GMT + 9 Hours

9 hours. Day is night, cold is warm, individualism is collectivism and English is Japanese. The differences so far have been profound and as each day passes I feel slightly more like the alien my visa describes me as. On the surface, looking on, Japan and its bustling cities seem a lot like Europe albeit cleaner, busier and with buildings about four times the height and one eight the width. For anyone who feels Oxford Street on a Saturday afternoon before Christmas (or the Bot on New Year's Eve) is too busy, Tokyo is not for you - yet, despite this, when you get past the throngs of people stampeding towards you, when you blank out the "Sonic The Hedgehog" video game music that plays in every shop, when you accept the people who hand you packets of tissues on every street corner only to glare at you should you actually use one to blow your nose, and once raw fish, octopus balls and not being able to read a single street sign no longer bother you, the culture of Japan is a hidden treasure, a delightful snapshot of how our world might have been, if the west had reacted to the attrocities of World War 2 with the same remorse as the far-east.
I arrived nearly a week ago now, early on Friday morning to be met by Claire at the airport. Suprisingly as if almost by miracle, for the first time in her life, Claire was on time, and despite a brush with the long arm of the law on the way she marched into the arrivals hall precisely as I left customs and entered the hall myself. It was good to see her, if for no other reason than the fact I did not have a clue what I would do if she did not make it there! From arrivals and a quick stop for a drink, it was off to Yokohama on bus. It was precisely at this point I regretted bringing so much luggage for the second time that week. Firstly, the morons on Easyjet (Belfast - London) made it onto my "Top 5 List Of Companies to Bankrupt" by charging me £76.00 in excess baggage fees. Given that my flight cost £23.00 and I weigh more than my luggage I struggled with the rationale behind this. However despite my remonstrations and the fact that (as I pointed out to the check in person) that the lady four behind me in the queue was "at least twice my size and not going to be charged for excess weight" I was forced to pay. This suprised me as my argument was calm and rational, unlike the lady checking me in who I had just noticed was also rather large and by now red in the face and calling me rude! Me, rude? I've said it before, "never again" yet in the end I think Easyjet has some sort of hold over passengers, and despite their shockingly dire levels of customer service we all end up going back in the end - well at least this time it won't be until next year.
I would happily have paid another £76.00 not to have brought my luggage by the time I had hauled it across the London Underground to Heathrow (luckily BA did not charge me for excess baggage) and then Yokohama, finally by lunch it was safely stowed in a left luggage locker for the next few days. It was time to see Japan. Food seems good so far, I've munched on McDonalds, gyoza (little dumplings), all kinds of meat, McDonalds, sushi, McDonalds, McDonalds, octopuss balls, deep fried prawns, McDonalds and snowcrab. I don't think I'll starve and I'm getting quite good with chopsticks. I already miss fried breakfasts though. People are friendly and unintrusive, no one tends to approach you and try and sell you things here, which is good, though language is a big barrier. At least in Colombia, where they spoke Spanish, I could sort of understand what people where saying - here there is no hope and given the sum of my Japanese vocab is "tenuki des" (which means "a racoon dog") even basic conversations have proved difficult. Despite this, if things keep going as they are I will be the World Pictionary champion some time around March. Joking aside though, it is tough, but I get by and I'm determined to learn to speak Japanese well.
I had a great weekend, it was nice to relax and we visited Shinbuya a trendy area of Tokyo on Saturday which was brilliant but unbelievably busy. Sunday was a nice relaxing day and we moved to our new hotel, which ended up being in the Red-Light district of Yokohama, but was clean and cheap so neither of us minded. The Japanese attitude to prostitution is weird, it is totally accepted that married men visit prostitutes here. I'm not sure if I agree with it, but there are very, very low levels of STDs, rape and attacks on women here and divorce is relatively uncommon so it brings up a particularly interesting debate as to whether not legalising prostituion actually works . Anyhow, it was another nice little adventure and by Monday it was time to pack up for Osaka to start my traineeship.
Public transport is something I tend to get worked up over. Having spent the last few years at the mercy of Network Rail and London Underground, not to mention the morons at First Great Western and South West Trains I have many bad memories including a two hour trip from Waterloo to Wimbledon and a six hour trip from London to Cardiff. Some of you may think that it is just because I am bitter about this that I take great joy in saying Japan has the best public transport system in the world, but it is AMAZING! And to all of you who got stuck on a sweaty, crowded Northern Line tube this morning - Ha! Ha! Firstly, even the subway has air conditioning here (I know Ken Livingstone will not believe it but honestly it really is possible.) Secondly, as the sun is still shining and it is 20 degrees outside they have no leaves on the track yet. Thirdly they have the Shinkansen. The Shinkansen is amazing and for those of you who don't know, it is the Japanese intercity bullet train, the fastest in the world. It looks like a plane inside (and not an easyjet one!) and managed my 537km journey to Osaka in 2 hours 10 minutes. The best bits however are the reclinable seats, oceans of leg room and nice food. I must admit as I lay back enjoying the view of Mount Fuji out through the window of my train I did spare a thought for those of you stuck out there in commuter hell, albeit a brief one as no sooner had I started my journey than I was fast asleep...
Next week I will send my Osaka arrival update,