The last one...

...oh well 10 months, dozens of adventures, scores of new friends, one too many nights out, several destinations, hundreds of mornings learning Japanaese, birthdays, relationships, love, sorrow and everything else that would include to a life far away from home with people from all over the globe. So I came, I saw but did I conquer?

Lets start with the Shit. Japanese society is a obligation society where everything has its place this includes the gaijin that really doesn´t have a place in this society. We´re the odd balls that can be seen every now and then, here and there. But the barriers between us and normal folk can be quite high. Of course not to generalise too much I would say that its the system that more against us than the people. Most Japanese I met were a really heartful bunch and helped always when I asked help. Still all in all cant really say that if I would live here for 20 years that I could say that I`m Japanese.

Well then comes the obvious and not so obvious. The obviously shitty parts are the bureacrazt and civil servants obsessive desire to stick to the rules. That even reached to our dorm where young people were really stuck up with something so trivial as visitors rule (that outsiders need to leave at 23.00). So irritating that I couldn´t trust the people that lived here not rat me out to the caretakers, etc, if I had a friend over for the night, or smthng. Frustrating. Also many aspects of our studies were too school like and not really reaching to my academic standards.

The bit less obvious but immensly irritating bits were Japanese cellphone system and banking. My God how the hell such an advanced civilization as Japan survive with such medieval systems. The banking was similar to 80s Finland and the cell phone system, though are technologically most advanced in the world, but the service was horrendous. It costed like shit, was super complicated (even to fluent speakers) and the waiting times on the shops were something that I couldn´t understand as a business student. So a basic cellphone opening lasted about 2h. And if a worker works 8h/day he can open 4 new contracts per day. Not very effective if I might say. It should be 5 min for opening it and 2 min to close it. Hopefully in the future some foreign cellphone company comes to Japanese market and shows how its done... and by doing so rapes Docomo, softbank and others to death!

Well those things really bugged me. Now we can move on. Some really interesting feature of Japan comparing to Finland is that there are people everywhere. Yes, I know. Shocking! But I mean that there are people working everywhere. Like in parking lots, trainstations and constructions sites have scores of people showing people the way (though it useless bc there is a wall and u couldn´t go there anyway). So the those peoples titles are "a sign" or a "traffic light" or something similar. Seems the most boring job ever... and most useless.

There are dozens of similar weird things, irritating things, incomprehensible things, and so on. Still taken everything into account these were a huge nuisance but still where ever you are there is always somethign that bugs you. Thats unavoidable so better to concentrate what matters: Karaokes, Izakayas, pot lucks, all night roaming in Shinjuku/Shibya axel! Thats why I`m in Japan. And also the great feeling when I can approach Japanese people and talk with them in Japanese.

So this last writing was just random collection of thoughts and perceptions that have bugged me or things that I have enjoyed. Next I`ll finish up my packing and do some travel planing for my Germany, Poland and Lithuanian tour. After that Boomis summer party and Finland.

I`ll see you in the flip side,
Tuomas

Travel Blog

Hello everyone! Tuomas desu

I have to admit before I get to the point (if there is going to be any) that I am really bad at writing blogs.

Now doing my exchange year at International Christian University is coming to an end soon. Ithas been a great international surrounding where one can really meet people from all over and study Japanese language and culture.

I could tell you about some of my escapades here in Japan. One thing that has really been interesting to people was my hitchiking tour at my spring vacation. Me and my friend Eiji, a half Japanese half English fellow, thought about really experiencing Japan so what better way to do that than getting into peoples cars and spend time with them while covering good distance with minimal price. We started our adveture from Ebina service station and I have to admit that I didnt know if its gonna work or not. Will people really give us a ride? Will some crazy old axe murderer hack us to pieces and dump us into a gutter? Hopefully not. So with courageous hearts we went to the side of the road and lifted our thumbs. Some awkward minutes passed and people were smiling and laughing at us but nothing else really happedened. But the day was spectacularily beautiful so we just joked there and waved to people who passed us. After some 30 minutes a car pulled at the sidewalk and two smiling faces popped from the windows. These smiling faces blonged to two kind Indonesian people who were joy riding on their free day. I cant tell how relieved I was to get a ride so fast with so nice people.

The next couple of hours went talking about our lives in Japan and other aspects of Japan. It felt like two minutes and then we were at our first destination: Shimizu station. They gave us a ride to exactly to where we were going to. Lucky us! There we had to do first thing first. What would be the most important thing for couple of thirsty travellers? Well a big pint of beer to sooth our dry throats and burning hearts. The next couple of days we spent with our friends Max`s grannys old farm house near a orange orchard. Such a good way to get to know Japanese culture.

