woensdag 28 mei 2008

Back to the nineties with YouTube

Japanese television being what is is (not very interesting) I spend a lot of time watching YouTube (Yay for internet connection with no download or upload volume limits). Have been watching a lot of 90's video clips (rave music ftw). Here are some examples for you to enjoy:

RMB - Spring


Dune - Can't Stop Raving

dinsdag 20 mei 2008

Job Hunt

Last week I was contacted by a person from Huckleberry English School (after sending out several letters to many different schools to apply for a job). They are looking for an English teacher in Asahikawa. After meeting with this person from Huckleberry it became clear to me that it is not really a school, but a company that introduces students to teachers for a fee (much like the website findateacher.net). After consulting with Kazumi I decided to take the offer. Today I'll meet up with my first prospective student. Let's hope it works out well.

edit: Things worked out well. Starting next week I'll be teaching English to my first student. Let's hope many more will follow.

maandag 19 mei 2008

Home Cooking

Today I'll tell a little bit about my home cooking. You may already know or perhaps not, but I do like cooking. At the moment it's Kazumi that goes out working all day long, so I usually prepare the evening dinner.

I do have some limited cooking experience from my time in Leuven, but cooking here in Japan is a little bit more challenging. "Why?" you might ask yourself. Well...

Firstly the Japanese diet is quite a bit different from our Belgian one. And of course I'm most familiar with Belgian dishes. As a consequence I've mainly prepared western food so far. Like for example spaghetti, beef stew, ... Luckily these were appreciated by Kazumi. Problem with cooking western style food is the cost though. Often ingredients are needed that are not so typical for Japan and hence they are pricy.

Another problem I have to deal with is the limited kitchen infrastructure: a very small fridge and only a single cooking plate. Not very practical, but you get used to it.

Today I prepared a Japanese dinner for a change. 「つくねとかぼちゃの煮もの」and「小松菜のひたし」. Or in English "A cooked dish of chicken meatloaf and Japanese pumpkin" and "Vegetable side dish with rape".Of course both are complemented by a bowl of rice. I have to admit it was a pretty tasty meal.

Yesterday we had sushi with a variety of side dishes. All prepared by Kazumi who still is not very confident about her cooking.

zondag 11 mei 2008

The big move - Part 5

Together with Kazumi I leave the airport, destination Sapporo. It takes approximately half an hour by train to get there. First thing to do when we arrive there is put away all my luggage in a coin locker. Got some shopping to do and don't want to carry around my luggage all the time.

Once the luggage is put away we head for ビックカメラ (BicCamera) for some shopping. I'm shopping for a wireless router, keyboard and printer. I used the shop website to do my research before arriving here so shopping should go smoothly.

For the people interested in this stuff:

Wireless Router: Buffalo Airstation WHR-AMPG
Printer: Epson Colorio PM-960
Keyboard: Logicool Wave

Now that the shopping is done we would like to get some food. One problem... Luggage... The printer is rather large and heavy. No way we can take this with us inside a restaurant. So we head for the coin lockers again.

Once the stuff is put away we start looking for a place to eat. Lots of restaurants in the area, but I would like some sushi (and not too expensive if possible). So we go to a kaitenzushi (sushi is put on a conveyor belt that passes in front of the guests and you pick whatever you like).

After getting our fill of sushi it's time to collect the luggage from the coin lockers and head for Asahikawa. Getting on the train is a bit troublesome now with all this luggage. But we manage somehow. One hour and a half later we arrive in Asahikawa.

A short ride by car later we arrive at home, a manshion type building (4 apartments) called Clione.

zaterdag 10 mei 2008

The big move - Part 4

-= 1.30 PM =-
The airplane is descending towards New Chitose Airport. Japanese soil at last. It has been approximately half a year since I was in Japan and I'm looking forward to seeing Kazumi again after such a long time. She promised to meet me at the airport.

