It's probably about time that I explain what is going to happen when I leave for Japan at the beginning of September. Here's roughly how everything should pan out:
* My father and I are flying from Manchester airport to London Heathrow airport on 3rd September, then staying overnight in a nearby hotel.
* My flight from London Heathrow airport to Tokyo Narita airport leaves the UK at 13:00. I am flying with a group of about 10 other people who are also going on voluntary placements in Japan, all arranged through GAP like mine. I have only met some of these people so far but an eleven and a half hour flight will be a good opportunity to get to know everyone a little better.
* I arrive in Tokyo on the morning of September 5th. I will collect my suitcase then hand it over to a courier who will be transporting it directly to my accommodation in Nagasaki.
* With nothing but our rucksacks, the other Gappers and I will head to Lutheran Ichigaya youth hostel in Shinjuku-ku in central Tokyo, where we will be staying for the next two nights. There we will have our orientation course, which I have been told is just a couple of hours long, so for the rest of the time I am free to do as I will in Tokyo.
* On the afternoon of the 7th September I am flying (possibly with my GAP partner) from Tokyo Haneda airport to Nagasaki airport. The flight is about 2 hours.
* On arrival in Nagasaki, I will be greeted by Kimura-san (Ms Kimura), who will be overseeing me throughout my placement at Nagasaki Red Cross Ganbaku Hospital.
* After a quick train ride into Nagasaki city, I will arrive at the hospital's nurses apartments, where my suitcase will be waiting for me. I will have my own room (one of twenty-eight) with shared showers, washing machine, drier etc. I have also been told that I have a little kitchen area in my room.
* I might then be taken on a tour of the hospital (15 minutes walk from my accommodation), introduced to a few members of staff and so on.
* After that I guess I'll be starting work. More detail on that later.
Friday, 27 July 2007
Thursday, 19 July 2007
SOうどん SO Udon
A Japanese restaurant opened in Preston a few months ago called Soうどん. Yesterday my Mum and I ate there for the first time, and both of us came out with full stomachs, smiles on our faces, and barely a dint in our wallets. I rate it much higher than Sakura, the other (also fairly new) Japanese restaurant in Preston, which seemed more concerned with putting on an elaborate show than giving you a filling meal – and boy, did they charge a lot for the show. 'Soうどん' is primarily a noodle bar, but with a few other bits and pieces on the menu, such as teriyaki and tempura. They also had this phenomenal chocolate cake, which was made from the most mouth-watering dark, bitter chocolate. For the two of us, the bill came to £21. It wasn't the most amazing restaurant to eat in, but the portion sizes were more than adequate and the food really was delicious. For twenty quid, who can argue with that?
Monday, 16 July 2007
富士フィルム FujiFilm
There are clearly pros and cons to taking a year out and using the time to go gallivanting off to the other side of the world. One such con is the shear cost of the whole thing, although I am learning how to use this in my favour. Given that I have already worked up a £2000+ debt with my Dad (who is giving me an interest free loan until I get back from Japan and can get a full-time job) I am now catching myself thinking things like, 'what difference is another couple of hundred pounds going to make?' Despite this being unheard of for me usually, it is exactly what happened yesterday. I needed to buy a digital camera for my trip – I don't have one and there's no way I can afford all the development costs of film – so Dad and his credit card and me made a trip into town to an electronics store. We went in with a £100 limit to our budget in mind... We came out with a £250 camera! Now, that isn't as bad as it's sounds, I promise. We actually paid £130 in the sale and in addition to the camera we got a case, 512MB memory card and a spare battery. Not a bad deal, huh? Well, without further delay, here's my new baby:
Saturday, 14 July 2007
疑い Doubt
This has been a tough week - for reasons I won't go into. There have been moments this week when I felt the last thing I wanted to do was to go abroad for six months, and it's at times like that when I really question my ability to get through such a challenge as this. I don't have much choice about the matter though – probably a good thing; I might have chickened out by now – so I just have to get on with it, I suppose.
In lighter news, I found a 1-on-1 Japanese teacher, who is currently giving me weekly lessons. He's a great teacher and I have learnt a lot already, having only had one 2-hour lesson with him. The only problem is that he charges £20 an hour. I'm trying not to worry about the money, it's just this is going to set me back a couple of hundred pounds that I hadn't anticipated.
This post seems to be all doom and gloom, so I'll leave it at that. I'll try and report back in a few days with more positive things to say.
In lighter news, I found a 1-on-1 Japanese teacher, who is currently giving me weekly lessons. He's a great teacher and I have learnt a lot already, having only had one 2-hour lesson with him. The only problem is that he charges £20 an hour. I'm trying not to worry about the money, it's just this is going to set me back a couple of hundred pounds that I hadn't anticipated.
This post seems to be all doom and gloom, so I'll leave it at that. I'll try and report back in a few days with more positive things to say.
