I am a person who likes to explore, to meet different cultures and people, I just enjoy that. I notice that I am happiest when I move around. There are many places where I like to be, where I feel at home but always after some time I look for a change, routine is something that kills me. So my curious nature is partly to blame for the fact that I find myself here on the other side of the world, far from anything familiar to me. Partly money, partly a wish to travel and partly circumstance.
I have been in Japan a month now and I have a lot to tell, don’t even know where to start and it is sometimes hard to describe the absurd everyday situations here. Until now I have been out of touch because I had a bit of a rough start here, I have been busy trying to learn how things work here and to fit in as fast as possible.
Prepare yourself because I will start my tale from the beginning. I had a wonderful week in London, meeting all my friends and being in church again I felt so blessed, so I charged my batteries for my journey into the unknown. Martin and Annette once again drove me to the airport and made sure that I had everything I needed. The 13 hour flight to Tokyo was very exciting for me, probably like most things you do for the first time. Usually when there is any motion I fall asleep very easily no matter how uncomfortable the seat is, but not this time. I was enjoying the non-stop service, watched three films, kept checking where we were at a given moment on the monitor in front of me, and every now and then, following Annette’s instructions, I had a short walk around the seats looking at the other passengers sleeping. Even the food was very good, I thought. Finally on 19 December around 10 am I arrived at Narita airport and the company agent was waiting for me. Mr. Murimoto, as he introduced himself, took me and the two other girls to a nearby hotel so we could have one night's rest. So that was good, but still not enough considering the next day was the longest day in my life. We woke up at 7am, had breakfast and then I was confronted with the harsh reality. They drove us to the ship, then we were introduced to the rules and safety procedures on the ship, had crew drill, and started work straightaway, with no food and no water. I felt like it was wartime and was just managing to keep from bursting into tears. On duty I wasn’t prepared for speaking only Japanese especially not knowing a word of it, so another misconception I had about how advanced and high-tech Japan is where people speak English was removed. Then I found out that we don’t have internet access either and the fact that I wouldn’t be able to contact my loved ones easily made me very sad, and helpless. The day finished at 10pm and I was able to have a good night's sleep and tried to think through all this and take stock of the situation I had put myself in.
The next two weeks were quite hard for me as well. I was just thrown in the deep end and needed to learn how to swim before I sank. Standing all day, my feet were killing me, so much that I couldn’t walk in the first few ports we visited, all I could think of was where to find somewhere to sit down. I was struggling to: learn Japanese and understand the menu, cope with the routine of laundry washing days and meals, understand the incomprehensible Japanese English of my managers, deal with my stolen bag while finding no help here… My bad sense of direction or lack of it at all was also a big problem for me, especially because the ship is big and it is all the same here and I was lost at regular intervals and my colleagues kept finding that amusing.
Writing this I can tell with certainty that I am a good swimmer. I have learnt enough Japanese to take the orders and every day I'm broadening my vocabulary; I have learnt how to nod my head like all the others when our managers tell us something, making a joint effort later to work out what they want; incredibly I don’t get lost anymore, at least not on the ship; my shoes don't bother me anymore. I could even say that I have started to enjoy it and I could get used to this. Every time waking up in another place and every day starting all over again to be surprised at and amused by the absurd Japanese culture about which I will talk in another post.
PS - If you want to see some photos just click on the right-hand link. :))
Friday, January 25, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
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