Help on some info for Japan

[seaghyn]

Hey all, I was wondering a few things about Japan, so I'll ask them, but let me throw a little back ground about me to you as well.

~I will be leaving around January 4th to head to Japan, in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan. I will be attending ARC Academy to begin learning Japanese, to prepare me to gain entrance into a University for Engineering. I will be staying at a dorm from Sakura House, and will live there for about three months, before returning to the states to work three months, then heading back for an entire year of Japanese Language, where I will hopefully be able to gain entrance to a University, as well as understand concepts regarding principles in physics and calculus, in Japanese.

Questions I had are below, and any help would be kool.

1. Arriving at Narita International Airport, what is the best way to get to the place one has arranged to stay at? Train, Taxi, Bus?

2. Once at my accommodation, and starting my language learning, I will "probably" need food. (you now how it is =p) For this, I could eat out/ shop at a store and cook the food myself. At the moment however, my Japanese is very limited, and I am not sure how I would purchase food or a meal from a store/restaurant in Shinjuku if my Japanese wasn't good enough. Any advice or tips? Maybe a place that would be geared more towards foreigners until my Japanese was better?

3. I wear glasses, so if they broke while in Japan, what would I do to get them fixed? (example: the lens falls out and I can't get it back in, or i bend the frame by sitting on it, etc) An Eye doctor? Would they be able to speak English, or have a rough idea of what I meant by me speaking the little Japanese I know now?

4. Is it better to walk around Shinjuku, or take a subway/train/bus around Shinjuku?

I guess that's about all the questions I have atm =). Thx for you patientce in listening to my question rants and stuff, as well as any advice you could give.

/~.~\ Seaghyn

[MMM]

Originally Posted by seaghyn

Hey all, I was wondering a few things about Japan, so I'll ask them, but let me throw a little back ground about me to you as well.

~I will be leaving around January 4th to head to Japan, in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan. I will be attending ARC Academy to begin learning Japanese, to prepare me to gain entrance into a University for Engineering. I will be staying at a dorm from Sakura House, and will live there for about three months, before returning to the states to work three months, then heading back for an entire year of Japanese Language, where I will hopefully be able to gain entrance to a University, as well as understand concepts regarding principles in physics and calculus, in Japanese.

Questions I had are below, and any help would be kool.

1. Arriving at Narita International Airport, what is the best way to get to the place one has arranged to stay at? Train, Taxi, Bus?

2. Once at my accommodation, and starting my language learning, I will "probably" need food. (you now how it is =p) For this, I could eat out/ shop at a store and cook the food myself. At the moment however, my Japanese is very limited, and I am not sure how I would purchase food or a meal from a store/restaurant in Shinjuku if my Japanese wasn't good enough. Any advice or tips? Maybe a place that would be geared more towards foreigners until my Japanese was better?

3. I wear glasses, so if they broke while in Japan, what would I do to get them fixed? (example: the lens falls out and I can't get it back in, or i bend the frame by sitting on it, etc) An Eye doctor? Would they be able to speak English, or have a rough idea of what I meant by me speaking the little Japanese I know now?

4. Is it better to walk around Shinjuku, or take a subway/train/bus around Shinjuku?

I guess that's about all the questions I have atm =). Thx for you patientce in listening to my question rants and stuff, as well as any advice you could give.

/~.~\ Seaghyn

How exciting!

Easiest and fastest is the train from Narita. Number 2 is bus, which is cheaper, but not as fast and is a little trickier. (I am not so familiar with Narita...I usually fly into Kansai Intl)

Eating out is easy, shopping is easy...how much do you have to say when you go to a grocery store? Most food is displayed (with prices) at the entrance to a restuarant, and you can literally pull the waitress to the front and point at what you want (or tell her before she seats you). No big deal.

Never assume anyone will be able to speak English. Finding an English speaker is always a pleasant surprise. Bring an extra pair of glasses with you.

Shinjuku is just one small part of Tokyo. When I visit Tokyo, say for a day, Shinjuku might be one of 3 or 4 places I'll go. There's a lot more out there...