After our hospitality was used we packed our huge bag (16 kilos, including vital items like sleeping bags and a tent) and hit the road. We took the bus to the closest service area where we raised our thumbs again. This time the place happened to be a lot smaller than Ebina so the trafic wasn`t so lively. After some time we were still standing there with our thumbs in the air but nothing really seemed to be working so we had to think of different tactis. How could we approach the right person and bu right I mean a person who is going to our destination? Well license plates of course have the place imprinted in them. So the first Nagoya plate we saw we jumped to change and went to ask this middle aged salary man where he was heading. To Nagoya? Yes were going there also. Would it be possible to continue the trip together? It is. Excellent! Lets go.

As we sat on the car and talked to this awesome guy who had to courage and kindness to help two strange gaijins on their hour of need we found out a lot about this man. About his family, work, life. These are the people that I would never otherwise meet unless I would take chances like these. Well after we got to know the fellow and he got to know us he gave us a ride in to our destination: Nagoya Central Train Station. So we said our farewells and continued our journey to take care of the most important thing. This time we found a really nice restaurant that served one litre pints! Probably the first time I saw those at Japan.

For the next couple of days we spent probably the best time I had in Japan as my friend Shuns and his familys guests. They were so kind a gave us amazing lodging at their house, rides to where ever we were going and awesome meals. Besides this they provided us even tickets to Nagasima Spaland, a amusement park with a wicked rollercoaster, The Steel Dragon. Here I want to thank them once more: Thank You!

After this experience in Nagoya we got a ride from Shuns dad to a near by service station were we asked this nice Japanese couple to give us a ride to Osaka. They first denied us but somehow they came around and gave us the ride we needed. It only took us 5 minutes get the ride! Well this ride was a bit more awkward and quiter than the other two rides and we didn`t get exactly to where we were going but all in all it was an ok ride.

So Osaka + two young travelers + capsel;hotel = night of mayhem! We had an absolut blast on our short trip to Osaka. The night was our for the taking and that was exactly what we did. Series of restaurants and bars were on our way towards that small ramen place in the midst of the night. Before we reached there we had the great privilidge to be shown around by a salary man (who kindly dumped her wife to show us a bar), to drink with two different group of young japanese (nihon go dake) and enough alchohol to stun a elephant or two. Then we finally reached that small ramen shop but unfortunately I don`t remember anything about it so let us move on with our story.

Next morning. Or more suitably said "The Morning After". Beign kicked out of from a capsule hotel before ten in the morning with a huuuuuuuuuge hangover and a batalion of gnome smiths smithing something inside your head wasn`t the most enjoyable of mornings but now in retrospect I found it quite hilarious. First in order was to find a cafe where to rest our broken spirits... or our bodies which were broken by spirits (damn Jack! I curse you Jim!). We found this nice organic cafe whrere young career missiles were having their brunch. And then there were also two smelling, snoring gaijins with a huge bag taking the best seats of the cafe for some two hours. They must have loved us. Well after we got our asses out of the chair (we had a good reason not to rise just yet) we moved towards Kobe and Eijis friends. After sleeping in yet another cafe we found our way to Kobe. Some more sleeping in benches and parks we found Eijis friends and started a new evening of mayhem.

I took the night easy, Eiji didn`t. So next morning hijacked by Eijis friends I found myself wondering the sights and feeding the dear of Nara. Really beatiful place with a really nice athmosphere. We took our time to look the places and returned to Kobe. There we found Eiji and his friend already starting another night (of mayhem) so we had to start reaching the gap to get to same level as them. After some food we went to our friends favourite club. This really small club in a back alley where we got awesome live music, dancing and the atmosphere was so friendly that we just partied the night away. Eiji showed his skills with the quitar and mike and Mc:ing.

After all these turns and twist we found ourselves in the night bus taking our tired but happy souls back to Tokyo. And all this was done with a minimal budget. We only paid for the bus back and one night of lodging at the capsule hotel. And my room had been reorganized during my travels by my lovely friends Maki, Z and Flavia:

Morjesta kaikki toverit, ystävät, kaverit, sukulaiset, kamelit, boomarit, möffelit ja muut tyypit, jotka eivät kuulu em. ryhmiin. Toivottavasti koto-Suomi on edelleen pystyssä ja kaikilla on kaikki hyvin, yms yms... On ikävä ja silleen ja nähdään sitten kun nähdään. Nyt jatkuu jorinointi maailman tältä laidalta...

It´s November already

Time sure flies and the past two months have really gone by quickly. Well when your having fun time goes more quckly, ayeh? Basicly my time goes to large variety of activities. I study Japanese each day for some 3h and rest of the time I hang around, travel around Tokyo or near by areas, do sports (dance at Smooth Steppers), drink&party, hang around some more and spend time with my girl friend (yes, I got one a while ago :).

Last week end there was ICU festivals. Our universitys own festival where all different clubs and groups had their own food booths, cafes and most importantly shows. Smooth Steppers, The latin dance group (carnival group?) and Japanese drumming group were all absolutely marvelous. Good weather, tasty food and spectacular performances made last week end absolutely enjoyable. Also Clubbing at Velours (really nice club just three train rides away) was

splendid.