Friday, 6 July 2007
地図 Get Out The Map
Do you ever find yourself saying things like, 'Oh, we can sort that out when we get there,' or 'I'm sure everything will fall into place'...? Well, that was my attitude towards the journey from Nagasaki back to Tōkyō after my six month stay in Japan. Basically, I have seven days from the end of my placement at Nagasaki Red Cross Hospital to get to Tōkyō, where my flight leaves for the UK. If I had wanted to I could have just flown back and then spent a week in Tōkyō, which I have no doubt would have been very enjoyable. Even with the two weeks holiday I am entitled to during my placement, and many a weekend to go on short trips with my friends or on my own, I have decided that I will definitely be seizing the opportunity to see more of Japan as I travel back. I will be navigating the Japanese rail network, and possibly even brace myself for a ride on the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) for part of the way if I can afford it. Here are a few places that have caught my eye so far:
Kyōto:- This is renowned as the best place for foreign visitors to see traditional Japan, whilst staying within the comforts of a modern city. I was immediately attracted to Kyōto when I first saw a picture of the avenue of torii gates at Fushimi Shrine, but I am not sure why I have such an affinity for torii gates. This city really does seem like one not to be missed, so I thought I might spend a few days here, time permitting. The annual Matsuri (festivals) are particularly abundant here also.
Biwa-Ko (Lake Biwa):- This is Japan's largest lake and covers a greater area than any Japanese city. Apparently there is a string of shrines, temples and shops along the waterfront, as well as Hikone Castle on the lake's eastern shore. It might be a bit touristy but a beautiful and serene place none-the-less.
Miyajima Island:- A lovely, unspoiled island that lies very close to the southern coast of western Honshu, not far from Hiroshima. You know that famous torii gate that appears to float on the sea? Well, that marks the entrance to this island, and it symbolises that the whole island is sacred. What drew me to Miyajima particularly was the fact that nobody is allowed to give birth of die on this island, meaning there are no maternity wards or cemeteries. Also, the monkey sanctuary at the top of Mount Misen here (accessible by cable car) and the free-roaming tame deer may have had their part to play in convincing me to visit this island.
One finds a recurrent theme in Japan of rebuilding and renewal, which just fascinates me. That is why Hiroshima and Kobe are also on my list of places to visit. Some Shinto shrines are rebuilt every twenty years exactly how they were previously, for instance, and have been for hundreds of years. Lying on the intersection of four tectonic plates, it is perhaps no surprise that Japan has acquired such an unrivalled ability to rebuild. Earthquakes - at least measurable ones - just do not happen here in Britain, so we are never faced with the challenge of starting everything over from scratch.
It goes without saying that the plans I am making now of my return journey may change dramatically by the time I come to fulfil them. Even so, I am getting increasingly excited by the day about my stay in Japan; I feel like a child in a sweet shop while I am looking through the guide books and websites on Japan and choosing where I want to go. I can't wait...
Kyōto:- This is renowned as the best place for foreign visitors to see traditional Japan, whilst staying within the comforts of a modern city. I was immediately attracted to Kyōto when I first saw a picture of the avenue of torii gates at Fushimi Shrine, but I am not sure why I have such an affinity for torii gates. This city really does seem like one not to be missed, so I thought I might spend a few days here, time permitting. The annual Matsuri (festivals) are particularly abundant here also.
Biwa-Ko (Lake Biwa):- This is Japan's largest lake and covers a greater area than any Japanese city. Apparently there is a string of shrines, temples and shops along the waterfront, as well as Hikone Castle on the lake's eastern shore. It might be a bit touristy but a beautiful and serene place none-the-less.
Miyajima Island:- A lovely, unspoiled island that lies very close to the southern coast of western Honshu, not far from Hiroshima. You know that famous torii gate that appears to float on the sea? Well, that marks the entrance to this island, and it symbolises that the whole island is sacred. What drew me to Miyajima particularly was the fact that nobody is allowed to give birth of die on this island, meaning there are no maternity wards or cemeteries. Also, the monkey sanctuary at the top of Mount Misen here (accessible by cable car) and the free-roaming tame deer may have had their part to play in convincing me to visit this island.
One finds a recurrent theme in Japan of rebuilding and renewal, which just fascinates me. That is why Hiroshima and Kobe are also on my list of places to visit. Some Shinto shrines are rebuilt every twenty years exactly how they were previously, for instance, and have been for hundreds of years. Lying on the intersection of four tectonic plates, it is perhaps no surprise that Japan has acquired such an unrivalled ability to rebuild. Earthquakes - at least measurable ones - just do not happen here in Britain, so we are never faced with the challenge of starting everything over from scratch.
It goes without saying that the plans I am making now of my return journey may change dramatically by the time I come to fulfil them. Even so, I am getting increasingly excited by the day about my stay in Japan; I feel like a child in a sweet shop while I am looking through the guide books and websites on Japan and choosing where I want to go. I can't wait...
