We Put Our Feet Just Where They Had To Go

Song lyrics seem to be a recurring theme for me, don't they? Goodness.

The word I was looking for last week was "gazebo," if anyone is curious. Thanks for letting me know, Mom.


Hey, all. What's happening? Hope it's going swell.

Things are still going pretty fantastically for me, gotta say. I've been busy and ridiculously tired, but it's fine. I'll survive.

So, the week recap.

I can't say I recall much concerning Thursday, and Friday was lack-lustre at best.
Well, not all of it.

During my long break in-between classes on Friday, a friend of mine with the same break and I have started going out and doing things. Time before last, it was mundane things like hunting for his trinkets in convenient stores, and this time, it was more mundane things because I needed to go to the grocery store like nobody's business before I starved myself.
I finally remembered to buy a knife, and it cuts the best bread that I have ever seen. For a roughly $6 knife, it's really sharp and does its job quite well.
I bought a lot more than I had initially intended to, but it was good, because I bought stuff with which I could make dinners and begin saving myself money, which discussing the techniques of was exactly the purpose of this blog, wasn't it? Sure, it cost a lot more initially than it does to go to a restaurant, but it lasts a lot longer, and so it makes it worthwhile.
It just really hurts initially.

Nothing else really happened on Friday, I kind of spent the time by myself and accomplished pretty much nothing, as far as I can recall.

Saturday, I went back to Yokohama, but with a different group of people. We did a lot of the same things, but we also did plenty of new things.

Like walk this little piece of interesting architecture. One of the ports in Yokohama.

Fun Fact: "Yokohama" translates roughly into "flat place beside the ocean."

Although a lot of people will tell you means nothing.

Now you know they're lying.

First, we walked to the ocean [obviously, I suppose?], and that was lovely. Cold and windy, but lovely.

Not pictured: all of our hair being made an absolute mess of by that wind.

Then we went to the port, which is the first picture.
Lunch happened at some point with all of this, too. I'm having trouble with chronological order today, it seems.
We also went to the amusement park, where several of us went on a roller coaster. I was going to try it, but then I saw that it cost 700 yen, and I wanted to ride the ferris wheel, which was another 700. So I decided to wait for the ferris wheel.

So much temptation. I wanted to go right then, but my friends pointed out that it would be a lot better to go at night and look at the city lights. 

After that, we went back to Chinatown, where I showed a few of them the k-pop store. The others went and got some food, which they shared with us once we were done. Oh gosh, the vendor food is so good.

As well as some of the best strawberry/vanilla soft serve ice cream I've ever had. And it was pretty, too!

We went inside of the temple this time.

A little blurry, but you can tell what's going on, at least. 

Look at all of the detail!

I threw a 10 yen into the wish box and made a wish. Every time I pass one now, I've started to do that. It may not be the most frugal thing, but it's a lot of fun.

After Chinatown, we went back to the amusement park, but it still wasn't dark enough for the ferris wheel, so we went up and took some parikura of ourselves, which is like a photobooth for the silly giggles. It airbrushes automatically, so my skin tone for the first time in the history of my skin tone ever was even. It was incredible and the photos actually looked pretty decent. I'd show you all, but tee hee I like my internet anonymity.

And last, after that, it was finally time for the ferris wheel, and it was four to a pod, so we split our group in half and took up two pods and proceeded taking more silly pictures of each other.

But we also got photos of some of the most beautiful views ever.

It's a boat! Pretty neat, huh?

On the way back from the fun.

It was getting late after the ferris wheel ride, so we decided to come home. There was a party, but I was far too tired, so I just skipped out and went to bed.

Sunday morning and afternoon I spent lounging about in my pj's and getting ready for a dinner party we were having at a friend's host family's house.
However, my lounging was cut short after a friend came to get me a lot earlier than I had expected. He had told me not to rush, but I couldn't help but doing so, and once I threw myself all together, found out that we had about an hour and a half of wait time due to a miscommunication.
Oh well.
Dinner was magnificent, though. The host mother fed us sukiyaki, and oh my gosh. It was my first time having such a meal, and my goodness. It was so good. The residence is amazing, too! There was the main house and the guest house, and though I only got to see the guest house, the detail was incredible! It was like a French colonial-style and looked like a life-sized dollhouse! We ate, then talked, and at around eleven or so, it was time to go home. Her host mom drove us all back to the dorms, and we retired for the night.

