Days 5/6 - Normal Life

The past two days have really just been "normal life". We've started out Japanese classes now. They're 3.5 hours in the morning, with a 30-40 minute commute each way. And then once we get home, we also have homework to do! So we haven't really gone out and done anything "fun" recently. 

The good thing is that at least the Japanese classes are going well. Despite some lack of sleep because of noisy roommates, Marlena and I have been able to keep up pretty well with this class despite joining 2 weeks late.

These posts take time to put together, so don't expect one every day. I'll try to update frequently though.

The Subway

The thing with our class starting at 9:10 is that it is still a busy commute time then! And if you know anything about Japan, you know that their subways tend to get busy. Luckily, by the time we get to the subway station there are no longer any "pushers" to pack everybody on the subway.

That still didn't prepare me for the first time going on the subway at a busy hour like this. It was PACKED. To get on, I literally had to just walk in and push until there was space. There was someone pushed into me from every angle, it was wild. More packed than even a busy Bluesfest concert where people are shoulder to shoulder.

I'm happy that I'm fairly tall by Japanese standards, so I can still see out the window. Probably helps to keep me grounded. And as for staying standing on the subway, there are tons of hanging straps from the rails to hang onto. Not that they're needed though, everybody is so tightly packed that even sharp brakes just cause you to lean on eachother a bit more than usual.

It's been interesting to do a couple times, but it is getting old fast. Part of me wants to try the even busier times when there are dedicated staff to push people onto trains, but maybe I'll hold off on that for a while.

Another thing I noticed about being in the train is that everybody is silent, there is absolutely no talking happening. I guess that's because everybody is commuting solo to work, but I would still imagine that there would be a group or two that have gotten "chummy" through these commutes. But in general talking on the train is frowned upon, so I guess that continues to hold true in the busy times.

Laundry

We finally ran through most of our clothes, and had to do laundry. The thought was that some things may be able to be worn twice (like shirts), but it's so darn hot here that everything gets too sweaty to even consider that.

The share house does have a washing machine on premises that costs 200¥ per load. However, after talking with some other people at the share house, we decided not to use it. I'm not sure how clean it would really be and I don't think it's taken care of well.

Instead, there are plenty of coin laundry facilities in the neighbourhood. There's 3 within a 5 minute walk! We decided to go down to the closest one to do our laundry. It's a small room with 3 washing machines (they also do trying in the same machine, it's a combo unit), and a bunch of dryers. It took us a while to figure out how to operate the machines, but eventually we were able to! Since they were high capacity, we did all our clothes and sheets in one go.

At the end of the Laundry, it cost us around $11 to wash a weeks worth of clothes for Marlena and I, as well as our sheets and towels. A tad on the expensive side. Utilities are really expensive in Japan, so it makes sense. It's actually the norm to only use a machine to wash your clothes, and then instead of using/owning a dryer, just hang dry your clothes on the balcony or roof. Many apartment buildings even have poles built-in to the balcony to facilitate it. I'll try and grab a picture and upload it below.

The next post is here: Day 7/8/9