Chotto Hasaam ne?

Day #81
Funds: $4400
Location:

Fukuoka, Japan (near Hikata Station, pictured)

Michael is having trouble with these weird Japanese keyboards

I made it! After wanting to go for far too long and being knocked back everytime by random obstacles, I had resigned myself to the fact that the universe had some sort of issue with the idea of me being in Japan. It was all seeming far too easy this time round, as all I had to do was count down the days and check and recheck my ticket to make sure I knew the right times, it wasn't fake, etc.
So anyway I got food poisoning and in the airport suffered a pretty violent response in which I nearly passed out and turned completely pale. Joy said my skin had never been so cold. With nearly an hour to go I was sitting in the airport lounge mumbling about needing to see a doctor and accepting that I was not going to get on this plane. This pretty much confirmed my theory about the universe, me and Japan, since I've never had food poisoning or whatever (we suspect it was home-made cola that did me in, of all things). After a few deep breaths I drew on my spite towards the universe to force myself onto my feet and rapidly recovered or something. Of course, I was a little concerned that my plane was going to crash or something, since that was pretty much the universe's last shot at stopping me. There was turbulence and we had to keep our seatbelts for the whole hour and a half we were in the air, tell me that's not a little creepy at least.

So like always I'd memorised the directions I got from the internet as well as a few choice facts that were relevant (Japanese streets often don't have signs, etc) and it would have gone mostly without a hitch, except I was a little dazed and confused so I got sort of lost for a while. In fairness though, I've been out walking once or twice already and even just by turning one corner I seem to have trouble tracing my steps back. Landmarks and a vague recollection of what certain characters mean has gotten me back, though. (This is why the map shows the train station I got off rather than the hostel, my sense of direction is still scrambled somehow.) It's still a little confusing because I can understand what a lot of signs mean thanks to my experience in China but that also means I keep nearly speaking Chinese to people ... it's getting better pretty quickly though, in fact everytime I see/hear a word I once knew in Jap it hits me after a couple second's delay and then I've got it again. I can actually feel it recovering with every tiny exchange or attempt to communicate. Spoke to Miki from a pay phone, and that did wonders for my mood as well. She's excited to see me too, and after 4 years we will! Hooray etc!

Oh and in the not-even-24-hours I've been here so far, I've established that pretty much every stereotype about the Japanese is true! People are really courteous, bowing to eachother, not running over pedestrians in their cars, driving on the left side of the road like SANE people ... I walked into a 7/11 and they actually did yell "Irasshaimase!!!" (a sort of welcome, I THINK it means something along the lines of "come in!"), and I am reliably told by other people at this hostel that this happens everywhere. I opened the door to leave, saw a little old lady coming in so I held it open for her. She apologised to me and hurried to get out of my way. People wait for the green man before crossing the street, even when there don't seem to be any cars!!! And of course, everyone is really patient when I'm miming or butchering their language.
Not that the Chinese don't have their own way of being awesome too, (and I learned by hanging out with Joy's family that they definitely have an insane courtesy thing going for them) it's just here feels so much cleaner and safer and nobody's stared at me or gotten cross with me for being a stupid foreigner. Ah well, Fukuoka is one of the quieter big-scale cities, I never went to like Xi'an or Guangzhou, maybe it's more like this there. Maybe Tokyo will be filled with people who are sick of white people too and apply silly stereotypes ... Will get back to you on that.

My hostel is incredibly comfortable, incidentally, and at 2000yen a night it's probably the cheapest I will find. Everything is warm, we have kitchen appliances, fast internet and a lounge room. Also, the toilet is a future toilet. It knows when you're sitting down and the seat warms up right away. I was able to understand the instructions on the arm rest and had a little fiddle ... ahah maybe it's not appropriate to talk too much about the functions. Suffice to say, they involved sanitation and comfort xD

Going dictionary hunting today, wanna get myself all the way up to speed, can't wait to get my hands on that phrase book I insisted Shannon bring with her xD