One of the many corners of Shibuya, Tokyo crazy downtown.
Getting settled in Japan is a mess. In order to be able to do anything, one needs:
1. Alien Registration
2. National Health Insurance
Only after receiving these two, one can get to:
3. Open a bank account
4. Get a cell phone
5. Pay the bills
To make it "easier", all of these in very many different places.
Size.
As for my first city impressions, first thing I want to say is that Tokyo is huge. Having spent my whole life in Warsaw and in the last 3 years in Boston, I realize I was still quite sheltered. Both cities are relatively quiet and small. Tokyo is immense and loud. I get reminded of New York and Shanghai very often, but even in those cities, I have never seen rivers and rivers of people, who surprisingly still move in a coherent manner. The streets of Shibuya, one of Tokyo's biggest city shopping downtowns, are always crowded, to the point that the flows of people naturally divide the pathwalk into two directions. Doesn't help when it rains and everyone opens their umbrellas. I swear I could have had my eyes pocked out multiple times.
Another aspect of Tokyo's hugeness I found worth mentioning is Tokyo's subway system. Since there are so ridiculously many lines (as opposed to Warsaw's one and only one ;)), the stations can get humongous, so that when one tries to scheme their travel route, one always has to calculate the transit time. My longest walk between the lines was 20 minutes, up, down, up, left and right.
Efficiency.
The subway system is worth all its praise and acclaim. Tokyo trains are clean and always on time. So an excuse of getting somewhere late because of the train delay is almost impossible. To emphasize this point, here's an illustrative example: if a train really gets delayed, the subway staff hands out official certified/stamped/signed slips explaining the circumstances.
The riding etiquette is also quite mesmerizing. One is not allowed to drink or to put on make up in the public train. The trains are exceptionally quiet, even when it's packed. There are also some “women-only” carts for the rush hours.
Food.
Tokyo is fun and the food is amazing. Having suffered through American dining hall diet for the past 3 years, I feel like in heaven. Everything here tastes the way I want it and it is easy to be frugal, even if it's one of the most expensive cities in the world, all thanks to the many small family-owned restaurants or wonderful chains.
Eating delicious tempura soba. $11 for the dinner set.
Fun. Constantly.
This is the first time I am living entirely on University's money. Even at Harvard, my scholarship covers only my tuition and other fees. Personal expenses remain truly personal. Here, all my scholarship is practically one big personal expense, a deal sweeter than I could dream of. So not surprisingly with so many new acquaintances and friends made, and not so much class responsibilities (yet), it's been a very very long weekend for me for the past 30 days, with nights in karaoke bars, restaurants and many izakaya (居酒屋、Japanese type bars) with a lot (and I do mean a lot) of very tasty drinks.
Out in a all-you-can-drink izakaya, Japanese-style bar (飲み放題、居酒屋). From left: Reda (Swiss), me, Ben (Brit) and Fengphu (Brit).
Singing Abba - oh, us the Europeans know the old school music!
But all has its price.
Unfortunately the upside of this blessed state is that it breeds very bad habits – my scholarship breeds the awful spending habits. Especially with Tokyo prices, it incredibly easy to see your money disappearing. Of course the biggest budget-consumer is the food. But the travel expense is equally mental here. Unlike in most of Europe ,where you can get a monthly pass for unlimited travel with all public communication, in Japan you can't really save. Commuter passes are for specified route only (and you would have to travel every day back and forth to make the worth of its price) and any diversion is additional costs.
