Spending the night in Narita Japan was awesome. I went out with some of the other new teachers (I think there were about 50 of us who flew in together). We went to a mall for a bit. Japanese arcades are crazy. We also went to a Japanese Casino (The MGM). That was probably one of the most surreal experiences of my life. It’s a lot different from American Casinos. The noise is insane, the games are really weird. I played this one where you use a dial to control the speed at which a bunch of small metal balls are fired at a bunch of pegs (like plinko). If your ball falls into this special slot you win more balls. I think the balls get cashed in for money. We also went out for dinner. Man... do the Japanese make fantastic food. This was one of the best meals I have ever had.
The Hotel was pretty nice, though certainly nothing lavish. Something comparable to the Lord Beaverbrook, but the room was a little smaller. Everything is electronic even the toilet. I had my first encounter with a beday (no idea how to spell that one). Most everything commercial is anime. The safety video on the airline was anime, advertisements are anime. It’s kind of neet.
When first flying over Japan I was struck by how similar it looked to flying over GP: lots of squared lots with different coloured fields. The first difference I notice occurred to me while looking at a highway. Something seemed really wrong, but I couldn’t place what it was. They drive on the left hand side of the road. Incidentally, while bussing around Narita, I felt like there was going to be an accident every time we took a corner. It just feels as though you’re going to run into oncoming traffic (also the roads are much narrower). The next thing I noticed was the forest. Even from the air the foliage looks different; really thick. It was pretty neat seeing bamboo growing everywhere too.
Though the flight we were on has Tokyo listed as it’s place of arrival, Tokyo is actually about an hour outside of Narita, so we didn’t make it in. Too bad I would have loved to see that city (I think I might actually be able to arrange an extended layover on the way back so I can visit Tokyo).
Interestingly, a similar situation also applies to my own place of residence. I do not in fact live in Dalian; I am a little less than an hour outside (I think) in the ‘village’ of Jinshutan. Flying into the Dalian airport was amazing. This place has some of the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen. Huge rolling hills covered in trees and other greenery. I’ll send pictures once I get a camera and the chance to go hiking. I’ve been told there is no wildlife to worry about, though I should not go near any towers on these hills, or climb any fences (apparently the military takes this pretty seriously). The air is clean and fresh, the streets are no more crowded than Halifax. Of course my experience is pretty limited as of yet, but that was my impression while walking through town last night.
My apartment is nice. The ceilings are couple of feet higher than the usual ceilings at home. I have a really neat bookshelf (You’ll see). Lots of space, and it’s less than I thought: $280 for a 1 bedroom or $300 for a 2 bedroom. I asked for a 2 but none are yet available. Not a big deal, since I doubt I’ll have visitors anytime soon. Also I have a bed in my study, so It’s kind of like a two bedroom where one of them is sort of small. There is a real lack of power outlets (8 in my entire apartment), and some of them are in really weird places (Above my front door for instance?!?!?) It definitely needs a paint job. It also needs dusting, though that shouldn’t be a problem as I’ve hired a maid (she does 3 hours of cleaning for about $6). I think I’ll get her to come by weekly.
I have a shopping trip to go to on about 2 hours. I’m interested to see what it will be like.
Cheers for now
Daniel Mark Andrew Standring
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