So, as you shoud have found out - its Nagoya University I was staynig at
My flat was located on the University campus.
The entrance...
my miniture kitchen, which I actually have used once - to boil some water... otherwise I went to the University canteen (convenient and cheep), or some other restaurant. I even had a washing machine & dryer (you can see parts of it to the right in the pic) - now that's not bad for a flat that is probably no more that 15 sqm...
Besides from the kitchen, I had a western style bathroom and a sleeping/livingroom
with a bed, desk, and a tv (which was completely useless for me since all programs were in japanese only...)
and of course a fridge & microwave - which I actually used twice.. The nice thing about my flat was (as already mentioned in one of the very first posts) the fact that they came to clean & make my bed every day - except sundays. The drawback of this luxury was obviously that I had to be up by 11 am which was when they came... (Although there were some days where I just told them that they did not have to clean and slept on :D)
Looking at a campus map - my flat would be located at No 4 (encircled red), the nearest subway station (Nagoya Daigaku) is two minutes by foot (the black path towards the black dot, whereas the way to the office is marked out red. The office is located at No 64, and the campus canteen where the yellow dot is. To go to the nearest shop/training centre etc (see further down) it was most convenient to leave the campus as indicated by the black arrow.
The following pictures give some impressions of my way to work, starting at my flat,
and a pond with some large carps that from time to time almost had to little water to swim,
before walking along the fields that belong to the faculty of agriculture...
and finally reaching "our" building, rather old, but otherwise ok.
Jøran and I have been sharing an office for the past three month - which has been both productive, social and extremely funny at times :D
My desk is the grey one, Jøran's got the chief desk & chair ;-)
And here you see the "real" boss for the first few weeks: Emilie!! She made great progress in writing not only her name, but as well Elisabeth, Jøran, Inger-Johannes and mine. I can't wait to meet her back in Oslo to see how she's doing!
From first of June we got these notes on a lot of doors: I still have not figured out what casual clothing has to do with global warming, but still think it was quite funny
This is what the campus canteen looked like during lunch time. Jøran and my undisputable favorite was the irresistibly good japanese curry... If they only could make that in Blindern..
Besides from working and eating I usually went to work out on an average day. On the map below I have encircled the campus in black (still indicated my flat and the office with red dots), and marked out the way to the gym (black dot), passing the nearest food store (pink dot) and our absolute favorite restaurant (Jonatan's, blue dot). The yellow dot indicates the Mitsukoshi centre, a nice shopping centre with other shops & restaurants close by.
Some impressions on the way to the gym:
the zoo and botanical garden, a fifteen minute walk from the office and Emilie and Inger-Johannes absolute favorite place!
"our" food court
crossing Higashiyama-dori (which runs between the food court and Jonatans) in sunset
Jonatans at the corner
The zoo and botanical garden viewed from a nearby parc
and finally, after ca. 25 minutes walk the "Igloo" - my training centre.
Malcom
and Harris from australia were my faithfull buddies ;-)
Walking back to the office is slightly uphill from the shop towards the campus. "The hill" is not steep - but loooong after a good workout in the summer heat, especially after shopping several 2L bottles of water...
One of the great traditions that Jøran and I have developed in Nagoya is "Fredagsavsluttning", our weekly celebration on a friday evening that another successful week is over. It started already when Jørans girls still were around - and we kept the tradition since it was such a success. Fredagsavslutning took place in Jørans flat - and Jøran always cooked a great meal: "Pølse & potetmos" (sausages and mashed potatos)
or our favorite: fish soup from Bergen (imported from norway of course), enriched with frozen seafood from the shop, served with fresh baguette and a french pepper cream cheese. Not to forget: a good bottle of red wine - and a good bottle of white wine. Or - Beer and Cognac.
Now - that was pretty much how the surroundings which were most important in my everyday life looked like.
Some tpical houses in Nagoya: (tiles are IN :p)
This is one of the fashionable residences in the area around the University campus
and... a proper japanese car: polished at least once a day - if not more.
Not pretty - but certainly practical. Jøran and I were lucky and did not experience an earthquake during our stay - although a larger one took place just before we were landing back in march.
Nagoya station
and how to drive in the area around the station... confused?
I was living in the east of Nagoya, whereas downtown Nagoya - called Sakae - is in the west, around 20 min by subway. Sakae is most known for the arcitectual creation shown below, called "Ozone 21".
On the roof they have water, and it is really a nice place to escape from the busy life on the ground.
Last but not least: food & drinks... I LOVE Kirin - it's just a great beer.
My strategy of "I'll eat it as long as it is not alive anymore" has proven to yield interesting results, but was mostly sucessful. The food is obviously quite different from the one I was used to. Sometimes it has been a real challange, othertimes a delight.
Some impressions from a typical supermarked (fish, fish, and more fish...):
and things you can make with fish...
But there's one thing the japanese just are best at: flavoring soft ice in ANY possibly imaginable flavour :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment