Daily Life in Japan
Hey Everyone! So I've posted some of my adventures, and
school has finally picked up, so I've decided to do a post about my daily life
here. The following pictures are a montage of photos that I have taken, or
stolen from Ashley or Jasmine :)
So I live on an island just off of downtown Kobe, the center
is residential, while the outer edges are companies that transport goods. I
actually live near an elementary school and a middle school. Here's a typical
street view.
In order to get to school, I catch the portliner, which is
kind of like a monorail that takes me to downtown Kobe (Sannomiya)
The escalators are magical because they have motion sensors
and only start moving when you start getting on :D
Usually you would pay for a ticket at the following kiosk, I
bought a monthly pass though, since it was a bit cheaper that way then paying
every single time, as well as more convenient
They also have these extremely helpful screen things that
let you know when the next train is coming. And it comes EXACTLY at that time.
Ridiculous. in a good way :)
In the busies more crowded stops, they have places where you
line up so that you're not getting in the way of people getting off the train
so that the entire process is incredibly streamlined
After all of that, we finally made it to Sannomiya! :D
I then get on another train, which is probably what you
typically think of for a Japanese train
There are women only trains, which I like to ride on since
it's less crowded and safer :)
I then take a hike up a residential area before finally
making it to school (The pictures were taken the opposite way, so it's actually
about a 20 to 30 minute hike uphill, which is really nice, mini-hike, woot!
Here's a campus map, it's pretty decent sized :)
They had awesome cherry blossoms (though I would say the
Quad is more epic). here's Ashley and me! :D
I've been eating breakfast and dinner at home, but for
lunch, I usually eat in the cafeteria since it's super cheap! I usually spend
around 200 to 300 yen, which is pretty good for a decent meal :D Let me
introduce some of the friends I've made :D
Me, Amy (my next door neighbor from Korea), and Erica (From
Australia)! Hahaha, this photo was taken when I learned how Korean birthday
works. And across the table is Manuel (whose name I can never say correctly
from Austria), Jin Keun (whose name I can also not say, so I just call him
Keun-chan), and Ashley!
On a different day, with Jasmine, who is from Sweden. Her
Japanese is AMAZING, and she is my next-next door neighbor :)
School has been great for side adventures! For example,
Ashley and I found this silly booth, which turned out not to be soundproof, so
we were quite unsure of its purpose... or maybe I'm just too loud, probably a
combination of both.
Outside of school, I've been getting along swimmingly with
my dorm mates (Jasmine, if you're reading, the swimmingly was for you LOL). My
dorm has a communal kitchen per floor, so I decided to cook Okonomiyaki for my
neighbors! :D (They named it "Cooking with Crazy Lisa" due to the
epicness).
Some people didn't want to be photographed LOL
Well, that's a pretty typical day, wake up, go to class, eat
lunch, come home and cook, and then study. I do have a few short cultural
stories that I shall share below, but that unfortunately do not have pictures
to go along with them. I might try and pick up pictures sometime and upload
them here later, but for now, we'll make do :P
#1 Dressing rooms in Japan: So when I came to Japan a few
years ago, I remembered that you weren't allowed to try on tops at stores
because make up would get on the clothes when you pull them over your head. Now,
they have this plastic/foam sheet that you pull over your head to cover your
face while you try on clothes so that you don't get make up on them. Only Japan
lol. Another thing that I was completely unaware of was that you're supposed to
take off your shoes before entering the dressing room. Definitely a faux pas,
so remember to take off your shoes!
#2 Groceries stores: You pay at the cash register, and the
Cashier will ring you up and put your goods into another basket. After you're
done paying, they give you a few plastic bags an you take the entire basket to
a table where you self-bag. I'm still amazed at how accurate the cashiers are
in giving you the correct number of bags that you need, at the right sizes.
Well, that's all for now!
--Lisa
