First week impressions

1 week gone by already so I thought I would write about general first impressions.

Somethings are really wierd, japan is just generally a bit grotty with some stunning pieces of architecture or gardens surrounded by factories or run down areas and buildings. Nothing really gets built up too high because of the threat of earthquakes and their are very lax zoning planning laws. The house I am staying in is beautiful and you would say this was a residential district yet next door is a garage and next to that is some kind of small scale wire wool factory..

If you sit down on a bus and there is a space next to you, no matter how full the bus gets no one will sit next to you, apparently there is a small stigma about gai-jin (foreigners), but the main reason they will leave the seat free is that they would be terrified you would talk to them and they would then have to say that they cant speak english. I was told that the gai-jin stigma thing was the reason that one of the other students despite being here 3 months already hasn't had a date yet so I am not 100% sure about the truth of this one...

Although the air seems clean enough its not uncommon to see people walking around with face masks on. Most of the bus drivers wear face masks and they all wear thin white gloves as do all the taxi drivers. Although japan is a rich country, Kanazawa is not where the money is, I havent seen one nice car since I have been here they must export all the good ones, maybe Tokyo and Osaka would be different so I guess I will have to wait till the next trip to find that out.

Fresh fish is everywhere, yesterday I ate smoked fish at the fish market absolutely no idea what kind of fish it was but I asked the guy if I could eat it straight away and when he said yes picked a couple up and started munching delicious. The fish market itself reminds me of the one in leeds but a lot lot bigger, probably how it was years and years ago.

In the centre of Kanazawa is its main tourist attraction, the kenkouku gardens, reputed to be one of the top 3 gardens in Japan, I have cycled round it and will visit it next week, its massive. Next to this is the museum of modern art which is interactive and has a great cafe, where I had tea (imagine a tea-latte) with new york cheesecake this afternoon. Also nearby is the Noh museum, this celebrates the traditional japanese stage play form "Noh". I intend to go into this when I can read some of the kanjii.

Just around the corner from the gardens and at the end of the main high street is Katamachi the entertainment district, basically this is where the karaoke bars and other bars are. Its all bright lights but very very small.

I know I said that Kanazawa wasnt where the money was but on the high street there is Gucci, Armani, Burburry, a couple of huge department stores, 9 floors each and a Louis Vuitton store is opening up in October, so I guess there is some money around just not to be spent on cars.

I am getting around on a bike I hired from the school, before I could take it I was treated to a stern lecture telling me to be extremely careful and to only ride on paths and to go slow. This is another feature there are signs for danger everywhere almost on every street corner, often I have no idea what they are warning you about, maybe that there is a road next to you so be careful. There are also descriptions on how to use everything. I bought a bottle of water from one of the ubiquitous vending machines and noticed there were instructions on the bottle telling me which way to turn the top. A lot of the vending machines can serve you hot tea and coffee in a can, or the same drink ice cold also in a can. I have discovered a new rule when I went to the lion costume museum on Tuesday. Vending machines are on every street corner, unless you have climbed up a hill 500 metres in which case there isnt another one for miles.

All in all a good week, learnt how to conjugate the verbs for the future, past and present tenses, how to negate them, how to use the possessive, tell the time, count and ask for directions, though if you have read my post on the business cards this doesn't mean the japanese necessarily understand everything i am asking for yet, but its been a good week. Roll on week 2.