Back in Japan

Last Wednesday I left Gothenburg and Sweden for Japan. I arrived Thursday morning to Narita airport in Tokyo to be picked up by Mr Taniai (Tomoya's father) who carried my bag all the way to Tomoya's apartment, and treated me a coffee in Shinjuku. The flight was OK. I managed to sleep a little, although the lady next to me smelled of old fish and was bleeding nose blood half of the trip - at least something interesting happened. When I came to Japan, now for the third time in my life, I was less culture-shocked than I was expecting myself to be. The more I looked around me, the more I felt that everything was familiar. The inside of the subway trains looks the same, the houses are as dirty and tiny as before, the people are still as friendly and even the commercial on the TV-screens in the trains are the same as when I left. Nothing has changed, which felt good and reassuring. I noticed some new things about Japan though, that I didn't manage to take in last year when I was busy being homesick and taking care of paper work and other stuff for my coming year of exchange studies. For example, Japan smell of detergent. I'm used to it now, 3 days after arriving, but at Thursday when I arrived I could smell it everywhere. Some things I'm still very used to though. For example Tomoya's apartment, in which I felt like home the minute I entered it again. The tomatoes on the balcony had died, but otherwise everything else was just as when I left it. Thursday night I went to meet up with Jonathan while I waited for Tomoya to get back for work. Fun fact; Tomoya has been number one in his department on the list of people with most overtime hours two months in a row now. Around 300 people work in his department and Tomoya has been working for about 4 months. Good job in choosing boyfriend Sara! Yay! Anyhow. I went to meet my dear friend Jonathan the other day. We went to have some kaiten sushi (sushi that is coming on a conveyer belt and you pick what you want) and after that a coffee at Starbucks. The staff recognized me and I chatted a little with the very friendly girl who's there even when she is not working. On Friday I was supposed to meet up with Haruka, but she had to work until 6.30 in the morning and overslept. I accepted her apology without thinking twice. Instead, I went to buy nice tights in Marui, a shop that I've been missing a lot. The autumn fashion is of course superb over here. And more than in Sweden, it's obvious that purple is the colour this year. I bought two pair of tights with purple pattern and one red pair. On the afternoon I went to see Ashleigh, an English friend of mine who is working here as an aupair. She is returning to England this November and her family wants a new aupair from January. I'm thinking about taking the job. The mother, to whom I talked about it, seemed interested and she wants an answer as soon as possible. In that contract though, a flat is included. And with that flat comes a room mate. A French guy in his twenties. I'm not too thrilled about that and Tomoya seems even more suspicious. And yet, I have to be worried about the internship that starts in Nagoya this Wednesday. Too many decisions to make. Today me and Tomoya went shopping in Shinjuku. Tomoya has gone shopping crazy now when the autumn is here and I've been strolling after him for hours into expensive shops with Japanese funky brands. I bought a hat and he bought nothing. Hm. I also bought a cell phone. A pink/goldish fancy prepaid phone that wasn't too expensive and easy to use. As usual while shopping, we took a couple of breaks for coffee. Fist at Sega Fredo, the best coffee chain in the world, and then at a Japanese café where they roast the beans themselves. The café is situated in Shinjuku and every time I’ve been walking by I’ve smelled the same thing as one can do in our kitchen when my mum is roasting coffee. I’ve never managed to find the café but today we discovered a little stair leading down to it. It was cosy and the walls were covered in coffee cups of different kinds. Every guest got a unique cup. The downside was the price. 1000 yen (55 kr) per cup of regular coffe, not cappuccino or so. But it tasted good and there were many kinds of beans to choose from. Tomorrow we are going to Tomoya's parents house which is going to be nice as well. The thing that surprised me most when I came back here was how many things that I've been missing without noticing it too much. Like Starbucks, breakfast consisting of coffee and rice with egg served on a box as table, my friends here, how cheap the persimmons are, the clothes, the stores that are open 24-7 and so on. I suppose it was easier to come here this time, since I was prepared and had contacts here already. Last year I was lost and didn't know at all what to expect. Maybe that's why I've been more surprised than disappointed. Still, some annoying things are left, like telephone wires everywhere in the air, girls with too big shoes that are almost falling of every step they take etc. etc. Still, I'm not too sad, and I can enjoy a Tokyo and Japan much better this time, since I know what's waiting. And if I would get sick of this town, I'm going to Nagoya for almost a month, so I suppose I'll be busy as never before.