My First Week in Japan

After months of preparation, the clock had started; I now had 8 months to get absolutely everything I could out of my time in Japan. With the burden of waiting being taken off and the weight of being on the clock being added on, my first week went by in the blink of an eye.

The Working Hours

On my first day of work, showing up so early that the office doors were still locked, I found myself exploring the streets aroud the base of the tokyo tower. Going from the impressive skyline of Azabudai, to hidden shrines nestled between buildings, the contrast between the old and the new were on display everywhere. Walking back towards the office I was able to see imposing embassies next to small izakayas being interupted by a vending machine every couple of buildings without fail.

After returning to my building, my first day of work officially began. I began with spending time learning new codebases, getting familiar with new colleagues, and installing new repos, everything I had come to expect when starting a new co-op. As the afternoo gradually appeared, my supervisor and I took our lunch break to grab some ramen at a local shop, having to stop and buy myself an umbrella along the way. The rest of the day went by quickly and the rest of the week was spent getting familiar and hopping into development with the team.
Surprisingly, my working hours were not the hardest part of this first week.

The Off Hours

With the middle of my day being taken up by work, I still had to find my way around the city and get some type of meal to keep me going. My first experience at a Japanese restaraunt was a humbling one to say the least.
When entering the small gyudon establishment, I was met with a menu I couldn't understand, questions I didn't know the answers to, and of course, common practices I had not learned yet. After many chotto matte's and several concerned looks from the staff, I was able to decode something that read vaguely like beef and rice.

Hard to go wrong there.

After having a great meal, albeit still a little on edge from how out of place I felt, I floundered my way through the check out process and exited happy; knowing that that was probably the worst I could ever do at basic communication and it still turned out okay.

This first week, I spent most of my nights walking around the neighborhood of Hiroo, making my way over to Ebisu, and then Shibuya later in the week. Learning to navigate the subway lines, everything was slowly becoming easier and my life a little bit more comfortable. As the end of the week neared, next I had to register my address at city hall.

Friday

As the work day was nearing its end, I took off for Shibuya City Hall. At 21 yeas old, I've dealt with the DMV, voter registration, lengthy university processes, and more. I wasn't eager to find out how bad an experience like that would be with the vocabulary of a kindergartener.

I walked into the office, took a number for my application type, and sat down in the waiting area with the rest of the Shibuya residents. I spent my time watching the sumo tournament on the lobby TV, getting to talk briefly with an old woman about if I was new to the area and if I was familiar with the sumo wrestlers sparring at the time (I couldn't even read their names to even try to fake it). While unable to form anything eloquent, I was able to hold a base level conversationa and that alone felt like a win after how difficult the start of the week had been. The actual process went by quickly as I was designated a bilingual attendant to make the process as smooth as possible. With bureaucracy complete, I decided to take the leap and try to go to an authentic izakaya near where I lived for some yakitori and a quick drink to celebrate getting through the first week.

As always, the food was amazing and the staff were lively, with the local owner making me feel right at home with some quick conversation. Sitting at the bar eating different types of yakitori, half way across the world from everyone and everything I had known, only then did I finally allow myself a brief moment to acknowledge how incredible small moments like this can feel when it took so much to get there.

Hopefully this feeling of finding magic everywhere around me is something that I not only keep alive throughout my time abroad, but also bring back with me as I return back home.