First Week
The first work week is over and I have to say it has been quite an experience living here...
First off, not all of Japan is built up. Ueda city, where I am staying, is country side. Barely built up at all, and rice fields EVERYWHERE (too bad you can't get a lot of rice for really cheap though). In fact, the name "Ueda" in kanji is 上田 which means on rice fields... So I guess it makes sense :P
If any of you have played Shenmue (or whatever its called), this is the real life version of it. Very very different than what i expected, but thats not necessarily a bad thing.
First Day in Ueda:
At first, when I was driving in, it was a complete shock... I was going "what is this? What am I doing here?" in my mind over and over as the taxi drove me through the city. Then shopping was another experience, as the combination of being in a completely different nation, the shock of what the city really is like, and the fact that I was the only white person in the shopping mall, kind of scared me, but I got over it.
That night, I went to dinner with my co-workers and they are pretty neat people. They are in their mid 20's, but they could easily pass for 18.
Second Day:
First day of work... not too bad, I have a really nice cubicle, and the whole office is very nice. Today I felt a lot better about my situation here, but still it was a little odd. After work, the other waterloo students and I took the Ueda train to downtown Ueda (上田駅) where we walked around, but didn't really get to do much because all the shops were closed. It definitely is a good thing there are others to speak English with, because as much as people tell you others not many Japanese people speak english. Heck, even the taxi driver who goes into Tokyo and Narita everyday couldn't even speak English.
Third Day:
Not too bad, work and then went out to dinner with my colleagues again. This time we went to some restaurant where I don't think I want to know what I ate, because it would probably gross me out if I knew. Other than that, nothing to remarkable. I got to speak Japanese, and I understood some of their conversations, but for the most part I was just sitting there listening to jibberish, understanding the odd word here and there. That and I saw a glass for Kirin Beer. haha I wish I had a camera, but that comes tomorrow!
Anyway, right now I'm off to check out some Korean/Japanese Church with a friend, so I'll be back on later!
さようなら〜
First off, not all of Japan is built up. Ueda city, where I am staying, is country side. Barely built up at all, and rice fields EVERYWHERE (too bad you can't get a lot of rice for really cheap though). In fact, the name "Ueda" in kanji is 上田 which means on rice fields... So I guess it makes sense :P
If any of you have played Shenmue (or whatever its called), this is the real life version of it. Very very different than what i expected, but thats not necessarily a bad thing.
First Day in Ueda:
At first, when I was driving in, it was a complete shock... I was going "what is this? What am I doing here?" in my mind over and over as the taxi drove me through the city. Then shopping was another experience, as the combination of being in a completely different nation, the shock of what the city really is like, and the fact that I was the only white person in the shopping mall, kind of scared me, but I got over it.
That night, I went to dinner with my co-workers and they are pretty neat people. They are in their mid 20's, but they could easily pass for 18.
Second Day:
First day of work... not too bad, I have a really nice cubicle, and the whole office is very nice. Today I felt a lot better about my situation here, but still it was a little odd. After work, the other waterloo students and I took the Ueda train to downtown Ueda (上田駅) where we walked around, but didn't really get to do much because all the shops were closed. It definitely is a good thing there are others to speak English with, because as much as people tell you others not many Japanese people speak english. Heck, even the taxi driver who goes into Tokyo and Narita everyday couldn't even speak English.
Third Day:
Not too bad, work and then went out to dinner with my colleagues again. This time we went to some restaurant where I don't think I want to know what I ate, because it would probably gross me out if I knew. Other than that, nothing to remarkable. I got to speak Japanese, and I understood some of their conversations, but for the most part I was just sitting there listening to jibberish, understanding the odd word here and there. That and I saw a glass for Kirin Beer. haha I wish I had a camera, but that comes tomorrow!
Anyway, right now I'm off to check out some Korean/Japanese Church with a friend, so I'll be back on later!
さようなら〜
posted by Matt at
10/01/2005 02:32:00 PM
