So we’re in Japan. It’s been mint. A quick word: Japanese customs dept? What customs department? Getting in here was a breeze. I guess we were expecting a palaver after all the fuss the NZ customs dept seems to make. You get poked and probed for every possible malicious spore, mould and bacteria under the sun there. “Hello sir. What’s this gravel in your shoe! GETTIM!”
We’ve had a really great day and it contained many adventures– some even worth writing home about.
Such as:
Japan Rail: We had our first experience of the Tokyo Metro system. We trained it across town with about 30 kilos of weight each and we’re now staying at Kimi Ryokan in Ikebukuro. Kind of central and kind of not. Check this out! Navigable? Totally… With a little help from our Japan Rail friends.
Pachinko: We had a game of Pachinko. Seriously what is going on there! As far as I can tell – you flick the balls and they go up and then sometimes they go in this hole and that’s a good thing but only if you do something else – which I certainly couldn't fathom. I almost had an epileptic seizure at one point with all the flashy lights – it went haywire! Interesting or 200 Yen down the Pachinko? You decide.
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| "Hello-goodmorning marmite-shoehorn-desu" |
Supamakkato: Our first supermarket experience was good. More of a Superette though - so I guess that would be superettetto in Japanese or something. It went well. We both went through the motions when we realized they don't have cereal – but we moved on. I was already a big fan of Japanese food in Welly - as was Hannah - so I don't think we’ll have too many issues adapting. I will miss pies though. Our first meal made in Tokyo was: Udon noodles in a tiny broth with vegetables, natto and some delicious seaweed/soy/chilli stuff we can’t quite figure out. Gochisosama indeed! (It was delicious)
Broken Nihon-go: We’ve had a few good experiences speaking Japanese. Hopefully it just gets easier from here.
Me in the supermarket asking a bloke for some natto.
“Sumimasen. Koko wa nato desu ka? * he shows me * Arigato gozaimasu”
Boom. It felt good. Hannah was also brilliant today when ordering lunch for us from this perky little rice place. It’s tricky and we’ve both made a few mistakes here and there. Instead of saying “hello” to a dude I said “Thank you”. Hannah on the other hand said “Thanks-good-bye-good-morning” to the lady in the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space. All good though. Progress is progress though I guess.
Word of the day:
Tenkei - Revelation. E.g. Eureka
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| A little game they like to play in Japan called: Spot the ginge. |
This is great stuff, keep it up.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm pretty sure Pachinko is a big problem in Japan? Like the pokies here or ... glue/earthquakes in NZ.
Awesome blog Brendan... Best tip about learning Japanese I reckon is not to be embarrassed, just say any old stuff that you can, even if it comes out as nonsense. At least you'll give someone a laugh. And honestly, the people I know that learnt Japanese the fastest were those that just had no shame.
ReplyDeleteThat's true. We need to just get in there! Shame? What is shame? I grew up in Newlands - we no not of this word "shame" you speak.
ReplyDeleteYour first attempts at speaking real Japanese reminds me of when we were in France, Saying "Good morning" to everyone when it is 8 oclock at night.
ReplyDelete“Thanks-good-bye-good-morning” - haha so funny!
Bet you aren't missing the two eartquakes we have had either - 4.5 & 4.7 - everyone on edge. Earthquake survival kit growing by the day eeerk!