Saturday 5 October 2019

First impression of moving to Nagasaki from Vietnam

Well, don't let the title fool you, the following article is about my thoughts after having completed the first few weeks living in Nagasaki, Japan, BUT most of the experience has just happened around Nagasaki University Bunkyo Campus and not Nagasaki city in general. Anyway, if you are interested in pursuing a graduate degree at Nagasaki University, this is obviously a good start.


Done with the introduction, so here we go.
  1. Impression no.1: The street is really clean!
So, the myth is real. My friend from a cleaning equipment and vehicle manufacturer based in Germany once told me that he and his competitors couldn’t sell any outdoor street sweeping vehicle in Japan cause the street is always insanely clean, which is equal to no demand. I used to find that claim was a bit exaggerated but being here for a while I somehow got a sense of what he had talked about.


Wild fishes in the river
The environment here seems to be well reserved. Born and growing up in Hanoi, I haven’t seen as many wild animals in the city as in here (the zoo isn’t counted, of course). Those belong to the cat team should absolutely consider coming to NU as there are a lot of cats roaming freely on the university campus.
  1. Impression no.2: Tea is everywhere!
It is safe to say that you are at the heaven of tea. You can find any kinds of tea, in every shape, size and package from vending machines, stores or supermarkets. Definitely +1 point for tea lovers. For those who can’t live without coffee, bad news for you as some of my friends told me that the coffee here was considered as mild and bland compared to their hometown’s counterpart. Well, this is just what I heard though and everyone has their own preference. Anyway, this is none of my concern as caffeinated drinks has never been my cup of tea.

From vending machine...

... to supermarket
  1. Impression no.3: You have to walk a lot more!
You may not want to hear this, but if you are having a sedentary lifestyle now, then you will have a hard time getting used to life here. I considered myself a moderate-active person, but it took me a while to adapt. My step counter easily scores at least 13.000 steps a day, while in Vietnam I usually have to incorporate a jogging or running session in order to reach the infamous 10.000-step-per-day target. The problem doesn’t lie in travelling distances, but climbing and/or carrying parts. Going to the university is easy; coming back, however, is literally an uphill battle.

Going down is easy...

... coming back is the real battle, whichever the way you choose.
  1. Impression no.4: Labour cost here is way higher than in my hometown, Vietnam.
During moving in, there was a small problem with the faucet for the washing machine in my friend apartment and she had to call the plumber for help. The cost for the faucet’s nozzle replacement was 5.400¥ (~4.7$) in total (labour and replacement kit cost included) and luckily the apartment owner was kind enough to cover this expense. The same problem, if happened in Vietnam, may be solved for less than 500¥ (~4.7$), I suppose. Another example is that I have taken a taxi once and it costed me around 960¥ (~9$) for less than 2 km. For your comparison, the taxi rate in Vietnam is just about 55¥ (~0.5$) per km. Therefore, if you are on a budget, opt for walking and public transport as much as possible and/or considering buying a bike. Also, Do-it-yourself skill is definitely an asset.
So far so good, the overall experience of relocating to Japan is very positive until now. This is the end of today article and I do hope you may find some good insights after reading through this. Hopefully see you in other articles in the future. Cheer!