Blog 001, Siddhesh, Feb 2018, My first course in Japan: JP 101

Hi, Folks! Siddhesh here. I recently moved to Japan to work in Tohoku Murata. I am currently staying at Koriyama in Fukushima prefecture. And I'm here to share my experiences, thoughts I had so far.

Famous seaside shrine of Miyajima

It's been just 4 months yet but I have already started liking Japan. There are so many things that I like about Japan. First is it's scenic beauty. Though small in area, but it has every kind of landscape packed in it. You can climb up to Mount Fuji or dive deep in ocean at Okinawa or enjoy snowy winters in Hokkaido or if you don't like to travel much, then you can always have good time at clubs in Tokyo. Travelling in Japan is little bit expensive but you can find discount passes which can be used in specific areas for unlimited travel and save money. What's more exciting is weeklong holidays in May, August and new year holidays. You get chance to plan your trip well. All bus and train schedules are easily available over internet and as you must have heard, they run on time. During travelling you may face a problem about food if you are a vegetarian but not that severe. Most of the restaurants have at least 1-2 veg dishes. If they don't and you ask them to make one, they will make one for you. But that's during travelling. At home, you can buy vegetables from suppermarkets and cook by myself. For a change, you can learn and cook some Japanese dishes. So far, I have learnt to make Soba (Japanese noodles) and Okonomiyaki (similar to pancakes).

At Izumo Taisha

Other thing I like about Japan is the quiet environment. You don't have to go away from city to enjoy peacefulness. It's always quiet in your neighborhood or in building. Though in India, we like to get mix with colleagues or neighborhood, Japanese people like to keep to themselves. Some people may not like this but you still have India n community here. You can arrange small get-togethers like we do here in Koriyama. On some weekend, we make some Indian dishes together in groups of 2-3 and meet at someone's apartment and share it among ourselves. In this way, we get chance to eat Indian food and spend some quality time together.

Vegan Ramen in Sendai

Most of the people complain about language problem while moving to Japan. In my opinion, if you have learnt JLPT level N5 and N4, you should be able to manage here. While working in company, most people understand English. You need to use Japanese more while interacting with sellers or during travelling. If you face a problem, you can always use some online translation app. But it is better to learn Japanese, if you want to get good experiences in Japan. You will get chance to mix with Japanese people and get to know their culture, if you are interested. Day-to-day life in Japan is much convenient because of convenience store. You can buy all food items, stationary, toiletries, pay your utility bills. Most of the stores will also have ATMs, Xerox machines. The closest store to your home will be at less than 200 meters and they are open for 24 hours. Too convenient, isn't it?

I may have written more than required but there are so many things to share about Japan that this space is small to do it and you will get bored of reading such lengthy articles. I have recently started writing travel blog about my trips in Japan. You can check it out through the following link (https://pathila.wordpress.com/home/) if you are really excited about Japan. I also would like to thank IITBAA Japan Chapter to give me opportunity to share my experiences here. That's another good thing here in Japan. Where ever you go, you will find some alumni and they will always help you out. IITBAA Japan Chapter keeps organizing some meets up through out the year to keep people together.

At Inawashiro lake in winter

Thanks for reading till now. I have shared what I felt during my 4 months stay here so far. But it's always good to have second opinion. I would like to ask Gagan to share his experiences. He has been here for 1.5 year now. BTW, if you want to know anything about Japan, travel, money, food anything, he is the guy you should look for. He has done research about almost everything in Japan. Let's hear from him something in next blog.