Lenette's first impresions
01 Apr 2005
Here I am, in Nagasaki. The “night before” was quite nice. Friday night I stayed at my parent’s place and the whole family came to visit. The plane was scheduled to leave at 11.45am left from Eindhoven Airport on Saturday, so we had time for a leisurely breakfast and left for the airport at 10.45am. The only thing I was nervous about was the 27 kg in my suitcase, where I was only allowed to take 20kg. Luckily they accepted the suitcases, otherwise I wouldn’t have known what to take out. My parents waved goodbye from the airport’s balcony, and I, as the proverbial blonde, waved back from the plane, dûh…
On Monday we went to the city hall for our alien registration. Filled out the form, gave the passports and after half an hour we got the passports back, with the form and various stamps. In 2 weeks time we can pick up our alien registration card and will we be legal. That’s handy, so we can open a bank account.
I have already walked quite a few kilometers. I haven’t gotten lost yet, but that is easy since I didn’t have a certain goal to walk too…. One can stay on the main roads, but there are also a lot of small paths and stairs. One afternoon I just followed some of those small paths, up the hill, down the ill, I wouldn’t remember which way I walked, but is was great. Beautiful houses alternated by houses made of various materials, old doors, wooden boards, brickwork etc. and in between those houses you find apartment buildings. Bonsai trees galore, just like that, in little pots along side the paths, no chains or anything. Great to see that you don’t need to be afraid they get stolen. People are very friendly, too bad I don’t speak Japanese and therefore cannot say more than “konnitchiwa” (hello). A friendly woman started speaking to me, but unfortunately I didn’t understand a word she said.
The weather changes a lot, Sunday and Monday cold weather with strong winds, Tuesday a bit warmer, no wind and fewer clouds, Wednesday nice weather with blue skies and a lovely sun, I enjoyed a coke on a terrace with ocean view. But Thursday it was back to gray skies, rain a quite a bit cooler. So you see, I already feel quite at home here with this unpredictable weather. But that doesn’t matter, the heater works in the apartment and the toilet has been programmed, no more cold buttocks but a pre-heated toilet seat. The water for the automatic butt-washer is at a nice temperature and the butt-dryer is not too hot either. A nice save-water-gadget is the integrated water fountain on top of the toilet. The water that is being used to fill the water reservoir, is first being used by you when you wash your hands – handy! I have also found the mirror heater in the bathroom, no more steamed up mirror but a clear view of a “kaaskop” who just had a shower.
The streetcars are a handy form of transportation here. We can get on a streetcar right outside our apartment building. There is one price per ride, same price whether you get out the next stop or ride till the end of the line. You get on in the back of the streetcar, and hope that you were able to move to the front on time so you can get out at your stop. The driver wears a little head mike, through which he speaks almost constantly. I, of course, have no idea what he is talking about, he probably welcomes everybody on board, wishes everybody who gets off, a good day, urges everybody to move to the front of the car so other people can get in…. but, while the driver is talking, a tape also plays, with a friendly female voice, who probably announces which stop you just left and which stop will be the next one – I make this all up, since I don’t understand a word she says.
Nagasaki is a real provincial town. Eindhoven is longer awake than Nagasaki, according to Carlos, as a “guy from the big city” he considers Eindhoven to be a big village. But the atmosphere is very friendly, you can walk the streets at night without a worry. Mobile phones here are “fridge size”, so watch out, that is going to be the next trend at your place. Almost everybody has a kind of key chain attached to their mobile, which is handy, since you can easily find it in your bag or coat. For your convenience, the key chain often hangs outside the bag/coat pocket. In Holland that would mean you would be without your mobile before you turned the corner…
The apartment is more and more becoming home to us. Carlos bought some plants and flowers and now the photos have also arrived. We put them up on the wall by the dining room table. We would love it if you would send us a photo of yourself, so you can join our wall of fame (our address: Akurosu Beiru Ohunagura 1501, 1-1 Ohunagura-machi, Nagasaki-city, Nagasaki 850-0042, Japan). We have a lot of white walls, so send lots of photos. We are lucky that we already have some nice lamps in the apartment. We also have TL lights here – the round ones. But luckily you can dim the lights, use one TL versus both of them…
We found the local second hand bookstore, unfortunately no English books, but thousands of Japanese romance books, comic books and magazines, together with thousands of small SciFi like toys. In the back of the store, behind small curtains, there is an entrance to the sex section of the store. Lots of magazines and DVDs, all sealed, so you cannot have a peak. In the back wall, there is a small hole in the wall (40x40cm), Japanese chest height, so you can anonymously pay for your magazines – very customer friendly.
