My first 24 hours in Tokyo

I arrived about 4pm. I was a bit nervous about going through customs because I didn't wanna tell them I was gonna look for a job in case it complicated matters. But customs was painless so that's good.

Immediately after I got out of the arrival gate I saw the booth for the airport limousine bus. So I got a ticket and was told that the bus would be arriving in four minutes. When the bus arrived I let the ojisan take my bags and then took my seat on the bus.

I asked the girl beside me what time we would arrive in Kichijoji. This started a conversation that lasted the whole two hour bus ride there. Her name is Aiko and she lives in Kichijoji and she's very cute! She gave me her email address and said sometime we should hang out. So even though I had just arrived in Tokyo, I made a new friend. I was also happy that my Japanese was holding up and I could converse with her.

Aiko was so helpful when I arrived in Kichijoji. She let me use her cellphone to call Yuji from Oakhouse and then helped me find him.

Yuji took me to Oakhouse and even though he can speak English, he spoke to me in Japanese the whole time. The room is bigger than I imagined it, and the closet is really big. But there are only three power outlets in the the room and they're all in the same spot, so I'll have to seriously invest in some power bars and extension cords to charge up all my gadgets. Yuji told me how to get to Inokashirakoen station (the closest station to my house) and then he left.

Feeling a need to connect to the outside world, I hooked up my computer to the internet. I was all set to blog/e-mail/whatever when I saw Akichan was on MSN Messenger. So we talked and decided to meet in Asagaya for a late dinner. I found the train station as per Yuji's instructions and went to Asagaya.




I haven't seen Aki in almost a year, but when we met it seemed just like yesterday. We picked up right where we left off and just talked about my plans for Tokyo. We went to an izakaya for dinner. Ohhh man, how I've missed really good Japanese food!!





When I got back to Inokashira station I suddenly realized I had a very big problem. I didn't know my way back to Oakhouse from the station. I didn't think it would be hard to find but I walked around for over two hours and couldn't see it anywhere. I went to the 7-11 and bought a map (because they had e-mailed me the address prior to arriving in Japan) but according to the address they gave me, the map said my place was east of the station when I knew it was really south. So then I called a taxi and the taxi driver couldn't find it either (he went to the same place that they said on the map). So I gave up because by this time it was 2:30am and I was really tired. So I had the taxi driver take me to a mangakissa (like a 24 hour internet cafe) in Kichijoji.

I stayed and slept at the mangakissa until about 7:00am and then I went back to Inokashirakoen station. In the daylight I was able to find the place; I was so happy! I
slept in my room until about 1:30pm and then I woke up and called Aki's cellphone via Skype on my computer. She said she thinks I can get a bank account and cellphone in my own name if I register with the city. She said her dad can help me. She said I should meet her dad at Asagaya station at 3:30 pm.

And that's exactly what I did. I went to the 7-11 and wolfed down a couple of corn mayo buns for brunch and then boarded the train for Asagaya.

Aki's father is so kind to help me like this. I can see how busy he is and yet he takes the time to help me out. He took me to the city government building and had me registered there. I'm not exactly sure but I think that by putting his name on the form, he's taking personal responsibilty for me. So they gave me a certificate and said that if I come back after April 7, I can get a proper alien registration card.

So that's my first 24 hours. All I can say is that it feels great to be back in Tokyo!