I'm sorry for not blogging more often, but I've had problems with internet connection, transferring pictures etc. Anyhow, as some of you might now I'm currently in Nagoya, doing a 1,5 months long internship. I arrived to Nagoya station last Wednesday. It only took 2 hours by Shinkansen but the cost was about 10 000 yen (550kr). At the station I got directions from Michael, my boss, to our meeting spot. After meeting up we went to the office and I was introduced
to what felt like 5268 Japanese salary men, everybody having the same name. Takahara, Nakamura, Takeda, Nakata, Takahashi, Nakatake and so on. As if that wasn't confusing enough for one day I was also introduced to my new computer, cell phone, the email system and a lot of other stuff that I'm supposed to keep track of. I admit, the first day was not too fun and I was regretting that I'd ever set my foot in Nagoya at all. The next day however, it got better. People at work are kind, impressed by my Japanese and very helpful. I also did 2 hours of overtime work my first real day at work. I'm starting to feel Japanese. At Friday I started working for real, with serious tasks and stuff. I got a lot of little missions that were really fun and I'm also in charge of things that are really interesting and challenging. It's sort of weird to feel somewhat important and do something that will be noticed. But it's nice. Very nice. By the way, the company is providing me with a little apartment as well. It's a bout 3 times bigger than my dorm room maybe, and equipped with a bath, a little kitchen and even a TV. I have a nice view over a
little temple from my balcony and the neighborhood is full of small funny cafes. Anyway. Friday night we went out with some colleagues. There's one girl, Yukosan, who's really nice and friendly and also has a sense of humor. Some of the girls at office are of course shy, already married, and have no time at all to go shopping or hangi
ng at cafes with new coworkers, but a couple of them, including Yuko, are interested in other cultures and don't mind hanging with the foreigners at all. Yesterday the two other Swedes at the office and I went exploring the nightlife of Nagoya. Before that we had sushi in the boss' apartment. A lot of sushi... Then we went to Karaoke, and I could enjoy listening to happy Swedes singing Take on me with Aha. Even though I've spent the weekend with Swedes I get the feeling that there are less foreigners here than in Tokyo. In this case I would say that it's actually an advantage since the foreigners who actually are here get integrated instead of pushed together into a group. In Tokyo I mostly spent time with other foreigners, but since they are so few here, the Japanese seem more curious and easier to bond with
somehow. There are other things about Nagoya that are different. To begin with, it's warmer here. The Tokyo I left had autumn climate, but the Nagoya I'm in now is warm like nice Swedish summer days. So, I'm supposed to be in Nagoya until the 24th of October, but since next Monday is a national holiday, I've already bought Shinkansen tickets and will stay with Tomoya in Tokyo from Friday to Monday. I think that will be very nice since it easily gets lonely in this little apartment with no one to await from work in the evening. Today, I'm going to meet up with Martin, a Swede at the office, and he will show me around Nagoya a bit.
I'm sorry for not blogging more often, but I've had problems with internet connection, transferring pictures etc. Anyhow, as some of you might now I'm currently in Nagoya, doing a 1,5 months long internship. I arrived to Nagoya station last Wednesday. It only took 2 hours by Shinkansen but the cost was about 10 000 yen (550kr). At the station I got directions from Michael, my boss, to our meeting spot. After meeting up we went to the office and I was introduced
to what felt like 5268 Japanese salary men, everybody having the same name. Takahara, Nakamura, Takeda, Nakata, Takahashi, Nakatake and so on. As if that wasn't confusing enough for one day I was also introduced to my new computer, cell phone, the email system and a lot of other stuff that I'm supposed to keep track of. I admit, the first day was not too fun and I was regretting that I'd ever set my foot in Nagoya at all. The next day however, it got better. People at work are kind, impressed by my Japanese and very helpful. I also did 2 hours of overtime work my first real day at work. I'm starting to feel Japanese. At Friday I started working for real, with serious tasks and stuff. I got a lot of little missions that were really fun and I'm also in charge of things that are really interesting and challenging. It's sort of weird to feel somewhat important and do something that will be noticed. But it's nice. Very nice. By the way, the company is providing me with a little apartment as well. It's a bout 3 times bigger than my dorm room maybe, and equipped with a bath, a little kitchen and even a TV. I have a nice view over a 
little temple from my balcony and the neighborhood is full of small funny cafes. Anyway. Friday night we went out with some colleagues. There's one girl, Yukosan, who's really nice and friendly and also has a sense of humor. Some of the girls at office are of course shy, already married, and have no time at all to go shopping or hangi
ng at cafes with new coworkers, but a couple of them, including Yuko, are interested in other cultures and don't mind hanging with the foreigners at all. Yesterday the two other Swedes at the office and I went exploring the nightlife of Nagoya. Before that we had sushi in the boss' apartment. A lot of sushi... Then we went to Karaoke, and I could enjoy listening to happy Swedes singing Take on me with Aha. Even though I've spent the weekend with Swedes I get the feeling that there are less foreigners here than in Tokyo. In this case I would say that it's actually an advantage since the foreigners who actually are here get integrated instead of pushed together into a group. In Tokyo I mostly spent time with other foreigners, but since they are so few here, the Japanese seem more curious and easier to bond with
somehow. There are other things about Nagoya that are different. To begin with, it's warmer here. The Tokyo I left had autumn climate, but the Nagoya I'm in now is warm like nice Swedish summer days. So, I'm supposed to be in Nagoya until the 24th of October, but since next Monday is a national holiday, I've already bought Shinkansen tickets and will stay with Tomoya in Tokyo from Friday to Monday. I think that will be very nice since it easily gets lonely in this little apartment with no one to await from work in the evening. Today, I'm going to meet up with Martin, a Swede at the office, and he will show me around Nagoya a bit. 
2 kommentarer:
I think Nagoya seems like a nice place to be stuck!!
...och snygg i håret är du också!
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