First day in Oita where I will study one semester

Well, when I said that Japan is a clean and modern country, I take it back now. For Fukuoka (the biggest city on this island Kyushu) this might be true, but here in Oita it is different. The student dorm is filthy. Everywhere dead insects are lying around. It’s like it has not been cleaned in years. The rooms are old, dirty, and smelly. The first day here I just wanted to go back home.
The pictures look better than reality.





Thank God that our Japanese friends help us to organize everything the first days. Without them we would be lost. If you are in a country where you cannot read a single sign and where people do not speak English it is very difficult to accomplish anything. How to take a bus to a certain place, how to use the washing machine, how to know salt and sugar in the supermarket, how to buy a cell phone? And without a car in the first days you are helpless, because you have to buy like EVERYTHING. Bedding, water, kitchenware, cell phone, food, cleaning devices, …

From left to right: Fabian, me, Micchan, Koji, Miriam, Eriko, and Marion

In front of the Nitori where we bought our whole supply on the first day when we arrived!

It was so much! (And my cart is not on the picture by the way and later we went even more shopping in the famous 100 Yen Shop)

Eriko, Marion's tutor, is the typical all-Japanese girl ^_^ and she taught us how to do a proper Japanese pose! Still need some imrpovment though. I think we tilted our heads to the wrong side.

My first Japanese Udon soup! 

Why is the spoon so big?! 

It is impossible to eat Udon elegantly.

Micchan, our Japanese friend, showed me how to eat Udon properly - he sucked in the noodles and (!) the soup without (!) spoon!  Too bad I do not have a picture of that.

I have to say the people here, as in Fukuoka, are extremely nice and polite. In the stores you rarely see a cashier without a smile and a polite word for you. It is like service heaven! I never encountered an unfriendly face (in contrast to Germany).

The Japanese food is good. I like it :) We went to a sushi place, where the sushi runs around on this cirlce thing. We did not eat it though. It's supposed to be not really fresh. But everything was cheap! For two Inari I would pay 3 Euros in Germany, here it is only about 80 Cents (105 Yen)!




Japanese people divide their trash by 7 groups. It is an own science. Did not really get it yet. The trash in my room still sits around and waits to be put into groups.