Hostels

Hostels get a bit of a bad rap as a travel experience sometimes. For the most part they are all the same - a dorm with a few people in it, shared bathrooms and German tourists with solid shoes.

I'll admit that I quite like hostels. The staff are always friendly (like ALWAYS) and in my experience they all speak English (even the American ones) and can help out with the local language. While I don't really like the shared bathroom thing, Japan has been a great place to stay at a hostel because everything is so incredibly CLEAN (they don't even let you wear shoes into your room).

But the best part about hostel stays is meeting other travellers. While they probably won't become your friends for life, you'll most likely enjoy an interesting conversation or two and may even share a meal or an experience. And if someone annoys you, you know it's only temporary.

Last night I was accidentally assigned to a mixed dorm instead of a female dorm, which I didn't mind. I ended up being in a dorm with three guys, one of whom did not return to sleep that night. There is a distinct difference between guys and girls in dorms and that is STUFF. Girls have their stuff strewn everywhere possible, with the only space being the path required to go from the beds to the door. I'm a bit more guy-like, I like to put stuff all over my bed but I never scatter things all over the floor.

The other thing about girls is that they have a LOT of stuff. Looking at the clothes I packed (I think it was 5 tops, 2 skirts and 2 pants) I now realise I probably didn't need so many tops and could have done with one less skirt. But a lot of the girls I see in hostels have the equivalent of half my wardrobe in their suitcase, with the rest devoted to a bag of toiletries, a bag of cosmetics, a hair dryer, a hair straightener and a bag of hair products. What the? The guys in my room last night had one small rucksack each and a small daypack. That was it. I was incredibly impressed.

I didn't really feel like doing the 'so where are you from?' thing because I was so tired last night but the guy in the bunk below asked me and the other dude whether it was okay if he woke up early the next morning and I said 'you gotta do what you gotta do' and the other dude piped up and asked 'is that an Aussie accent I hear?'. He was from New York and had visited Australia a few months back. The other guy turned out to be from Poland but had been working in Sydney for 6 years and asked me whereabouts in Australia. When I said 'Sydney', he said 'whereabouts in Sydney?' and when I said 'North Sydney' he said 'whereabouts in North Sydney?'. Turns out he has a desire to buy a place in Waverton or Wollstonecraft, which sparked a conversation about my part of the world.

Anyway, that's my ramble. I'm currently staying at a Japanese-style hostel (futons on tatami mats) but there doesn't seem to be any other guests. The front part is a noodle shop. The internet is free, except it's on the floor so I've been sitting cross-legged for almost an hour and it's very uncomfortable and my beer is getting warm. Ta ta.