But first I have to get my luggage and pass immigration of course. This hasn't been a problem in the past, so I don't forsee any problems this time either. New this time is that immigration takes finger prints and a facial shot from every foreigner entering Japan. A quick look at my passport and visa and some stamps later I can go on to the luggage retrieval area.

After waiting a littel while I see my luggage appear on the conveyor belt (I was a bit anxious since my luggage got delayed couple of days last time I took an airplane). Pick up luggage and head for customs.

Customs shows me the obligatory pictures of goods you are not allowed to take with you (narcotics, guns, ...). Of course I have nothing of the sort on me. Still want to check the contents of my luggage (guess the customs agent has to do his job). So a quick peek at my luggage and x-ray scan of my shoes later I can finally leave the customs area.

Kazumi is waiting for me already and together we head for the train station. The train will take us from New Chitose Airport to Sapporo station. Will go shopping for goodies in Sapporo before going on to our final destination. More about the shopping in my next post.

maandag 5 mei 2008

The big move - Part 3

-= ~11.20 AM =-
I leave Frankfurt airport with destination Taipei (Taiwan). The flight will take approximately 13 hours. I've been assigned an isle seat. The seat next to me is occupied by a quiet Taiwanese woman.

Once in the air I fire up the in-seat entertainment system. There's a variety of on-demand movies, music, ... I start with "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" and watch a couple of other movies afterwards. Getting tired after all this entertainment and try to take a nap (not an easy task for a tall person sitting in an economy class seat).

-= ~5.30 AM=-
After an uneventful flight I arrive in Taipei. It's still very early and as a consequence it's not yet possible to pass the security checks for my next flight.

-= ~6 AM =-
I pass the security checks and sit down at my departing gate. I'm the first passenger to arrive here.As you can see the place is quite deserted.

-= ~9 AM =-
I leave Taipei towards my final destination: 新千歳空港 (New-Chitose-Airport). The flight takes approximately 4 hours. After the meal is served I try to get some more sleep. It has been a very long day with little sleep already and it will be a while before I can crawl into my futon to get more sleep.

zondag 4 mei 2008

The big move - Part 2

-= ~6 AM =-
According to my ticket I have to be at the boarding gate at 5:55AM. I make it there just in time (that gate was further from the security checkpoint than I had imagined). Anyhow, boarding hasn't started yet so I'm fine.

After a little while I can board the airplane. I've been assigned a window seat. Nobody sitting next to me so there's plenty of room to relax.

-= ~6.30 AM =-
We leave Brussels National Airport with destination Frankfurt. The flight only takes 1 hour approximately.

Very soon we land in Frankfurt. Now I have to find out where to get my boarding tickets for the next flight since I didn't receive those yet in Brussels. It's not immediately clear where I can get those tickets (signalisation for transit passengers is a lot better at Heathrow airport in my opinion). But after asking a security person it becomes clear I have to transfer to another zone by shuttle.

Still takes me a while to find the check-in desks for China Airlines. But I get my boarding passes eventually. From then on it's just a semi-long wait before I can board the next airplane.

The big move - Part 1

Saturday, the 26th of April 2008.

After lots op preparations the time for my move to Japan has finally come.

-= ~2 AM -=
Getting out of bed after a little bit of sleep. Went to the movies with my little sister the night before and only got 1 hour of sleep.

-= ~3 AM =-
Leaving the house together with my father, mother and little sister. It takes approximately 45 minutes to get from our home to the airport. My flight leaves at 6.25 AM so we should arrive at the airport with more than enough time to spare.

-= ~4 AM =-
We arrived safely at the airport. Still a bit early for check-in it seems. We hang around a little bit till my flight appears on the displays that guide people to the correct check-in desk. After waiting a short while I can check-in.
It's still very early and as a consequence most shops at the airport are still closed. One of the croisanteries has already opened though, so that's where we sit down for a bit, zipping up a coffee and enjoying a small breakfast.

-= ~5.30 AM =-


Time to say goodbye to my parents and little sister. A moment I had not been looking forward to. As much as I want to go to Japan to live together with my lovely Kazumi, saying goodbye to my family is hard.