Day 5: Orientation

We had the morning off today so I was able to get up at 8am. I woke up to the sound of water flowing. In my foggy state I thought it might possibly be raining outside, but I disregarded that thought. Thank goodness I dressed accordingly because it was very rainy and wet outside. This cooled off the temperature off a lot. (Since it is known to rain a lot here, I am thinking of purchasing some cute rain boots :) ) At 9am I met some friends for asagohan. We went to a kissaten nearby to get some coffee and food. We then went to Ikebukuro Eki to catch a train to Takadanobaba. It is getting a LOT easier to navigate in the station. At 1st we all didn’t know which way to go, but now that we have had time to observe and see our surroundings it is pretty easy. We reached Waseda a little before 11am. Today we would have our own Japan Study meeting this afternoon and then it would be SILS orientation on course registration. I received some useful information from orientation.

Finally getting out at 4:30pm, a group of us decided to go back to Akihabara to check out Japanese electric dictionaries denshizishyo. We didn’t end up buying anything though. While we were there we checked out our phone models that we we chose today. We are using Au phone company and I chose a slick Sony Ericson brand! I am SOOO stoked on getting a Japanese phone, keitai denwa! Super sweet deal. For dinner the guys decided they wanted to eat at McDonalds ha. That would not be my first choice but it is always interesting eating McDonalds in various places of the world. The food was honestly super good. I got a chicken sandwich that had a garlic sauce on it. I obviously didn’t realize that it had that when I bought it. The sandwich and fries were super fresh. Oishii! After we were done with our meal we went walking around and made some new discoveries. We went to an otaku, which is a place that is dedicated to a particular theme, topic, or hobby. They are frequently found in Akihabara. The otaku we went to was a Akb48 Japanese girl pop group otaku. The higher we went the crazier it became. It was fun and surprising every time we turned the corner. Each floor was mixed with handy utilities to clothes and costumes to cute stuffed animals and other interesting things ( I will let your mind do the imagining). I think it was 7 floors. And surprise of all surprise on the top floor (nanakai) there was a theater where the Akb48 girls performed. Guess who was there audience? All men. Yep it was one of those kind of shows : / from men school boys to older business men. Very interesting! This pop culture has a strong backing! Anyway after that we came upon a building with four floors of @home maid cafes. Yes you guessed it, we decided to check it out! When we entered the door we were greeted by a male host who directed us to one of these girls dressed up in a maid costume. She led us to our table. The girls in the @made cafe have to wear this short maid outfits with styled hair and long eyelashes. I guess this fulfills some kind of fantasy for some guys. You are allowed to play games with them and take pictures with them for a certain amount of money. We almost did it but our table bill was already expensive. All their costumers were men, except for my friend and I, so we actually felt kind of awkward. Supposedly they have a girl @home maid cafe were there are guys who dress as butlers. Well what an interesting part time job! Anyway I have digressed... At the cafe we ordered some drinks and I ordered a dessert that had a cute face on it. We talked with some of the maids and then paid and left. In return we got some souvenirs to show that we went through this experience. Oh what an experience it was! We walked around for a little bit, went to a pachinko game building and caught a train home. Long day but a lot of fun!

Day 3: Orientation Japan Study

Today I woke up with a better choice of clothing than yesterday. I was a lot more cooler today in this humid weather. I woke up earlier than yesterday since our group had to leave by 8am today. We were walking and discovering the longer route to campus today. It was nice outside but getting hot by 9am. It amazes me how Japanese can wear multiple layers of clothing, such as full suits or jeans, leggings, jackets, sweaters and scarfs. It is humid and not really fall yet! Most of these younger girls will chose to wear trendy and fashionable clothing before comfort it seems. I was wearing a dress and a light shawl and I wanted to take the shawl off!

After reaching Takadanobaba station, we walked the rest of the way to campus. It was a nice walk. Today I had my interview for housing. So after over thinking about it I decided that it would be best to do a home stay. Japan Study is good at setting up host families and since it is encouraged in their program it was best that I go with that. Also since practicing Japanese is my number 1 priority I will be able to practice! Overall today was difficult, first not being able to get out of the classroom the ENTIRE day. Finally after many long hours, 6pm came along and it was time for dinner. I was really hungry and luckily we were all going to be treated for dinner tonight. It was traditional Japanese foods and it was sooo good!! The one thing I regret is eating the dessert because that may have caused me to not feel good since I was already full by then. After dinner we ventured on our own to get home. We caught the train by ourself back to the hotel tonight for the first time. I was glad to get back and do computer things. (Did some international calling. For those of you going abroad or may be in college and don’t want to pay for calling, check out the phone chat on gmail. You probably already know about it but I definitely didn’t!! It’s AWESOME!!) Everything has been decided on and I am doing fine for know. Today was a little rough, but hey it happens. I can’t wait to meet my host family and start classes! :)

DAY 2: Orientation

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.

FINALLY IN JAPAN!!! :D

Since I have landed in Japan I have been too busy or tired to write on here but here is an overview of my days here so far: (inserts from journal)

Day 1: Arrival

Arrived at Narita airport completely fine but a little nervous because my Japanese didn’t seem up to par--part of it was maybe due to lack of sleep. The flight went smoothly but seemed forever, even though I slept and watched some shows and movies on my personal tv screen. It was probably only an 8 hour flight but for some reason the hours seemed to last forever. Maybe it was my anticipation and excitement of getting to Tokyo. The ANA airlines flight attendants tried to speak to me in Japanese until they realized that I didn’t really understand what they were saying, more like I couldn’t hear them with the engines running and earphones in my ear ha. The food on the flight was ono! I didn’t really expect to have food on the flight (thanks to the US airlines who don’t give you anything unless you purchase it!) Thank goodness there were two meals on the flight because I was definitely was hungry! When I got to Narita airport I was relieved to see that the signs had English on them so I could figure out how to get around a little more easily. I went through immigration, baggage and customs fine. All my baggage was there, which was nice. Exiting the customs area I found the Japan study group (actually they found me). I was joined with the other members that were already there. Later in the evening we got to the hotel, the Sakura hotel in Ikebukuro, all I wanted to do was shower and get rid of my baggage that I had been carrying all day. The room is great and the futon and comforter is simply amazing and comfortable. Love it.

It is hot. No it is freakin hot here! Not the kind of sun burning, but humid. Worse than Hawaii. I literally want to take 3 showers a day. Ha well its that time of year for Japan. The hot sticky months of August are still lingering and autumn won't come for a while. Oh well.

Reflection: Though I currently feel unsettled and unsure of Japan, I for some reason feel like I am at home. Like I belong here or that I can be myself here. Something matches up. Maybe it is the under layer of similar culture, or beliefs or vibe but through the chaotic streets I some how find an inner stillness or connection with the millions of bodies going different directions. I am glad I am here!!

Here is a picture of what our room initially looked like until the luggage came up ha. Sakura Hotel, Ikebukuro. Very nice rooms!

5 days and counting!!!!! WOW so soon :D