Awaji Island Narcissus Fields (Nada Kuroiwa)

My husband and I decided just the other day to travel to Awaji to see the narcissus fields (Nada Kuroiwa) because they're only available in Winter and I had seen some lovely photos online.

We were slightly discouraged by the fact that google was telling me it would take 1 hour and 50 minutes from where I live in Nishi Futami, plus a shuttle bus ride on unknown time (Google doesn't give this information). But we decided that if we want to get the most out of this year, we would have to be willing to travel a lot, otherwise, we'd never see anything... Let's face it... Everything is a bit of a hike from Nishi Futami...

What google didn't tell us was the price... unfortunately...  

To get to Nada Kuroiwa we first took the Sanyo Line to Maikokoen station. This took about half an hour and and was reasonably priced at around 500 yen (6 bucks). This is the price google COULD tell us. So we were thinking that this trip would be fairly reasonably priced...

We then caught a bus from Maikokoen bus terminal to Fukura in Awaji. This bus trip does not have a price listed on google. It was easy enough to find, just follow the signs for the bus stop, and then once at the bus stop, find the bus stop that says Fukura. This bus took about an hour, and cost us around 2000 yen! 

From Fukura we had to take another shuttle bus. This one did not have the price or time listed on google maps. I think it may be a seasonal specialty bus. It also cost us another 2000yen! This did include entry to the field though (although we had been under the impression that it would be free). This one stung, right in the pocket! But of course, we couldn't turn back now, after paying the last 2000 yen!  So we paid it and got on the tiny shuttle bus, sitting on the make shift seats between real seats.

The shuttle bus trip took half an hour and then we arrived at Nada Kuroiwa. We saw a beautiful hill filled with narcissus flowers. Some jokes about narcicists were made. Pretty pictures were taken. But actually, we were underwhelmed. It was just one small hill really. With flowers. I was expecting something along the lines of Nabana no Sato for some reason. I mean, with entry fees, I would expect something spectacular... But to me it was really just something that, in passing, you would exclaim about it's prettiness... Not something you would travel for 2.5 hours, and pay over $50 to see (plus the return, so nearly a hundred dollars!)

It's my fault, I know... But it was a learning experience... We both swore to always check reviews before we go anywhere...

We did have a good little hike (It took us only 10 minutes to walk the entire trail loop over the one hill- and that's with photos), but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're in Awaji for something else. Now, Nabana No Sato... THAT'S a winter attraction you MUST see. Pics below for comparison, but really a photo can't capture the overwhelming vastness of Nabana no Sato.

Moving to Japan (What to expect)

Hajimemashite (hello for the first time)!

My name's Sharon and I've just moved to Hyogo Prefecture Japan in the middle of Winter.

First off, let me tell you, it's a lot of work to move countries. More work than you think it's going to be. It's a fairly daunting task. And once you get through all of the work to leave your home country (renting out the house, storing all your things, disconnecting or reassigning bills) it turns out the tricky part is still to come!

FIRST DAY FEELINGS

My first day in Japan was spent in shock that I had actually moved to this country. It felt surreal. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was just here on holiday, but I had this gnawing feeling, deep in the pit of my stomach. Both my partner and I did not feel too overtly stressed, but we both experienced symptoms of subconscious stress (stomach pains, stress blisters on our hands, etc).  

I didn't spend a lot of time with people in Australia. I saw my friends and family way too infrequently. I would commonly go for months between seeing each of them. And yet, leaving my home country, I suddenly felt a loss. Even though I only see my mum rarely anyway, the idea that I couldn't see her if I wanted to, hit suddenly on the first day. I think everyone will feel this. I am not a person who generally cherishes or even looks forward to time spent with most people so I honestly didn't think that the fact that I now COULDN'T see them would affect me at all. But it does. Simply being able to choose to see people, to hang out with them, means you can't appreciate it. Until you can no longer do this. 