Our Strike team to Velours Yeah, beat those drums!
Maki, Z, Shoin, Eiji

A while ago we wont to Kawakoen to see local party format called Matsuuri. Basicly there are Matsuuris all over Japan and they are huge events. I don´t know if its always the same format, but the one we went to had these portable shrines that rolled around the city pulled by dozens of people. Then they stopped to "battle" against fixed shrines. It pretty weird procedure and one should experience it before one can truly understand it.

More stuff coming shortly... this time for real :D

See u @ facebook,
Tuomas

The first steps as a foreign resident...

Hi everyone interested of my stay on Tokyo!

Couple of forewords about this blog. The main reason to write this is to keep my friends and relatives up-to-date about my coming and goings here in the other side of the world. The second reason is to reflect my experiences and to keep track of all the things I manage to do and would like to do before I eventually leave here. If you want to know something specific about life in Japan or something else that I might know you can ask me to write about it. Ikuze!

The First Month or so...

Ja, watashi wa Tuomas desu. Doozo yoroshiku. Those were the famous words that most people
start their stay at Japan and I wasn´t an exeption. Even though I had studied some two years Japanese before I came here it was still really odd to start using it for real. But knowing me I usually go boldly to meet people (even in Japan ^^) and talk to them. They look at me first but starts talking eventually.

First five days I were here alone. I arrived to Narita Airport in the morning of 27.8 Thursday. It was hoooot and I had only a faint clue where to go, a guest house some where in Nakano. Luckily the train system of Tokyo is really easy to use (though some what expensive) and found myself soon at Nakano. Weird enough after asking directions from a local I found the quest house and discovered that the receptionist was a Finn :D There were also some 6 other Finns living there :D Can´t escape ´em even here. I think they had heard that it was the cheapest place around. For the five days I traveled around Tokyo and tried to get some bearings of places. Visited places like Harajuku, Shinjuku, Shibyao, Tokyo. So mainly stayed in the Yamanote line (which is the main line in Tokyo that circles around the cental places, very handy).

After that my lonely days were over and I entered Global House <3 This four story building resides some 64 students from dozen or so countries. Half the people are aboriginals (also called Japanese) and the other half is OYRs (One Year Regulars=internationals). Also half the residents are boyz and the half are girlz. So it´s the only mixed dormitory here. Dormitory life is really social and it was really easy to get abundant of new friends. It also instanteniously created an safety net around me which was quite nice.

The ICU (International Christian University) grounds are really beatiful. The campus area is like a big park filled with grass, trees and buildings. I really love the small hills in front of our campus, called Bakayama (stupid mountain). As a whole I have been really satisfied to ICU. I really like my courses and mostly they´re quite high quality. The Japanese Language program is really good. I can just feel how my Japanese improves daily.

Other than school I have spent my time traveling around Tokyo, partying with Global & other people, making short trips outside Tokyo (Matsumoto castle sightseeing & Couch Surfers Potluck in Yokohama), dancing in Smooth Steppers (ICU street dancing club) and just socializing in Global House. This places biggest drawback is that you can really get stuck here some times (jumittamaan). Kinda feels like I`m losing my initiative to move freely. I really should just galvanize my movements again :D

Observations of Japanese Culture and Language

So yokai here´s Earth round, chilling... To understand Japanese people and culture you reaaally need to learn the language. Since most people here doesn´t speak English (at least outside campus) you need to use Japanese... which I think is a really good thing. Gives me more motivation to study this freaking language that I really need it to do something useful ^^ The language really isn´t one the easiest there is but it is really interesting. It´s so mystical and beatiful. To unravel the meaning behind kanjis and then recognize them in texts is really fun.

Japanese seems to be even more quiet than Finns. Which in itself is peculiar. The threshold to go and speak with some stranger is really high because it is considered rude (I might be wrong, since these are just MY observations). So as a gaijin (foreigner) we get a lot more leeway than the locals from courtesy rules since we don´t know any better (gives us ``permission`` to drink in trains).

The city is really clean considering its size nad population. Even though there isn´t trash cans anywhere (because the trash are separated and recycled) there isn´t any trash in the streets. Also smoking seems to be prohibited in most places (like streets! at least in some locations). But luckily, if you´re a smoker, you can smoke inside some cafees and bars. So there´s no cigaret buts in the streets.

The food is package sizes are quite small. That makes the food more expensive than in Finland. Also it creates a lot of trash. Overall most things are somewhat as expensive as in Finland. One thing that I must say is the price if transportation. IT IS HIGH! That really limits the the amount of my traveling in Japan. Well better just to go to South East Asia... again. Well at least Vodka is cheap (phew).

I`ll write when something exiting happens... This was just an overview of something that has occured here and I`ll go in to more detail next time. それで、次の時間まで

Nähdään taas,
Tuomas