that I had just over an hour to head down to the Japan Centre and buy some lunch, then head over to Uniqlo and buy a t-shirt. I didn't have time for anything else after that so I just headed back to the train station via the Underground. I don't know if people who have to use the Underground everyday during rush hour share the same opinion, but I found the experience to be very enjoyable. The speed and convenience of the system is very nice, and I liked the feeling of navigating the tunnels as I went from station to station. It was kind of warm down there though, that was the only thing. They could do with some air conditioning in there or something.
After waiting a few days my visa arrived in the post this morning, as they had said it would. I don't know why the photo they've used for the visa turned out so dark though. The photo that I gave them was fine. Maybe they have a shitty scanner or something? In any case, I'm all sorted now for Japan. I have my visa, my accommodation, my plane ticket, and very soon I'll be packing my stuff. There's still some crap to sort out thanks to SHIT-house, but one step at a time.
Posted byHocchan at 6:33 pm 0 comments