Yesterday we had dinner at the sushi restaurant where Carlos met his pensioned friend. Great, all those types of sushi, the mini salads and desserts are also served on those little plates. On the bar you find soy sauce, ginger and powder green tea. You get a mug, which also pass you by on a conveyor belt, put the powder in and take hot water from a faucet, which you find in the bar, every two seats have their own faucet. The plates on which the sushi is served, are color coded. Each color has it’s own value and when you are finished eating, the waitress counts the plates, writes the bill and you go to the cashier to pay. We had a great dinner, this is a place we will certainly visit more often…
On Monday we went to the city hall for our alien registration. Filled out the form, gave the passports and after half an hour we got the passports back, with the form and various stamps. In 2 weeks time we can pick up our alien registration card and will we be legal. That’s handy, so we can open a bank account.
I have already walked quite a few kilometers. I haven’t gotten lost yet, but that is easy since I didn’t have a certain goal to walk too…. One can stay on the main roads, but there are also a lot of small paths and stairs. One afternoon I just followed some of those small paths, up the hill, down the ill, I wouldn’t remember which way I walked, but is was great. Beautiful houses alternated by houses made of various materials, old doors, wooden boards, brickwork etc. and in between those houses you find apartment buildings. Bonsai trees galore, just like that, in little pots along side the paths, no chains or anything. Great to see that you don’t need to be afraid they get stolen. People are very friendly, too bad I don’t speak Japanese and therefore cannot say more than “konnitchiwa” (hello). A friendly woman started speaking to me, but unfortunately I didn’t understand a word she said.
The weather changes a lot, Sunday and Monday cold weather with strong winds, Tuesday a bit warmer, no wind and fewer clouds, Wednesday nice weather with blue skies and a lovely sun, I enjoyed a coke on a terrace with ocean view. But Thursday it was back to gray skies, rain a quite a bit cooler. So you see, I already feel quite at home here with this unpredictable weather. But that doesn’t matter, the heater works in the apartment and the toilet has been programmed, no more cold buttocks but a pre-heated toilet seat. The water for the automatic butt-washer is at a nice temperature and the butt-dryer is not too hot either. A nice save-water-gadget is the integrated water fountain on top of the toilet. The water that is being used to fill the water reservoir, is first being used by you when you wash your hands – handy! I have also found the mirror heater in the bathroom, no more steamed up mirror but a clear view of a “kaaskop” who just had a shower.
The streetcars are a handy form of transportation here. We can get on a streetcar right outside our apartment building. There is one price per ride, same price whether you get out the next stop or ride till the end of the line. You get on in the back of the streetcar, and hope that you were able to move to the front on time so you can get out at your stop. The driver wears a little head mike, through which he speaks almost constantly. I, of course, have no idea what he is talking about, he probably welcomes everybody on board, wishes everybody who gets off, a good day, urges everybody to move to the front of the car so other people can get in…. but, while the driver is talking, a tape also plays, with a friendly female voice, who probably announces which stop you just left and which stop will be the next one – I make this all up, since I don’t understand a word she says.
Nagasaki is a real provincial town. Eindhoven is longer awake than Nagasaki, according to Carlos, as a “guy from the big city” he considers Eindhoven to be a big village. But the atmosphere is very friendly, you can walk the streets at night without a worry. Mobile phones here are “fridge size”, so watch out, that is going to be the next trend at your place. Almost everybody has a kind of key chain attached to their mobile, which is handy, since you can easily find it in your bag or coat. For your convenience, the key chain often hangs outside the bag/coat pocket. In Holland that would mean you would be without your mobile before you turned the corner…
The apartment is more and more becoming home to us. Carlos bought some plants and flowers and now the photos have also arrived. We put them up on the wall by the dining room table. We would love it if you would send us a photo of yourself, so you can join our wall of fame (our address: Akurosu Beiru Ohunagura 1501, 1-1 Ohunagura-machi, Nagasaki-city, Nagasaki 850-0042, Japan). We have a lot of white walls, so send lots of photos. We are lucky that we already have some nice lamps in the apartment. We also have TL lights here – the round ones. But luckily you can dim the lights, use one TL versus both of them…
We found the local second hand bookstore, unfortunately no English books, but thousands of Japanese romance books, comic books and magazines, together with thousands of small SciFi like toys. In the back of the store, behind small curtains, there is an entrance to the sex section of the store. Lots of magazines and DVDs, all sealed, so you cannot have a peak. In the back wall, there is a small hole in the wall (40x40cm), Japanese chest height, so you can anonymously pay for your magazines – very customer friendly.
Yesterday we had dinner at the sushi restaurant where Carlos met his pensioned friend. Great, all those types of sushi, the mini salads and desserts are also served on those little plates. On the bar you find soy sauce, ginger and powder green tea. You get a mug, which also pass you by on a conveyor belt, put the powder in and take hot water from a faucet, which you find in the bar, every two seats have their own faucet. The plates on which the sushi is served, are color coded. Each color has it’s own value and when you are finished eating, the waitress counts the plates, writes the bill and you go to the cashier to pay. We had a great dinner, this is a place we will certainly visit more often…