Tuesday, 3 July 2007
しつぼ Disappointment
I was going to post today about how, now that all my flights are sorted out (Manchester - London Heathrow, London Heathrow -Tokyo Narita, and Tokyo Haneda - Nagasaki), I'm feeling a lot calmer. Then, of course, comes the phone call from Lancaster University informing me that the 5-day intensive Japanese course that my brother and I were enrolled on has been cancelled. Great. I was relying on that to allow me to get used to conversing with a native speaker and to improve my mediocre, self-taught language skills. Ugh! I don't know what to do. I'll go out to Japan with low level Japanese skills if I must, but I'd feel so much better if I had spoken with an actual Japanese person before I did so. I should probably start looking into private tuition.
This year out was never going to go exactly to plan, but to have a set back so early on... that hardly bodes well. *Sighs*. Oh well, no point dwelling on something I can't change.
This year out was never going to go exactly to plan, but to have a set back so early on... that hardly bodes well. *Sighs*. Oh well, no point dwelling on something I can't change.
Sunday, 1 July 2007
興奮した Excited
Yay, I've finished my A-levels! Now I am free to really buckle down with my Japan prep. I'm going through a whole range of emotions daily: fear; panic; excitement. I'm trying to think positively though, and scaring myself into doing something usually works for me.
My Dad and I travelled down to Reading on Thursday for a briefing by G.A.P. and although it was possibly the worst train journey we have ever been on and the most over-priced hotel we have ever stayed in (it was £65 per night per person, but you could probably find the same quality of rooms in a hotel charging £20 a night), it was still worth going. If nothing else, it was a real jump start. I'm now devoting most of my time to Japan stuff, mainly the language at the moment, and now the excitement is overriding the fear and panic.
Before I went on the briefing day in Reading I was really worried about how I was ever going to manage with only a 23kg luggage allowance. I kept thinking, 23kg for six months... I don't think so. Now I'm thinking I won't even go near that limit. I debated for a long time over whether I should get a rucksack or a suitcase, especially given that I will be doing at least three weeks of in-country travelling. What clinched it was my Dad filling up my brother's 45 litre rucksack with the heaviest things he could find and then seeing how it felt when I put it on.... I worked up a sweat just standing still whilst wearing it! I could barely walk the couple of metres across my bedroom so there was no way I would be able to haul a rucksack of similar size and weight up and down Japan's mountains. So I chose to get a suitcase. Apparently there's a well-established system in Japan where people send their luggage on ahead of them and then just travel with a small piece of hand luggage, so that solves the issue of a suitcase being awkward to transport.
Another thing I found out at the briefing: I may be placed to work on the hospital pharmacy for a couple of weeks and if I am I will be required to read prescriptions and medicine labels, which will be predominantly if not entirely in hiragana and katakana. There goes my focusing-on-conversational-Japanese plan – right out the window. I am taking this news in my stride however, and have already learned about half the hiragana “alphabet”. I have been told also that it is not particularly important to know thousands of kanji, which is a huge relief. I had best get my hiragana and katakana perfect though, since I am told I will be handing out medications directly to patients. Lots of potential for things to go wrong there.
Anyway, that's all I have to report for now. I'll leave you with a picture of the new receptionist at Aizu Central Hospital in Aizu-Wakamatsu city:
My Dad and I travelled down to Reading on Thursday for a briefing by G.A.P. and although it was possibly the worst train journey we have ever been on and the most over-priced hotel we have ever stayed in (it was £65 per night per person, but you could probably find the same quality of rooms in a hotel charging £20 a night), it was still worth going. If nothing else, it was a real jump start. I'm now devoting most of my time to Japan stuff, mainly the language at the moment, and now the excitement is overriding the fear and panic.
Before I went on the briefing day in Reading I was really worried about how I was ever going to manage with only a 23kg luggage allowance. I kept thinking, 23kg for six months... I don't think so. Now I'm thinking I won't even go near that limit. I debated for a long time over whether I should get a rucksack or a suitcase, especially given that I will be doing at least three weeks of in-country travelling. What clinched it was my Dad filling up my brother's 45 litre rucksack with the heaviest things he could find and then seeing how it felt when I put it on.... I worked up a sweat just standing still whilst wearing it! I could barely walk the couple of metres across my bedroom so there was no way I would be able to haul a rucksack of similar size and weight up and down Japan's mountains. So I chose to get a suitcase. Apparently there's a well-established system in Japan where people send their luggage on ahead of them and then just travel with a small piece of hand luggage, so that solves the issue of a suitcase being awkward to transport.
Another thing I found out at the briefing: I may be placed to work on the hospital pharmacy for a couple of weeks and if I am I will be required to read prescriptions and medicine labels, which will be predominantly if not entirely in hiragana and katakana. There goes my focusing-on-conversational-Japanese plan – right out the window. I am taking this news in my stride however, and have already learned about half the hiragana “alphabet”. I have been told also that it is not particularly important to know thousands of kanji, which is a huge relief. I had best get my hiragana and katakana perfect though, since I am told I will be handing out medications directly to patients. Lots of potential for things to go wrong there.
Anyway, that's all I have to report for now. I'll leave you with a picture of the new receptionist at Aizu Central Hospital in Aizu-Wakamatsu city:
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