I had a three-day weekend, so on Monday I lounged around and talked to friends online, as well as did my homework. I also managed to finally get a little more laundry detergent from my friend, which I had been badly needing. A friend also came by to visit and give me tickets that she had ordered for me, which I paid her back for, of course.

So much yes. I'll be seeing you in May, my sweet Miyavi~

Tuesday was class. So much class, and when I got home, I had to go to the store, make dinner, do some more homework, wash clothes, and then wash the dishes that I'd gotten dirty. I was so tired by the time it was over.
This morning, there was a 5.2 earthquake that woke me up, but nothing was damaged and everything's all right. The dormitory is a sturdy building, so we just swayed for a moment [which is incredibly disorienting at five-thirty in the morning], and then I fell back asleep.

Today was full of money-saving.
I washed up my laundry and hung it out to dry, which saved me about 5oo+Y, since the dryers only go for 3o minutes for every 100Y. I also ate leftover curry, which stretched that food out longer and kept me from having to go eat out.
And, I made my lunches for the next two days.

Tuna and mayo onigiri.

I did the math, and for those four riceballs, it is only roughly 70Y a piece, if that much, versus 110Y for each one store-bought.
So, for those four rice balls, I would only be able to allllmost buy three at the store.
Pretty great, isn't it?

I think that's all I really have for now, though. I'm becoming quite sleepy and I can't exactly remember anything else that I had wanted to say.

So, goodnight [or good morning] to all of you, and we'll meet again next week!

-RD

You Know, Some Guys Just Can't Hold Their Arsenic.

Whoops. Sorry. Chicago soundtrack going at the moment. 
Hey, guys! What's up? Hope everything's swell for you all.


Wow! As of tomorrow, it's going to be my first full week of classes. I've officially taken all of my classes at least once [I was originally taking 16, taking a break from my usual 18, but haha! Back to 18 now. Oops.], and they all seem pretty promising. 
Last Thursday, I had my initial Japanese core class, which concentrates on things such as grammar, kanji, and vocabulary. This semester from that class only, I'm supposed to learn 15o new kanji. I'm pretty excited, to be honest. I'm so ready to be fluent in Japanese now that it's almost unbearable. I also have decided to take a class that is quite unique to Oberlin, called "Tutorial"  in it, I can concentrate on studying and learning whatever it is I choose. I have pretty much decided to concentrate on my weakest point, speaking, but I would also like to study and work on more of my vocabulary and lexicon, as well. 

I also found this magazine in my Japanese class, featuring Jang Keun Suk [right], a fellow whom my best friend is positively obsessed with.

This man is everywhere around here. Not a bad thing, he's quite attractive, but.

Gah.

Everywhere.

Friday marked my two hours straight of my core Japanese, followed by a four hour break, and then finally Japanese Literature. The two-hour span is tedious if one is quite sleepy and they are only going through introductions, but it could possibly prove to be interesting.  Apparently, there are to be native speakers coming into the classroom to help us speak, and we'll do things like cooking and small field trips and such. That sounds like it will be fun, doesn't it? After we finally managed to get through that class, a few friends of mine and I went over to Fuchinobe to explore and have a bit of of an adventure before our final classes. 

Only after we watched a band play some music for a while first, though. It's pretty neat; apparently little student concerts are pretty normal here. 

It's a really nice concept, to let students do something like that regularly.

We primarily visited a lot of convenient stores for one of my friends, who had previously found an energy drink with Gundam characters and has henceforth been in constant pursuit of them. But we also went to places like the 100 yen shop, which has proven to save me quite a bit of money over time, as I can find things like spatulas and plates of reasonably good quality for only a little over a dollar. It's really nice.

Granted, the quality of English is...

Rather poor. 

But incredibly charming.

Saturday was cold and rainy. I don't mind the rain, but when it's cold, too, I tend to dislike such weather, so I stayed home and got absolutely nothing but my homework and several naps accomplished.

