Ok thought I'd write some more about my impressions here thus far. I can't be bothered to spell check this, so just try to cope with it. Anyway, I will start off with the negative and then counter it with the positive.

Firstly - the weather. I think I have mentioned it before, but I hate it so much that it is worth mentioning again. The humidity, my God; my God, the humidity. Even on the days when the temperature has dropped a bit to like low 30s or maybe high 20s (who knows), the humidity is always there to make you suffer. I'm sure it can not be healthy to sweat this amount - it's certainly not pleasant, that is for sure. Tomorrow I get to go out in a suit in this weather - boy am I excited.

Other negative points... hmm can't really think of any off-hand. Granted there is the small drawback that people here don't speak English, but it's not really a problem as you can still do everything you need to get done really. Besides, as of tomorrow, I shall be helping to spread the joy of English to Japan.

So, onto the positive points. We'll start with the people as Rami requested that I speak a bit more about them. I haven't really met any Japanese people as of yet, bar my housemate's girlfriend. All the ones I have come across in shops etc though have all been very nice and as helpful as they can be. It is decidely different from Britain, where many people who work in shops usually regard the customer as a nuisance. I was expecting lots of staring etc as well, but for the most part Japanese people don't seem that fussed by foreigners (even though we are quite rare here).

Next: Food. Food here is largely excellent, as long as you have an open mind and like rice. They have alternatives to rice like noodles and such and even chips in places, but for me it's all about the rice. They are also big fans of italian food, so if you're a pasta fan then you're set. Generally, there seems to be a lot more variety over here. Even from the big names - there are drinks by Pepsi and Coke-Cola here that you don't see anywhere else. Yesterday I had a 'Melon Cream Soda' by Fanta - it was lovely. I guess that's the case all over the world though with weird fizzy drinks that seem to be unique to certain countries.

Ok so onto living cost. This can go either way here - it's possible to live very very cheaply indeed as traditional Japanese food from the supermarket is quite cheap, especially if you bulk by ingredients and cook it yourself. Rail tickets everywhere are quite cheap - ranging from about 80p to £1.50 or so; but they don't do return fairs here, everything is a single. One thing that is handy though is this thing called a 'Fare Adjustment' machine. As everything here is automated so there aren't people on trains checking tickets. You put your ticket through a machine to get onto the platform. Then when you reach your destination you put your ticket into another machine to leave the station. If you haven't paid the right amount then it will spit the ticket back at you. You take it to the 'Fare Adjustment' machine and it will tell you exactly how much you are short by. You top up the ticket and away you go - genius really.

If you have any questions about other stuff that I have no doubt forgotten, then just post them on here and I will answer them. Otherwise everyone ends up asking the same questions on msn and I end saying the same stuff over and over.  

Anyway, hope you're all well - Adios :)