Alive, coming back soon with a lot of stories!!!

Hello everyone!!
I have not forgotten you!
Yesterday we turned 2 weeks here, in Tokyo. Only two weeks and it seems longer. We have done lots of things and these days have been intense and full of very nice moments. I will come back to you soon with many stories and information.
I am still looking for an apartment but comfortable in the hostel because they treat me well (may be my subconscious doesn´t want to move??).
Some days it pours rain and others super warm and sticky (so rainy yesterday that I finally did not go to the famous match between the two better private Universities in Japan Waseda (where I study) and Keio.

Last Friday, birthday party celebration from our colleague and friend Stephen (26 people going out!). Dinner at Italian restaurante, Karaoke night (what a experience!) and clubbing to the Japanese style. Really good time.
The rest of the weekend, relaxing and spending some time with Silviya and Regina.

Good bye Europe... hello Japan!

Tokyo. Day 1.
I will be short and summarize the last hours in order to update you.

Saturday: 13th June

- I went to bed very late. An "accident" with the computer and had to restore everything. It was 4:00 a.m.... does not matter, I will catch up on the planes!
Up at 6:00. Last things to double check and organize. At 9:00 to the airport. Warm day again in Vitoria.
- Vitoria - Bilbao. Mum, dad and sister with me to the airport. I am getting very nervous. Special moment. Very emotional. I won´t see them until Christmas!
- Check in: Hard moment, life in 20 Kg. I only take the necessary and still had to get rid of a few kilos! No compassion. I had to leave some of my most precious things. This is unfair, the same luggage for a trip when you go for a weekend 1000 Km away or for a removal 10000 :-(
- One police woman at the security check in the airport thought that it was my first time flying ;-)... and I used it in my advantage... but almost lost the flight because of the long goodbye!
- Bilbao - Munich in a couple of hours. By coincidence my neighbour on the plane is an elegant Japanese lady that lives in Santander. I put into practice a bit of Japanese
- In Munich, phoned home announcing that I am ok. Bad news, a good friend of the family (and somebody I adored) that became sick could not overcome the intensive care and died. I am shocked and sad. I remembered again the hard moments 5 years ago... with my own family... the moment that I realized how important is health. The breakthrough moment in which I told myself that while health is there you should enjoy life, your moment and fight for your dreams. Happiness is not everywhere at the same time...
-While on my way to the terminal where the flight to Tokyo is departing, I met Silvia, she has just arrived from Sofia. From now we will spend a few days together until we get installed in Tokyo.
Not possible to fly together but both so tired that slept the whole way only up for food and a bit of the movies.
The plane was full of Japanese people. I recognized some faces in the sense that they reminded me to actors or singers that I know but with the "Japanese eyes" ;-)
I ask my neighbour the proper way to eat what we were served for dinner
- Landed in Tokyo after almost 12 hours of flight. The immigration procedure and everything, very fast. I got and SMS from Robbie while he was in Europe. His flight delayed and we waited for him 1 hour. The perfect time to check the airport, buy and is delayed. He was the one that was supposed to arrived early and wait for us but this time is the other way around. We check with the officers, around 1 hour waiting. It is not too long and worth to enjoy this amazing experience with somebody I have been sharing this dream for long. In the meanwhile, we organize the luggage, get acquainted with the aiport, use and get surprised by some of the vendor machines, eat something, get excited about the whole situation that we have longed and worked hard the last months and... Robbie est là :-)!!
- Fantastic to be in a group of 3. We bought the discounted ticket to to Tokyo and had to wait for our train a bit while drinking something and chatting.
- About 1 hour long train ride to Ikebukuro, where our hotel is located. Then a bit of confusion due to the huge size of the station and the exit we had to take (remember that we are packed with heavy luggage among the Tokyo crowd).
- Arrived to hostel. Straightforward check in. Installation in the room (great, Internet connection, television, private bathroom... and very economical).
- Tour around the hotel and "immersion" in their culture. Let´s go to eat to the Japanese style! Cheap, very cheap :-)
- More walking around and started raining. Back to hotel for a drink before going early to bed (it was 20:30 in Tokyo)
====
Good morning!!!
- I had a nice sleep. I got up at 5 in the morning. Completely daylight but greyish sky.
We are meeting for breakfast at 8:00. I take the time and patience to check Internet, to update the blog and to download some of the computer programmes lost with the last minute "formatting" back at home.
- The plan for today: Main purpose, get registered in the city (that will give us the right permit to live here) and buying a cell phone. In the afternoon, meeting the other colleagues and discover with them more of this amazing city.
Have a good day yourselves!