So expect to feel some feeling of loss, even if family or friends are not that big of a part of your life. And more so, of course, if they are. 

That feeling only lasted  a couple of days though, because we have the internet. I can skype them any time. I messaged some friends asking if they would like to have a skype drinking sesh some time. I'm only in Japan for a year, so it became apparent I would just have to go out and find some more drinking friends. 

SETTING UP YOUR HOME

I of course knew it would be cold in Japan when I arrived. I have even experienced Japanese winter previously, on holidays... But I was still unprepared for the cold, because I had never LIVED in this cold before. 

Living in the cold in Japan is completely different from holidaying in the cold in Japan.

The first, key difference is that Japanese homes don't have central heating like the hotels. They don't even have reverse cycle air conditioners that can heat whole rooms. No. They have nothing... And inside it is bitterly cold. Like...can't do anything cold.

You will need to buy multiple heaters if your house doesn't come with them, or you need need an extension cord and will have to move your stand heater to the area you're using. 

You will need slippers. I had heard this before moving over, but didn't really GET IT until I moved here... You will NEED slippers! You will not comfortably be able to get up and go to the toilet or move around the house without them... The cold floor will make your feet numb. Unless you've invested in multiple heaters and are keeping them turned on in the different areas of your house, of course. So my partner and I have bought slippers which we have to wear around the house, and take off when we go out, or go to bed. We make sure to leave them by the bed so that we can step straight into them because in the morning the house is coldest, having had no heaters on all night. To get up without slippers and walk out to the heater to turn it on is near unbearable. Luckily, you can buy slippers from the hundred yen shop, But if you have feet bigger than a men's size 9, you may have a lot of trouble finding slippers in Japan that fit your feet so I recommend bringing some. 

We've also bought toilet seat covers (to help relieve the shock of siting on an ice cold toilet seat first thing in the morning), mats to relieve the cold lino floors, and a kotatsu (a Japanese heated table) for our loungeroom. The kotatsu was only about $50 AUD actually so it was a bargain.

SETTING UP FOR WORK

There is a lot of paperwork to do once you move to Japan. Although Japan is seen as a technologically advanced country and is often viewed as hectic, fast-paced, most administrative duties are still done in a very old-fashioned way that is often very slow. Government workers diligently re-read forms and circle bits to ensure that they are correct, and processes that seem simple can often be very time consuming. 

On our second day we went out with a co-worker from the Hyogo Board of Education. And thank god we had her to help us! 

We first had to register our address, something my partner and I didn't even know was something we had to do. It was not something we were told about with our visa. If we didn't have someone helping us, we wouldn't have known. To register our address or do anything official, we needed to order a personalised stamps with our names on them, Again, if we didn't have our co-worker, we would not have known to do this, let alone where and how to go about getting this stamp. To register our address we needed our visas, our passports, our new stamps, and if you're married and want to register as a couple, you will also need your marriage certificate. I didn't have mine, so we registered as singles, although there was much umming and aahing around this for some reason. 

After registering our address, we went and opened up bank accounts. To do this, you will need your stamp again, passports, and also your TFN, something I had not thought to bring. If you want to work in Japan, you will need a Japanese bank account. I am yet to actually use this bank account, but if there's anything different or tricky about using it, I'll keep you posted. At the moment the bank details and my card are simply sitting in my cupboard.

We then had to set up my phone and internet. In the end, we decided to not get a sim, as the ones we were looking at were around $50 a month, and we decided to just use the internet and LINE (free call and message service) instead. Especially as I'm still paying or my current Australian phone contract. 
For internet we went with Softbank Air. We chose unlimited internet and it's costing us around 5700 yen per month. And we can stop it any time. We only got this one because it was the only accessible shop we could find near us. If you know of a better deal, please let me know! The internet router had to be posted to us and took about 3 days. It was easy enough to set up.

Basically, those 3 jobs took an entire day! 

If you're moving to Japan and have any questions about the moving process, just shoot me a message or comment!