A few more observations

Just a few different things about Japan.

You have to wear slippers around the house at all times EXCEPT when you enter a tatami room, tatami are woven mats that are laid on the floor, apparently in olden times rooms were measured by how many tatami it took to cover the floor. Wearing slippers is a problem for English people, at least for Ed it is, he forgets to put them on a lot and is often seen being followed around by one of the host family carrying his slippers to him...You can tell he is not swiss...

All toilets are high tech or low tech. If they are low tech you have to squat, this is mainly for public places but most modern building have high tech western toilets. How can a toilet be high tech I hear you ask, well for a start all seats are heated, even in public buildings, I personally find this a little disconcerting because i would prefer my toilet seat to be cold if you know what I mean. A lot of the toilets also have a control pad next to them where you can initiate all kinds of bottom cleaning and flushing. The first time you encounter one of these its good to know that the top button generally does the flush you are looking for. On no account press buttons at random when the seat cover is up, problems will ensue. A small thing that is actually very sensible is that the toilet tank fills up from a tap which pours into the cistern. What this means is that you can wash your hands with the water that will be used for the next flush, very eco friendly.

As I mentioned slippers are worn everywhere, including the toilet BUT not your normal house slippers, these you leave at the door to the toilet and put on the toilet slippers.

Finally putting a kimono on is not a trivial task, Stefania tried for over an hour on Monday night, you can see the pictures here

Arrived in Japan/Kanazawa

So first impressions of Japan, pretty much lives up to all its stereotypes.
The train was incredibly well organised, when you buy a ticket you have the choice of reserved seat or not, I took the reserved seat option which meant that when I had a change to make then my seats were organised so that I could simply step out of one train and into another (had to wait till another train had gone through though) Fortunately even if the signs weren't in English the trains run to the second so you can use the time of the train as a pretty good indicator that you are on the right one.

Just had my first real japanese conversation with the trolley lady on the train to Kanazawa, managed to get a black coffee by asking for it, she had to hold up fingers to get the right money off me but its a start!

Around Kansai airport into Osaka it was all pretty shabby housing and run down areas but as we left Osaka towards Kyoto everything became cleaner and more with traditional housing interspersed with high rise offices and flats. All the housing and streets are really narrow.

The train is running a lot along the coast line and here its incredible. The land is flat to the coast and then suddenly rises in mist covered mounds. As soon as the land starts to rise it is immediately covered with unbroken shrubs and trees.

Arrived at my host family house in Kanazawa now and "oh my Gosh!". They dont speak ANY English, which is great and also a little bit of a nightmare. As far as i can make out there are going to be 3 students staying in the house (but I could be completely wrong). They made me a meal as soon as I arrived and initially I thought she kept saying with meat but she didnt. For some reason I am not able to put my stuff in a bedroom yet, no idea something to do with another student who may or may not be stopping here but the lady told me to get a little kip on a tatami mat on a hard wooden floor. Yeah right I thought, so 3 hours of deep slumber later I have just woken up and found out they have broadband in the house :-). Her husband was in watching a GO game on tv but he took off soon after I arrived, possibly to do with how I smell, I need a shower after a hard days travelling but how to sort this out.

Going to go back downstairs now.