It has now been four months since I moved to Japan. I am still learning new things about Japan every day and adjusting how I live my life based on that. However, the most rapid period of learning for me was definitely the first two weeks, when I was settling down.
Before coming to Japan, I had researched places to stay online. I had looked at many apartments and dormitories, emailed landlords and studied the surrounding area on a map. It was hard to decide where I wanted to live for ten months without having seen the place in-person. However, I finally decided on one that seemed okay and reserved it.
When I arrived on the first day, the landlord brought me to the apartment I had reserved. It was a single apartment, which meant I would be staying there alone. As soon as I stepped inside, I didn't like it. It looked old and broken down. There were train tracks and a highway near the house, so it was always loud and vibrated when a train went by. It was two and a half miles from the university, which meant it would be hard to meet friends. And, what if I got lonely living by myself? I know I should have thought of all of this earlier, but it did not occur to me until I landed in Japan.
Desperate to find a place that better matched my needs, I jumped back onto the internet.
