Hello Japan: First month in Izumo
Oha!
Here I am blogging again, now at the start of the year, I know I made a
promise to myself that I will be more active in blogging this 2019, and
it's already march, and I have yet to write another entry...
A lot has happened since the past year, fixing all the necessary documents, waiting for the right moment to actually tell people (besides my family and boyfriend) that I am leaving for a year to live and work in Japan, I wanted to make sure everything goes well before actually posting about it.
So here I am, a month after...
My flight was 2.1.2019 via Philippine Airlines going to Haneda, Tokyo. I was stationed in Shimane Ken Izumo Shi along with these two lovely ladies Diane and Marianne, so we had a connecting flight from Haneda to Izumo shi via Japan Airlines.
The flight from Philippines to Japan was dreadful.. it's my first-time leaving home for this long, living alone, without my family, leaving my boyfriend Mike, leaving my baby boy Appa, and quitting a job that was fun for meand I loved my workmates... During the entire flight, I was holding back my tears, I couldn't enjoy the food, the movies on the plane... I actually wanted to quit and go back home. People who have known me for years would know, working and living in Japan has always been a dream of mine since I was young, and even though I was finally fulfilling that dream, I was not really happy... But, I tried to think positive, made myself think that a year will go by fast I would not even notice it... It was a 4 hour flight to Haneda, and we had 2 hours to spare before our next flight to Izumo, so we just waited around the airport for a bit because we wouldn't want to miss our flight... Then the flight from Haneda to Izumo was about an hour and a half.
When we arrived in Izumo City, we were
greeted by 3 of our colleagues, and they guided us to each of our apartments,
to be honest, we were shocked that we weren't going to live together in one
apartment complex and we would just have our own units.
Apparently, we lived in separate
apartment buildings...and they were not that close to each other... so we were
a bit disappointed about that.
But
over time, I started to like my apartment, and it was in the middle.
The day after we arrived, it was a Saturday,
and one of the support people took us out to shop for basic needs like food,
stuff to use at home, etc.
When Monday hit, we started working our
papers, like updating our residenc cards, getting our own Hanko (or stamp),
visiting the satellite office, etc.
The
apartment I live in was provided by the company, I'm on the 2nd floor, and the
bike in the preious photo is my bike, provided by the company as well.
A
lot has happened in the past month... but not really worth talking about I
guess.... I was depressed during the first week here in Izumo, our places had
no Internet/Wifi, so I had to wake up early, or sleep late so I could use the
wifi at the drug store near my place so I could call my family in the
Philippines...
Random photos of things that have
happened during the past few days lol
I
just wanted to give you guys an update on how I have been doing, so I'm just
going to spam you guys with photos I took over the past month!
During our first week, we started
working already lol, we picked up 3 filipino workers at the train station who
will be working at the factory that we will be supporting.
Dyan and I went to Aeon mall and had huge takoyaki for lunch, lol we went to bookstores, toy stores, clothing stores, and a lot of other places!
As expected, the items sold here are
really adorable! The mall we went to is a little far from my place, it was a 35
min walk! haha!
But once work started, our schedules
already changed, so during my next day off, I went to the mall near my place
alone~
This mall is called YouMe Town mall,
and this is where I bought my Router so that I would have my own internet at
home!
After
this, I went to dinner with some of the people from one process from the site
that we support. (2.12.19)
My first authentic Japanese restaurant
experience haha!
Although I have to admit, Its really lonely here... the mood of the city is gloomy, not much people walk or ride their bikes, almost everyone has their own car since a lot of the places are pretty far from each other... but I am getting used to doing things alone...
I ate at an Italian themed cafe alone one time, and they had the creamiest carbonara!
As days go by, I try to familiarize
myself with the city, and try to relax and not pressure myself too much... I
tend to do things alone usually, and I always video call my parents and
boyfriend since it feels like I dont have anyone to talk about my problems with
lol
But
a month has gone by, and the 3 of us were lucky we were able to go out! (me,
Dyan and Marianne).
It has been a rollercoaster month
(2.1.19 ~ 3.1.19)
To
be honest, I didnt really expect it was going to be this hard, lonely, and
sad... I know I sound so negative, but working/living here in Japan has been a
dream of mine since high school...so I expected I was going to be ready,
challenged, and happy... I never expected to be this sad lol I guess I am
clingy, its my first time leaving my family and boyfriend for this long... so I
guess thats why I am still home sick... plus I miss my dog sooo much ;A; but! I
will try to do my best!
2 comments
Woo! So happy for you Chii! I've been to Japan twice but the homesickness you get from staying there longer is different. But ganbatte!
ReplyDeleteArigatou Nadechi! I tried to make the post to not seem so depressing even though I was haha! but like what you suggested on facebook, I will make a detailed blog post on how my experience is so far and how I got the job and stuff~ :3
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