[seaghyn]

Thanks! So I'm gonna have to go get another pair of glasses, check into Kansai Int., and for shopping, are there those digital readers at the checkout that show the exact price, so if I had trouble catching the phrase, ex: "san yen" or something, (3 yen, I can't count above 10 yet =P), that I could read the digitized number and count out the bills?

Apart from that, Thanks for the help, or Arigatou.

[MMM]

No No I always fly into Kansai Int'l because I go to Osaka, not Tokyo. Narita is the airport you want.

Yes, they always have those digital readouts, even at restuarants (you pay at the front counter) so nothing to worry about.

Good luck!

[zmcnulty]

So you want to go from not enough Japanese to order food to passing the EJU in 1.5 years? Good luck man. You'll need it; it's supposedly really, really hard. Just stick with it and you should be OK.

1. The "easiest" would be the taxi, but it's going to cost like $400 USD to get from Narita to Shinjuku. There may be a bus as well, and these are a good option if you have a lot of luggage; taking all of your stuff through the train stations (especially huge, crowded ones like Shinjuku) can be a hassle.

2. There are a heap of places to eat in Tokyo and you can be sure that most places in Tokyo have at least some experience dealing with foreigners. Most places that have English menus will advertise this fact somewhere on the storefront. Alternatively, English OK lists a few places.

Two other good options for foreigners are quick service-style places (which may or may not have seats) and convenience stores. The quick-service places are very easy to identify because they often have ticket vending machines. You just insert some money into the machine, push the button for your selection, get the ticket, give it to the person at the counter, and wait a couple minutes for your food. But keep in mind these vending machines rarely have pictures of the items, so you'll need to be able to read the text on the buttons.

Convenience stores have a lot of different kinds of boxed lunches/dinners and they're usually fresh especially around the regular times. Just pick whatever you want and go up to the register. Depending on what you got they may ask you if you want to have it heated ("暖めますか？ / attatamemasuka?"), so unless you want to eat it cold/eat it later, just say yes.

3. I don't have glasses so I can't really speak from experience, but there are a lot of different eyeglasses shops in Tokyo and I imagine they could handle most simple repairs. I don't think you'd need to goto an actual doctor unless it had something to do with your prescription. Take a copy of your prescription with you.

4. Walk is fine as Tokyo isn't too big, but stay aware... especially around Kabuki-cho. I will venture to say that even Japan's red light district is safer than most places in the USA, but that doesn't mean you should completely let your guard down. If you walk through Kabuki-cho during the evening hours you'll encounter a lot of people trying to sell you their "services," but if you just keep walking and ignore them they give up quickly.

[seaghyn]

Thank you very much guys, I really appreciate the advice, it's helping alot to get me ready for every little aspect of life, or something like that. and yes, I plan on completely mastering the Japanese Language in about 1.5 years =). It means I won't have a life though, and same with my desire for engineering, but hey, It's the place I want to study at the most, and I'm hoping to have fun in Japan too, otherwise I could just study here right? Yep, tough studying, living life, =).

Thanks again though!

[MMM]

What do you mean by "master". Do you mean you want to be able to read an engineering manual, or do you mean that you want to be able to communicate fluidly with people. If it is the second, and I hope it is, then you WILL need to have a life, because the best way to learn the language is with native speakers in their country. I think it's a great dream, but if you aren't a "master" withing 1.5 years don't beat yourself up.

[chachava]

I work in Shinjuku so if you need any specific details on the area, just give me a shout

[chachava]

Originally Posted by MMM

Never assume anyone will be able to speak English. Finding an English speaker is always a pleasant surprise. Bring an extra pair of glasses with you.

In Yokohama I agree, but I think most people in Shinjuku speak English to a degree...even if it is just basic 'shop English'

[seaghyn]

Okay, shouts I may just give =). As for master the language, I kind of meant both, I'm going to want to be able to understand engineering manuals, (and I was being a bit sarcastic about having no life, sorry), as well as being able to communicate fluidly with someone. I know it's going to be tough, but I'm going to be giving this everything I have, which makes me really appreciate how quickly you have responded to this post, with all the help you've been able to give. I'm going to be staying at the Sendagaya dorm as seen on Sakura-House.com, and going to ARC academy. (Now back to 3rd block for physics, as my free times just about up =P )

Thanks again though.