Lost in translation
By Yenny Marissa Otero Castillo. Tuesday, 22. July 2008, 17:26:15
It is incredible how fast can time pass. It is already been 4 months of the 6 I should be in Japan...
I have been thinking about posting to this blog for a while but, it has proven to be so difficult! Most probably because I have immersed myself into my work as well as the routine of everyday’s life that made time vanish between the always crowded subway ride-to/from-work and the every weekend city escape. But before I go into more excuses, I will write something actually interesting about my experience in Japan.
In Oslo, work is something that happens between 8 or 9 am and finishes at 5, 6 or even 4 pm (for those more fortunate that can actually wake up and arrive to work at 8am). As Oslo is a small city, you complain if you have to take a bus or a train to get to work.. the preferred solution is to live in bike / walking distance to the office.
In Tokyo, work starts at 8 or 9 am for most people. In many companies, employees have to wait until their boss leaves the office for them to go home (even if they are not doing anything productive) so they may even work until midnight... and not just in exceptional cases, but more as a rule. Someone (reliable source whose identity I want to protect ) told me that it is normal to do overtime because it is the only way to raise a normal salary into something decent. Living within walking distance from work is consider as luxury. For example, Atsuko whom is a very nice and funny girl from the office, has to travel 2 hours in the morning to the office AND 2 hours to go back home. Some other people is fortunate enough to travel only for 30 mins. but it anyway includes at least one potentially crowded train ride!
Transportation in Tokyo is quite complicated. In many big cities, it is enough to look at the map of trains to know which is your best connection. Tokyo is not that simple! any map you find won’t show all lines available because trains are run by two or three different companies with very complicated lines and schedules. Your best bet is to use a mobile phone ...-yipppee!! for mobile Internet use in Japan- Anyway, you can use a couple of sites that work well if you cannot enter Japanese station names, for example: http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/index.html
Type the start destination and the end destination and it will give you a couple of options ranked mainly in price and time. If you don't know any stations, try "ikejiri-ohashi" in one field and "shinjuku" in the other, it will tell you the available trains from the Opera Japan office to the mega-station of Shinjuku.
And, here you have some pictures that are worth mentioning:
One of these guys stole my lunch in Kamakura! I had a chicken filled bread in my hands and was about to bite it when I felt a big rounded shaped shade and the sound of wings on my right side. In the time I could understand what was happening, a pretty big eagle stole my bread leaving only the aluminium wrapping and taking away what I had brought for lunch... needless to say I was hungry afterwards; surprised about seeing such a beautiful animal so close.. but still hungry.
In Loft, a very cool store in Tokyo, I found a "robot house cleaner" that it is claimed to be invented in Norway.
did anyone know about this in Norway? How have I lived 6 years in Norway and have never seen it?
Torkjel felt like giving things away, including some house appliances... I hope his girlfriend be OK about his generosity.
More pictures of the same label on the coffee machine, the microwave, the fridge, the drinking water, a laptop and the stereo system my flickr account.
No, that lady is not saving her life while attacked by the killer white towel. She is actually taking the sun... but everyone here has a big fear of getting any color as being white is considered beautiful, this creates a complete fashion of hats, jackets, gloves and clothes that deserves its own blog post later..
Btw, we found the Opera logo in this store ... maybe it is one secret marketing strategy to get more people familiar with the Opera logo? (as absolut does with the bottle?)
Found also this great "Norwegian Opera" poster: "I die, I die, I die... Opera, the art of overdoing it" 
This guy is showing us his own version of the mobile Internet... what he had in his phone was clearly not enough for him?
I have been thinking about posting to this blog for a while but, it has proven to be so difficult! Most probably because I have immersed myself into my work as well as the routine of everyday’s life that made time vanish between the always crowded subway ride-to/from-work and the every weekend city escape. But before I go into more excuses, I will write something actually interesting about my experience in Japan.
In Oslo, work is something that happens between 8 or 9 am and finishes at 5, 6 or even 4 pm (for those more fortunate that can actually wake up and arrive to work at 8am). As Oslo is a small city, you complain if you have to take a bus or a train to get to work.. the preferred solution is to live in bike / walking distance to the office.
In Tokyo, work starts at 8 or 9 am for most people. In many companies, employees have to wait until their boss leaves the office for them to go home (even if they are not doing anything productive) so they may even work until midnight... and not just in exceptional cases, but more as a rule. Someone (reliable source whose identity I want to protect ) told me that it is normal to do overtime because it is the only way to raise a normal salary into something decent. Living within walking distance from work is consider as luxury. For example, Atsuko whom is a very nice and funny girl from the office, has to travel 2 hours in the morning to the office AND 2 hours to go back home. Some other people is fortunate enough to travel only for 30 mins. but it anyway includes at least one potentially crowded train ride!
Transportation in Tokyo is quite complicated. In many big cities, it is enough to look at the map of trains to know which is your best connection. Tokyo is not that simple! any map you find won’t show all lines available because trains are run by two or three different companies with very complicated lines and schedules. Your best bet is to use a mobile phone ...-yipppee!! for mobile Internet use in Japan- Anyway, you can use a couple of sites that work well if you cannot enter Japanese station names, for example: http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/index.html
Type the start destination and the end destination and it will give you a couple of options ranked mainly in price and time. If you don't know any stations, try "ikejiri-ohashi" in one field and "shinjuku" in the other, it will tell you the available trains from the Opera Japan office to the mega-station of Shinjuku.
And, here you have some pictures that are worth mentioning:
A kestrel stole my lunch
One of these guys stole my lunch in Kamakura! I had a chicken filled bread in my hands and was about to bite it when I felt a big rounded shaped shade and the sound of wings on my right side. In the time I could understand what was happening, a pretty big eagle stole my bread leaving only the aluminium wrapping and taking away what I had brought for lunch... needless to say I was hungry afterwards; surprised about seeing such a beautiful animal so close.. but still hungry. Unknown robot cleaner from Norway sells in Japan
In Loft, a very cool store in Tokyo, I found a "robot house cleaner" that it is claimed to be invented in Norway. did anyone know about this in Norway? How have I lived 6 years in Norway and have never seen it?
Prince Torkjel´s big give away
Torkjel felt like giving things away, including some house appliances... I hope his girlfriend be OK about his generosity. More pictures of the same label on the coffee machine, the microwave, the fridge, the drinking water, a laptop and the stereo system my flickr account.
Taking the sun in Japan
No, that lady is not saving her life while attacked by the killer white towel. She is actually taking the sun... but everyone here has a big fear of getting any color as being white is considered beautiful, this creates a complete fashion of hats, jackets, gloves and clothes that deserves its own blog post later..Opera logo in subliminal adds
Btw, we found the Opera logo in this store ... maybe it is one secret marketing strategy to get more people familiar with the Opera logo? (as absolut does with the bottle?) Norske Opera
Found also this great "Norwegian Opera" poster: "I die, I die, I die... Opera, the art of overdoing it" Mobile internet reinvented
This guy is showing us his own version of the mobile Internet... what he had in his phone was clearly not enough for him?
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