The Big Move!

さよなら和歌山こんにちは大阪‼

Sayonara Wakayama... Konnichiwa Osaka... 

What a crazy few months it has been! For those who didn't know I have recently moved from the super 田舎 (inaka-countryside) Wakayama to the beautifully hectic city of Osaka. I left my role as an ALT and started a new job in an international pre-school,  かわいいね(cute right!)

After spending my first year in the depths of rural Japan, which was a wonderful experience itself, I decided for my second year I wanted to move somewhere bigger. A place that ideally had more than 5 shops, transport that ran more than once in a blue moon and wasn't a billion miles away from everything else... cue my move to the polar opposite.. Osaka! 

Since I've traded in quaint and rural for busy and metropolitan things have been very different. In fact I almost feel like a newbie in Japan all over again! So below I've stacked up the differences between urban and rural life in Japan...

Shopping (of course this would be the first topic!)-

Before I was living in a town that had very few shopping options (3 supermarkets, a few conbinis, a home-ware store and a stationary shop..) Suffice to say I did a lot of online shopping! Fast forward to now and my shopping addiction has somewhat been reignited!! Good for my closest, bad for my wallet! There are so many shopping malls, districts, arcades etc. and all with super cute things that seem to catch even the most resistant eye, often leading to impulse buys! So whilst I'm happy to have limitless shopping options it's not such a good thing for my spending habit!


Food and Drink(ing)-
As one would expect the city has soooo many places to eat out and go drinking (the latter being something I need to explore more lol)! Again not so good for my bank balance but hey, you can't put a price on fun (and for me food and drink definitely equal fun haha!) So far I've only been out around the Umeda/Namba/Shinsaibashi/Amemura areas, but that's
ok I still have plenty of time to find new places to go out. As for eating out it's great to have the option of many different international cuisines as well as Japanese food, especially since I was getting some particular cravings!

Entertainment-
Like I said before there was little in my small town to do, but here in Osaka there's loaads to do/ lots of places to go(though I still like to be lazy and just watch netflix lol)! Whether you're interested in sports, theatre, history, fashion, culture etc.. there's something for you to do. Plus you have the added bonus of being close to Kyoto, Kobe and Nara so the possibilities for things to do are endless!

Transport- 

I cannot explain how happy I am to be living somewhere where transport is more regular than once every two hours! Living in the countryside (where travel is necessary if you want to actually do anything) it was always frustrating if you missed the train and had to wait years for the next one! On the other hand I do miss not being shoved into the jam packed trains or breathing in the swarm of germs that seem to inhabit the city tubes!

Nature- 

One thing I do miss from living in the country is the endless amounts of nature and pretty scenery. Osaka is pretty much a concrete jungle, filled with skyscrapers, with the odd bit of greenery thrown in here and there. Back in my old town I lived a 5 minute walk from the beach, had a constant backdrop of mountains and at night could actually see stars. Of course whilst I do love what the city has to offer I still crave a little nature now and then.



Well there's my very brief "review", if you may, of living in Osaka so far! Here's to having new adventures in the big city!