It was beautiful.

Sunday was a different story, though. Saturday evening, a friend messaged me on Facebook and invited me to tag along with her and a couple other people to go see Yokohama. I agreed and asked when and where I should meet them, and thus began to eagerly look forward to the trip. As a bonus, the fare from Machida to Yokohama is only 34o yen, which, for a 3o-45 minute trip, really isn't that bad, comparatively speaking. To get from Fuchinobe to Machida, for instance, is 15o, and that trip is less than 1o minutes. 

Once I met my friends at the station, I re-charged my Suica card, which, with the Pasmo card, are the two cards for most rail lines in Japan, and we were off. Once we arrived in Yokohama, we met up with one other girl, a native Japanese girl, and began our adventure. 

First stop: Chinatown

What a fun day trip! The only other Chinatown I've ever been to was the one in New York, and I've come to realise that they seem to usually be entire day trips by themselves. It was crowded and bustling and full of shops and food and people. 

As well as one of the creepiest Santa Clauses I've ever seen.

The first shop that we walked in to was the first shop they had in Chinatown proper, and it was, of course, jam-packed with panda paraphernalia. The difference between this stereotype and what appears to be American stereotype is that, rather than focus on the elegant nature and pretty art that can involve pandas, Japan has focused on the cute-aspect of pandas. Not necessarily a bad thing, mind you, it was just interesting. Honestly, it wasn't until we were a couple of blocks into Chinatown that I even started noticing what I would assume to stereotypically be inside the stores. 

Here's one of the shops. It looked different and interesting. I didn't go in, but I thought I should at least take a photo.

The entrance to this store involved walking inside the panda's mouth. Pandas everywhere, much like Jang Keun Suk. 

At this moment, I would honestly consider describing Japan as "Pandas and Jang Keun Suk." 

But I'm also very sleepy right now, so that may be clouding my judgement somewhat.

We of course went into the panda store, where there was, you guessed it: more panda... things. But once you walked past that part of the store and actually began to look around, more things appeared. For instance, there were phone decoration stickers and charms and clothes and some foods and other things of that nature. I bought a sticker, but I also bought a charm at a later store, so I'll upload the photo of my phone further down. It looks awesome, though. I'm so pleased.

In and amongst all the shops and hullabaloo, though, there were some genuinely pretty, somewhat cultural-seeming items. We found a really nice looking park-area with a pretty, Chinese-styled open building... thing in it. I've forgotten the word, but it starts with a 'g' and is not 'garbonzo,' 'gorganzola,' or 'Gardevoir.'  

There was also this really nice temple.

We had lunch at a restaurant there, and we sat and talked for a while, and afterwards looked around for a little while longer before deciding to go back to the real Yokohama and exploring the train-station area [there is a TON to look at there]. The four of us settled on going to Bay Quarter and looking around there, and it was there that I found my happy place that will allow me to forever live in Tokyo. 

There is a little mall [well, I use the term 'little' very loosely] there, and two stories in it, the 5th and 6th floor, are comprised of strictly sewing and art materials. It was as though I'd died and gone to heaven. So nice to know at least one place where I can find these things. 

Someone had tucked a Yu-Gi-Oh! card on the sign that led us to Bay Quarter. I had to take a photo of it...

but I ultimately decided to put it back where it was found, so that when the next person to understand came by, s/he could also be amused. 

Bay Quarter itself. Pretty nice, huh?

After exploring there, we decided to go our separate ways and head back home. I had to go grocery shopping, though, so a couple of friends decided to go along with me. Grocery shopping is pretty mundane work, though, so all I can really say about that is that I managed to find a few things on discount, and that was lovely. Otherwise, it was completely average. I just needed to come up with some kind of minimum stock so that I could begin to figure out what I need from now on. So, I need to go back, really, and get what I'm missing, but... I'll do that later. Maybe tomorrow or Friday during my massive amount of free time. 

Monday was only one class, so that was really nice. I can't really recall what I did, though. I just remember that it seems like it was fun..? I did something. And it was enjoyable. 

