My new town Iruma...

So Iwent apartment hunting with my room mate today.  We looked at two Leo Palace apartments (which are the only way of getting a furnished room really - a bit like blocks of apartments).  The two locations were both quite far form the station which worried me a little, and depending on the school Iwill be assigned, it would be hard to decide which would have the best location.  They were small apartments, but what was good with these was that you would walk up to the bed which was like a loft above the apartment, maybe big enough for a double mattress, and possibly to sit cross legged and not touch the ceiling, although maybe  not that much space.  But that layout meant that the bedroom was separate to the living room, which was good!
One of the apartments was like up a long busy road and just over a level crossing, which I didnt really get a good feeling for, and the other was in back streets, which were a bit like a maze - and although I preferred those ones, the lady said she wouldn't reccomend them.

When we got back to the estate agent office, she showed us some other ones which are a couple of stations away from Iruma, but the trains are very easy to use, and are walking distance to the school (if I am placed at that school).  These are also cheaper as they are further out from the Iruma town, which would mean I could maybe afford a car as well, so Iam swaying to those options.  Just got to wait and hear what school Iwill be placed at now.  Fingers crossed!

Iruma itself is a good town, I managed to buy a hairdryer!! So I can finally have my hair down haha! Also there were two large department stores, a McDonalds, and Italian restaurant (well spaghetti as opposed to noodles).  So I think I would be happy to live out in a town near my school and travel into Iruma when I need to for shopping and stuff.  But I guess I will just decide when I get assigned my school. :)

I did find the cutest shop ever which I could have spent a lot of money in, but I was good and just browsed!  Ithen went upstairs and found a 100yen shop! Amazing! Everything Icould imagine needing in my new apartments there for less than £1! So Iam no longer worried about buying the 'stuff' to set out my room!  I did treat myself to a pink pop out colander as it was just too cool to resist... so I have the ball rolling now!

We have the first day of training tomorrow so I am off to bed to wake up early, shower and style my hair with my new hair dryer :)

I found a bar :)

I found a bar!!! Wheey... Another guy and I decided we just had to get out for a while and we went to find a coffee shop he had passed earlier in the day and it turned out to be a bar and coffee shop.  They did everything from Coke Floats, to iced coffee, to Whiskey and Beer! So I had a Gin Lime, not realising that was literally a gin on the rocks.  Lovely! They also served little snacks so I had some buttered sweet corn – healthier than pork scratchings I guess!

Was nice to venture into a part of the town that I hadn’t been before... went into a strange shop which sold anime models and stationary  - stationary which looked like it had been there for 10 years!, and not been sold! So I bought a rubber as it was the sort of shop you felt bad for not making a purchase.  There was also a shop which was half haberdashery, and half chemist – a strange mix, but really cute!

Looking forward to Iruma tomorrow! Will keep you posted on the apartments... hope they’re not too

Yorii....my home until I find a home :)

So I managed to make it to Yorii, Saitama, which is where the head office of the teaching school is.  I met about 7 other people here, some have been here for a few years, and some, like me, are newbies! Everyone seems really nice, and my room mate couldn't be more lovely! In fac I found out today that she will be in the same town I will be, Iruma, when we move out to our specific towns to work.  Istarted apartment hunting yesterday online, and the staff here were very helpful printing out various potential apartments in that area, and have arranged for me to go and view them tomorrow.  It will be good that I can go with my room mate too who will also be looking for somewhere to stay... plus that way we can be neighbours!

I ventured out in a different direction today.  Yorii has little going on to say the least, so I was on a mission to find some life! So instead of heading to the usual superarket by the station, I went in the other direction, and found a main road!! Amazing.  Along this road were various eating places, a fruit and veg stall, another supermarket, and a supermarket which seemed to sell everything that wasn't food (this is a shop I hope is in my new town as they had a lot of handy things such as kitchen stuff, bathroom stuff and even chairs and bedding for reasonable prices). 

It was from browsing through these supermarkets that I discovered just how expensive the fruit is here!! Absolutely unbelieveable! One apple is 128 yen which is about £1! Although they are huge, and delicious, it is going to be hard to afford the 5 a day! I have decided to have a break from noodles today, and bought some bread, eggs and ketchup! Some home comforts haha!

I am going to go and work some more on my Japanese today as there is little else to do here apart from chill out.  Everyone is getting a little fidgety as there is no privacy, and little space to relax during the day as there are a lot of staff here, and a lot of students coming in and out and for a small office everyone is living on top of eachother a little bit.  It has still been a great opportunity to get to know the others, and I have been asking lots of questions with the more experienced ALTs which has been handy. 

Ok well that is all for now... Ja mata!

Arrived safe and sound!

After an amazing first part to the flight, the second was a bit more of a struggle.  Going from being able to sleep along 4 seats from London to Dubai, to being on a full plane for a further 9 hours to Tokyo was hard...  But I made it, and am now in my second hotel in Tokyo.  Rooms have been great, small but have everything I could ask for... including a few unexpected extras: heated toilet seat, free internet access, even a hot plate in my current room - if I could decipher what the food was in the supermarket, I would be making my own Teppanyaki right now.

I braved it out to Shinjuku today - the Times Square of Tokyo.  The tube system is all very easy to work out, and most places are written/announced in English as well which is handy!  I imagined I would see more westerners in such a touristy/central area, but I think I have seen a total of 2 in my whole time here!  I must say I like that though. definitely didn't come all this way to be bumping into Londoners left right and centre! 

Accidently stumbled upon a Pachinko arcade called Tomoe... it was basically a huge arcade with rows and rows of arcade machines across between pinball and fruit machines.   https://my.qoop.com/store/Simone-Marchetti-9c61bf890b7d18392a86e45247288b024b135a2b/Pachinko-s-drug-by-Simone-Marchetti-qpps_104112484736669.LG.jpg  honestly never seen anything like it - people of all ages absolutely glued to these machines.  I will definitely have a go on one at some stage, however at the time, without googling it I had no idea how they worked!