Today was quite interesting for me. My luggage situation is a mess with things in random places and no order to the madness inhibited in my suitcase. I finally got ready and went to find some breakfast. I didn’t venture too far today, only going to the family mart across the street because of its convenience, hence the name for such a place is called a convini . I needed to get something quick before we all had to meet downstairs. My selection for asagohan was a cheese bread, and triangle sushis: 1 tuna and the other wakame. It was the most delicious thing ever! The rice is sooo good and fresh... its like perfection in a package! Today we went over the handbook and some rules, then what we will be doing for orientation. We got an information bag and then had a hirogohan (lunch) break. My fellow friends and I decided to try a soba restaurant. It was oishii! The owners were so nice and helped us decide on the menu, since the kanji was a little difficult to read. The grandma who served us was so nice and glad to see us. I noticed that the shops and restaurants in Japan are so customer friendly. They cater to their customers and are always nice and inviting. It is obvious that in a consumer country that has sooo many shops and restaurants, owners want people in their shop so they are sure to show appreciation to those walking the street and to ones that are interested in their product. That small soba shop made me feel as if I was casually in someone’s home with grandma in the kitchen. I loved it. After lunch, I had the rest of the day off since my housing interview isn’t until tomorrow. The rest of us that had free time got to go on an excursion to Akihabara with some Waseda students. We went to the train station and took a train to Akihabara. My experience in the station today was quite amazing. There are SO many people in this underground space, it’s like it’s own city! Everyone is quickly crossing paths going on to their destination. Walking through it was chaotic but in a way I seemed to go with the flow. Though the stations was a chaotic space, the people crossing almost looked choreographed or something, like in a dance. It seemed to time well or have a steady rhythm. This matched the uniformity of the space--the path ways are linear and the turning corners are exact. The yellow blind man braille lines also follow this uniform style. After doing some train hopping, we arrived at our excursion destination: Akibahara, known for its electronics and for being the game and animate hub of Japan. The tall colorful building full of advertisements can overwhelm the senses. I experienced this myself when walking the streets since there are SOOO many advertisements, game and anime shops!!! Its sensory overload to the new visitor, but it is quite a site to see. Most of the stores there are duty free, which I found quite interesting and supposedly it is great for travelers who have their passport because you get more "discounts". (don't know if this is true). There are WAY to many “things” to buy there. I honestly didn’t need to bring anything to Japan and could have shopped for everything I needed in one building! There are also so many frivolous thing in the stores that I wouldn’t even think would exist or fathom that I needed it. The floor with costumes and intimates was quite hilarious and interesting. It made my day for sure. At the game building I got to experience what I call “the photo booth sesh”. Picture photo booths are a HUGE deal in Japan. We were on a floor dedicated to only photobooths. There were even costumes available to dress up in! Everyone does it. We took a photo session . Can I say that I was not ready for that elaborate process--taking 10 pictures in different backgrounds, decorating pictures with icons and names. It was crazy cool. I mean for goodness sake the photo camera applies longer eyelashes to your eyes in the picture to make you more “beautiful”.
Going to Akihabara in person was great because I got to see that this place is really what I imagined it to be, just the way I have seen it on TV. After being there for a few hours I was ready to leave. It was kind of overwhelming and hot. Before our departure to the station, I stopped by and conversed with a sales man on the electronic Japanese translator, which I am thinking of getting while here in Japan. It was nice that I was able to understand him. Talking about the language and conversing, today was very difficult and frustrating for me. I felt hopeless not remembering words and things. But such is the experience of studying abroad.
Anyway, by the time we got back to Sakura Hotel I was ready to head up to the room. I wanted a shower and to rest my feet. Plenty of walking today!! It was nice to move and get out after all of that sitting in the plane and airport yesterday.
...Well I am so tired, probably from jet lag, being in a new environment and my brain having to work so hard today. I plan on reading up on classes and getting oriented with my info packets then calling it a day. Great 1st day, I am so grateful.
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