Getting there
Ouch! What a journey. Definitely some good Deep Vein Thrombosis (always thought that sounded like a kind of cheese) potential there. The flight was cheap (Sri Lankan Airlines) but I understood why when the plane landed, took off again, and started taking me back in the direction I'd come from. We landed in Male, then went to Colombo, then from Colombo back to Male again, before finally heading to Tokyo. Worse still, the movie of choice was Indiana Jones IV. I had held out so long desperately trying not to see that movie, but give anyone 24 hours in a plane and they'd even watch National Treasure 2.
Arrived at the airport and got through the security bits fine. Then got the express train from Narita airport all the way to Ikebukuro. That was a great experience, watching the rice paddies slowly transform into the sprawling hive that is Tokyo, decked out in rainbow streaks of electronic signs that are so brilliant, you'd think you walked into a scene from Blade Runner while on an acid trip.
Then my luggage broke, and I had to navigate from Ikebukuro (north west chunky part of the city) to Oyama. Unfortunately this happened just as rush hour was kicking in, so I felt a bit of pressure to get a move on. I ought not to have worried though, because the thousands of Japanese who were coming back from work or university did not push or shove, or 'tut' when I accidentally got in their way. The whole thing was a smooth, albeit overcrowded, experience to the extent that you could believe it was orchestrated. If the London underground had to deal with this many people, I imagine the "Capital of the World" would collapse in less than a day, not to mention the murder rate would hit the roof.
Where I live
.JPG)
Amazing! Oyama (大山・おおやま/"or-yama") was some absolute nowhere, boring, non-happening place when I asked my students in London. I was convinced I was moving to some sort of hamlet, populated by a couple of Japanese outcasts; the Hull of Japan. Many of my students hadn't even heard of it. Yet Oyama, as I suspect most places in Tokyo are, is brilliant. Lots of bars/restaurants/Izakayas, and at night the place is lit up like a disco dream. There's a massive arcade which generates quite an impressive sonic wall when you walk past it, full as it is of youngsters playing a variety of crazy, garishly-coloured slot machines.
It's also very convenient (とても便利/べんり/benriですよ) as it's only a 4 minute ride into Ikebukuro, which I tried to explore but I was so jetlagged I fled, not wanting to exlore somewhere that overwhelmingly impressive when not totally compus mentis.But beware the perils of getting to Oyama. If anything teaches you the intricacies of the Japanese language, it's where I live now. Why? Because there is Oyama (pronounced "Or-yama") and there is also... Oyama. The difference being that in Japanese the first Oyama is written おおやま and the second is written with just one お、so it's おやま。
"or-yama" おおやま・大山Big mountain
"o-yama" おやま・小山Little Mountain
So beware!! Fortunately I got to the correct Oyama, but one of my flatmates, who's pretty savvy, went to the wrong Oyama which is some two hours outside of central Japan. Poor dude!
Anyway, I got here, it's great, and I'm alive. My flatmates are also an amazingly cool bunch. There're Japanese, Koreans and two American dudes living here. Great stuff!
Now I shall have to get exploring!
Ouch! What a journey. Definitely some good Deep Vein Thrombosis (always thought that sounded like a kind of cheese) potential there. The flight was cheap (Sri Lankan Airlines) but I understood why when the plane landed, took off again, and started taking me back in the direction I'd come from. We landed in Male, then went to Colombo, then from Colombo back to Male again, before finally heading to Tokyo. Worse still, the movie of choice was Indiana Jones IV. I had held out so long desperately trying not to see that movie, but give anyone 24 hours in a plane and they'd even watch National Treasure 2.
Arrived at the airport and got through the security bits fine. Then got the express train from Narita airport all the way to Ikebukuro. That was a great experience, watching the rice paddies slowly transform into the sprawling hive that is Tokyo, decked out in rainbow streaks of electronic signs that are so brilliant, you'd think you walked into a scene from Blade Runner while on an acid trip.
Then my luggage broke, and I had to navigate from Ikebukuro (north west chunky part of the city) to Oyama. Unfortunately this happened just as rush hour was kicking in, so I felt a bit of pressure to get a move on. I ought not to have worried though, because the thousands of Japanese who were coming back from work or university did not push or shove, or 'tut' when I accidentally got in their way. The whole thing was a smooth, albeit overcrowded, experience to the extent that you could believe it was orchestrated. If the London underground had to deal with this many people, I imagine the "Capital of the World" would collapse in less than a day, not to mention the murder rate would hit the roof.
Where I live
.JPG)
Amazing! Oyama (大山・おおやま/"or-yama") was some absolute nowhere, boring, non-happening place when I asked my students in London. I was convinced I was moving to some sort of hamlet, populated by a couple of Japanese outcasts; the Hull of Japan. Many of my students hadn't even heard of it. Yet Oyama, as I suspect most places in Tokyo are, is brilliant. Lots of bars/restaurants/Izakayas, and at night the place is lit up like a disco dream. There's a massive arcade which generates quite an impressive sonic wall when you walk past it, full as it is of youngsters playing a variety of crazy, garishly-coloured slot machines.It's also very convenient (とても便利/べんり/benriですよ) as it's only a 4 minute ride into Ikebukuro, which I tried to explore but I was so jetlagged I fled, not wanting to exlore somewhere that overwhelmingly impressive when not totally compus mentis.But beware the perils of getting to Oyama. If anything teaches you the intricacies of the Japanese language, it's where I live now. Why? Because there is Oyama (pronounced "Or-yama") and there is also... Oyama. The difference being that in Japanese the first Oyama is written おおやま and the second is written with just one お、so it's おやま。
"or-yama" おおやま・大山Big mountain
"o-yama" おやま・小山Little Mountain
So beware!! Fortunately I got to the correct Oyama, but one of my flatmates, who's pretty savvy, went to the wrong Oyama which is some two hours outside of central Japan. Poor dude!
Anyway, I got here, it's great, and I'm alive. My flatmates are also an amazingly cool bunch. There're Japanese, Koreans and two American dudes living here. Great stuff!Now I shall have to get exploring!
sayounara
さようなら＾ｖ＾
さようなら＾ｖ＾
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