2011年6月19日日曜日

Hometown Glory

So I'm gonna jump around (because it's my blog and I can do whatever I want to, thank you very much) and make a little post about where I live ^_^

First off, I'm in 練馬区 (Nerima-ku), one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo. Oh, right. Guess where the birthplace of Anime is?! No, really. Guess. GUESS.

HERE. HOW COOL AM I FOR GETTING TO LIVE IN THE BIRTHPLACE OF ANIME. ASTRO BOY WAS PRODUCED HERE. WHAT. </NERDSQUEE>


*hem.* Anywhoodle, here's the view of my dorm from the outside.

Isn't it cute? Everything here is pretty much adorable. I live about a 5-10 minute walk from the Kindergarten, and it's pretty quiet here. のぶこ先生 (Nobuko-Sensei), the amazingly kind woman that owns みずほ幼稚園 (Mizuho Kindergarten, where I work) and the nearby preschool, lives about 3 doors down from me calls me each morning and we walk to the Kindergarten together. During the week when the weather's nice, I can use one of the bikes that the Kindergarten owns, so I'll be biking! Oh my goodness, how I've missed biking. So I'm excited about that. But raining season is still upon us, and while I really wouldn't mind just biking in the rain with my new umbrella (more on umbrellas and Japan a little later), for now I'm walking. So yeah, anyway. A little more about my dorm!

I live with a bunch of girls that are studying nearby, some at Keio, Some at Waseda, and some at Tokyo University. I'm the only American here (surprise, surprise...) and speak very little English here. It's been kind of cool getting to test out my Japanese. I'm able to understand pretty much everything, but am still nervous about the whole speaking Japanese in Japan thing. I'm sure in a couple of weeks I'll be fine :)

So, when you enter the dorm, you take off your outside shoes, put them in locker, and exchange them for slippers! Here are the ones they gave me, they are seriously adorable.

I get served breakfast and dinner daily, and eat lunch with the babies everyday at school. Big shocker on the menu; rice, fish, veggies, etc. Guys, I love this. If you're looking for a foolproof weight-loss plan, just move to Japan, I kid you not. Since the portions are pretty small and the food is light, I actually get hungry during the day (gasp) and eat only when necessary. Genius, right? What will they think of next?

There's a shower room, and also a 銭湯 (public bath). I've yet to muster up the courage to try the 銭湯, even though it's part of the culture here and I need to DEVOUR ALL THE CULTURE I CAN, etc. Yeah, stickign with showers for now. Anywhoodle, I live on the second floor! Now for the obligatory room pics...


It truly wouldn't be my room without some Robert Pattinson. Let's be real.


Desk area! I've somehow managed to keep it from being a complete mess (so far.) I'll have it crazy-decorated in a couple of weeks, no worries y'all.
I get my own balcony! Fun stuff. There's a clothesline where I'll hang my clothes to dry; the washer is for free, and the dryer costs 100(about $1) for 30 minutes, so yeah. Free laundry > not free laundry. I think it's pretty awesome, though. I've always liked seeing clothes outside. Plus now I'll smell like nature! Yay?

Note the adorable umbrella that I bought :) my first item purchase in jp. It's the neatest thing, because literally everyone in Japan owns an umbrella. But really, though. They don't play. There is not a single instance that it's rained since I've been here that I've seen anyone unprepared. And the umbrellas here are super efficient; just one button and they're up in about a second, and the same button is pressed and they're closed. Legit. Also on the inside of buildings and restaurants, there are always umbrella drying stands. Everything here just makes so much sense!

Balcony view pics!



So pretty and calm :)



Heehee...

So the other day as I was preparing to walk to 大泉学園駅 (Oizumi Gakuen Station) to meet Fei, the preschool English teacher for our adventure around Tokyo (contents of next blog post methinks?), I took some pictures of my cute little mini-neighborhood for your enjoyment. Mind you, I got lost about 3 times (I somehow ended up finding the station tho) partly because there are no street names in Japan; the buildings are numbered, but you literally just have to memorize where to turn. Lovely, huh?

 How gorgeous are the homes? A lot of the houses look like this; everything is all nice and compact. Check out the cute little garage-area! Just perfect.
The streets are rather narrow...to solve this issue of having 2 way traffic somehow fitting here, these badass cars are everywhere:

The whole time I was walking, I almost repeatedly got run over because I forgot that they drive on the left side here. It was partly funny, partly terrifying. Mostly terrifying. But it's ok, I survived.
Little mirrors so you can see if cars are rounding these REALLY tight corners.



BEAMER IN JAPAN BEAMER IN JAPAN BEAMER IN JAPAN


I have pics of the station, but I'll smoosh those in with my post about my adventure to 高尾山 トリックアート美術館  (Trick Art Museum in Takao) and 新宿  (Shinjuku).

Hopefully next time I sit down to write this my jetlag will be fully eradicated. One can only hope.

-ホリ先生

2 件のコメント:

  1. Ahh! I want to go to Japan so badly! Keep updating this blog so I can live vicariously through you! :D

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  2. hahah i have a new goal for you! please steal a adorable japanese baby and bring it home for me have!!!!

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