Steady, ready... go!!

Dear all,

if you wonder where am I and what I am doing.... I came "finally"! to Spain. I delayed the whole thing. Hectic since last Tuesday at home.
It was difficult to come with so little stuff. In Tokyo definetly I will have to shop.... until I drop?? ;-) Time for reinvention! :-)
Most of my fellow-colleagues are already there, enjoying a lot. Tomorrow, outing that Silvia, Robbie and myself will miss because we are flying.
On Monday, another outing... my agenda starts getting fuller and fuller again

In Vitoria, 29ºC. I have seen some friends and some family. One of the good things about this city is that you are very likely to bump into somebody you know (neighbour, school mate, University mate, old relative... without making any appointment!). I like and enjoy this spontaneity!

Unfortunately, hardly seen my family (brother and sister working and mom and dad with their chores). I've spent my time dealing with businesses, banks, health checks, insurances, preparing life for Tokyo's first days, repairing the computer, other last minute problems, things still from The Netherlands, some social life.... Tonight... all for the closest :-)!!
... I feel like a dynamo, the more I do, the more energy I get... until I sit tomorrow on the plane... Silvia, wake me up only for lunch and dinner!! ;-)

That´s all for now. Many more thoughts (positive this time!;-)) in the last days but I have to go. I wish you a nice weekend and please, allow me some time to settle in Japan. I will most probably be "missing" for about a week before I can share with you the first impressions...
Take care,
M.

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. ' ~ Schweitzer

Customer Service in The Netherlands: Long way to improve

I am mad, angry and frustrated.
I am leaving this country and in the last 5 days I have had the worse experiences ever regarding customer service.
Under normal circumstances I am positive, I can understand things but I also require service. I don't think I am asking too much, service is service... and the definition of this word is far too different to the definition I have.

What I have realized is that nobody gets committed to selling. People BUY but the shops don't sell, in the sense that workers do not try to help and support the sale. I am mainly talking about shops.

Everyday I had to contact a different company to arrange paperworks, to book things or to order. Results, failed, failed, failed. Always a excuse or impossible to reach them.

- Either the phone number they had on the website was not working (and when I tell them they don't care!!)

- I order personally something making sure that they get committed (face to face is much better)or that they contact me if cannot make it. Say yes and yesterday they say it was not possible (not even warning me to go to plan B)... but they don't care and admit it with a happy face!!

- I try to contact via website to other places and no way to contact them by e-mail, only by phone (costly, difficult to reach and, ladies and gentlemen, I will be sleeping when you have your "office hours", Monday to Friday... but about the support online for the rest of the time??

8 years ago I was surprised and disappointed about customer service... and I gave it a chance... (may be the language barrier, the way of communicating...I thought).
I have had some good experiences though but again, 8 years later... I can only say that it is still very, very bad and if there is something out of million things I have experienced, lived and extracted from living in NL, the failure in this aspect is the more relevant thing I can take with me. I am really sorry about that. I hope next time I come to visit I can say something different.
Perhaps I have a high benchmark, which I don't think so, perhaps here the benchmark is not existing.... please, have a look at your neighbouring countries, even to southern countries work better in this aspect!!

If anybody wants or needs more example or suggestions, I can do it in a private way. For now, that's it. I will tell you how it works in Japan.
Now, less than 24 hours to leave... with a bitter feeling to be honest (thanks God that there are people that are pampering and taking care of me all the time until the last second!! ;-))I feel honoured and appreciated. I have the same feeling towards them. After all, the best thing. Don't forget, treat well the people that treat you well, it's precious!
For the rest, looking forward to Tokyo. Some of my colleagues have already arrived and semi-installed. We (the ones still in Europe) are receiving updated information on how things are going there, plenty of tips, support and suggestions to make our arrival friendlier. Looking forward to it. All this fits very much into my personality. I am excited (not nervous), overwhelmingly happy about it.
Bye for now, take care!
M.

Tribute to my adventure companions

And we will take care and learn from each other!! My new family now and very happy with it! :-)