nagoya city + me

today i took the shinkansen (bullet train) from chiba to nagoya city, my new home! the train ride was smooth and fast. very fast, they go up to 300 km per hour (186 miles per hour for us americans). it's almost like a cross between taking a train and an airplane. there is tons of leg room and plenty of space like a train but it hauls fast more like an airplane. pretty cool. the trip was 108 minuets. and as everything here in japan, runs perfectly on time without any hitches. we were scheduled to leave at 11:33 am and when we pulled away i checked my phone, and it was exactly on the dot 11:33. (this is why being late in japan is just not a possibility).

upon arrival in nagoya we were met by our coordinator and taken to the branch office here where we went over paperwork and got maps of our apartments and schools. i will be at two junior high schools and my apartment is between the two. on googlemaps it shows the location of the apartment right next to a very fat green line. i asked what that was and learned that it's an elevated highway... so i am surely be curious to see what that is like tomorrow when i check everything out for the first time. seriously, the map makes my apartment look like it is on top of this highway! there's also a dennys logo is right next to the little house icon along with a mos burger, a couple 7-11's, a circle k and a subway stop near as well. my new neighborhood (ward) is just southwest of the nagoya city center in a ward called nakagawa. i am excited. looks like i will also have some co-workers near by (and even share my apt. building with a kid from portland! small world). overall i am pretty happy about everything so far. the aptartment is a leopalace, like the one in chiba so it will be interesting to see if it is the same, i am hoping for maybe a tad more space that the last one but i can make anything work! 

the first thing i am doing when i land in my apartment is unloading every single thing, however big or small, from each one of my bags. there a few sections in my luggage that haven't seen the light of day yet so it will be nice to see everything and start to settle in. i imagine it will help solidify the fact that i am here, in japan living and working permanently for the near future. i am kind of also preparing to feel some homesickness and culture shock set in once i get into my new daily routine because up until so far, it has kind of felt like an extended vacation. 

although i haven't seen much yet, i'm thinking nagoya has a nice feel. seems a little more laid back with less hustle 'n' bustle than tokyo/chiba and today, a cool ocean breeze. i read that the average august temperature here is 35 C (again... 95 F for us americans) so i am trying to enjoy this moderate weather while it's here! walking back to the hotel tonight after an indian curry dinner the air was a bit chilled without any of that tokyo humidity. it reminded me of a spring evening in portland, it was nice.