As you probably heard by now, we arrived safely in Japan and are right now in the process of getting settled into our new life and home.
The journey itself was quite alright, given the time it took to travel so far. At Frankfurt Airport, our families were saying goodbye to us and keeping us company until we had to go through the security check. It was really nice to have our families there for our last minutes in Frankfurt and we enjoyed it very much as it was important for us to say goodbye to everyone in person.
After the big goodbye we went directly to our first flight (Cathay Pacific) that would bring us to Hongkong from where we would fly with another plane to Komatsu. During the first flight we enjoyed the entertainment system and tried to relax a little bit (that didn’t really work out as neither of us slept). Arriving in Hongkong early in the morning, we had to spend some hours until the next flight would leave. We were very tired so it was difficult to stay awake and concentrate enough to get into the right plane! Unfortunately, we couldn’t see much of the airport surroundings as it was raining heavily. During the second flight we both slept all the time, happy that we managed to get a little rest.
Arriving in Komatsu was interesting. It is a very small airport and we don’t think that they are used to Europeans there. The airport staff was extremely friendly with us. And curious! Custom control was so funny, they were mainly asking questions what we would be doing in Japan and were absolutely thrilled that we managed to answer some questions in basic Japanese. After all the formalities were done, we were finally able to enter Japan and to meet with Niklas host, Professor Notsu and his wife Tomomi. They were collecting us from the airport and drove us directly to our Japanese flat in Kanazawa.
Both are such kind and friendly people, from the first minute we felt very welcome and we were glad that they assisted us with everything. They showed us our empty flat which is very large in terms of Japanese standards. We have three rooms, one kitchen and dining room, a bathroom and a separate toilet. As mentioned in the last post, we had to go furniture shopping, so after a short rest we did just that. Close to our apartment, there are several large stores, one is called “Nitori” which is kind of similar to IKEA. There, we bought a futon for us to sleep, a small dining table with chairs and a desk. However, we could only take the futon with us, the rest will be delivered - in some days. After our shopping haul, we went to the supermarket (which is HUGE!) and bought some diner, afterwards we went home and directly to bed.
Japanese supermarkets or shops in general can be intense for German people. There are different types of music and jingles EVERYWHERE, playing together and sounding a little bit disturbing for our soft ears. It is hard to concentrate on reading the Japanese signs (or thinking clearly) and in our tired state it was really very hard to endure. That is definitely something I have to get used to as you will find this situation in nearly every shop.
Today, we went shopping for furniture and general stuff again, after signing the rental contract at the agency. This took quite a while but in the end we managed to sign a rental contract for a fridge and a washing machine. So in some days, we will be able to store our own food again. :)
Tomorrow, we will go the Immigration Office and to the City Hall to get Niklas residence card and to register formally as new citizens of Kanazawa. Let’s see how this works out and if we already have everything for the application or if we have to get additional information that we weren’t aware of. Formal processes can be full of surprises…
Stay tuned for more!
Cloudy and rainy Hongkong
Our flight to Komatsu
First impressions of our neighborhood
Me, trying to concentrate what to buy while enduring three different melodies