Japan
This is a report on my Japanese experience (”keiken” in Japanese, which sounds awfully similar to the Dutch word for “looking”).
First impressions …
The Japanese language completely confounded me for a while. It is only due to the (subsidized) lessons that I have at work that I am very slowly beginning to actually open my mouth in shops etc. Rarely have I been so unable to voice my thoughts in the local language. It’s very strange.
… on the right you see some stones that are either there for religious reasons, or to memorize some event or people. I haven’t been able to find out. Sorry for that …
After about two weeks I realized I feel more at home here than in Vancouver - I think it has to do with how much refinement is present in Japanese culture. Streets are not just means for cars to get from a to b, they are also designed to be tidy looking. Sidewalks are generally carefully separated from the car lanes. Consideration has been given (it seems) to visual appearance. And this holds for a lot of things. It was so funny to find out that I feel quite comfortable here despite the complete impossibility for me to understand written and spoken language. I am curious to see how I feel when I come back to Vancouver …
… on the left I photographed an automatic rice vending machine. When I saw it, I had no clue what it was and found out only later …
When I left from Vancouver I thought I would not move during my stay in Japan. Confidently I sent a note to lots of you indicating where you could reach me. Oh well, I guess I am not entitled to such security yet ! Little did I know that the place I was going to stay would be so small that I didn’t even fit in the bed. The bed was one of those types you can hide by lifting it up. Quite handy, but after exploring various twists and contortions in order to fit I had no choice but to give up on sleeping in that bed and simply snore on the floor. I spent lots of time contemplating what to do with the pillow - a bag roughly the size of my head filled with beans. What the hell does one need beans for while sleeping ?! The room was about 2 by 5 meter separately from a micro kitchen that was built into the hall way and then a toilet/shower. The shower was about the volume of my body, it’s more of a belly washer, with my head hitting the ceiling, than anything else. When I took a shit I could literally prepare my dinner. After two months, however, a colleague at ATR, who would be leaving in April, suggested I take over his appartment. It took some effort (I had to talk to the MIC boss), cause it appeared that the ATR management don’t want the researchers to rearrange their living conditions, although it was clear to see that, coming from N-Am. the Higashi-Ikoma appartments were ridiculously small.
Anyhow, I did move to a better place (see left and right). So, I finally have some place to be after work. It has a nice sleep/living room (with great view), kitchen/dining room, a toilet, a wash/washingmachine room, a shower/bathroom, a large balcony and on the roof there is a huge “parrrrty rroom” and sun terrace. 
All for less money than I was paying before cause there is supposedly a curse resting on the house … I also have a scooter (see above) to race to/from ATR with, really great ! From the previous appartments I used to commute by train which used to take more than 40 (boring) minutes.