I remember walking home, and along the way, my friend walking with me and I discovered this little gem:

Beautiful, isn't it?

Yesterday I had a long day. I had my Japanese class, then Literature and Kanji, which was lastly followed by Multilingual Interactions, which I managed to win a place in through the lottery. That class is why I have 18 credits now instead of 16, and I'm really excited about being able to take it.

Yesterday was also another curry night, except somehow, it had gone from just six people to about twenty. It was a ridiculous explosion of people, so we kept it to the lounge room, rather than moving to my room. I'm quite grateful for it.

Today was my second long day; it seems like Tuesdays and Wednesdays will be hard, but I think I'll be fine. First, it was Japanese class, and then afterwards, two classes-long worth of Japanese Society. That one seems really promising [there are only four or five of us in there!], so I'm really excited for it and my other classes. After classes, I came back to the dorm and ate dinner with a friend, who decided she wanted to cook and asked if I wanted to work on my homework with her. 

Then I came back here and began to write this.

And now it's after midnight. My goodness. I really need to get some rest here in a bit.

OH! My phone! I forgot! 

Well, one of the shops was a Korean-Pop Group shop [A k-pop store in Chinatown in Japan. It's like... Most of the world in one place. Wow.], and so I also bought myself a little phone charm for my favourite group.

I now have the best phone ever.

I haven't really found any new money-saving tips just yet, except for obvious things like to pay attention for thrift shops and sales at grocery stores. Usually, too, vegetable stands are a good place to look for fruits and vegetables, I've noticed. They're pretty commonplace in Fuchinobe along the way home from school, and I noticed that a lot of the prices were better than the stuff at the grocery store. Also, I have to re-emphasize: make friends. They feed you for free from time to time. Of course, one is inclined to return the favour, but regardless. Money saving. 

But. I really must go to bed now, so until next week, take care.

-RD

It's Been One Week Since You Looked at Me.

The title seemed appropriate.
Wow! I've been here for a week now. Well, a week and a day as of tonight, I suppose. Regardless, my goodness! It's been incredible thus far. I can't tell if it's the culture shock or if it's genuine, but at least for the moment, I feel like I've finally found my home. We'll see how long the feeling lasts. Already, I've been thrown into confusion about where I really want to go with my life. I guess we'll see which way I start leaning towards as time goes on. Patience is a virtue, I guess. Hm.

This is what everything looked like before I had unpacked. It's really quaint--behind the bathroom door there, there's a purple curtain that covers the door to the balcony. Now, it's got a few touches of home strewn about here and there and it's really comfortable.

I arrived in Machida after a two-hour long bus ride from Narita [stayed at a hotel that first night], in which I had started talking to people who have since become pretty close friends of mine. Once we got there, we had a lunch offered to us by the university while orientations began. A week's worth of orientation has been tedious, but it has, as of today, officially ended. Tomorrow, classes begin.

Briefly, on Tuesday, we were greeted with orientations from the school and from the university, and greeted with a typhoon from Japan itself ["Welcome to Japan! Have a monsoon!" right?]. Of course, in my mind, it never rains in Japan because Japan is perfect [What..? That doesn't even make sense. I love rain.], so I forgot to pack an umbrella. Fortunately one of my new friends was kind enough to share his with me. The gesture was greatly appreciated. After we got to the dormitories and gathered up our things, a couple buddies of mine and I decided to brave the storm to go find some dinner. The wind was so bad at points that, when I had my back to it, I had to run to keep from getting pushed over. It was both awesome and overwhelming at the same time.

Wednesday, we had survival orientation [primarily pertaining to what to do in an earthquake] followed by academic orientation, which, to be completely honest with you all, I don't remember much of. Hide under a table if there's a quake, and watch out for bikes because people on them are crazy around here. I think that's what he said. After orientations, though, we were free to do whatever we wanted, so three of my friends and me went to Machida proper, which I may or may not have mentioned before. I can't really recall whether or not I did previously mention it. I don't think so, but I did update a photo from it. 

This was a different trip to Machida, but it's the same place, so it will do.

That night we went to find a place to eat, as well as dashed off to pick up a LAN cable and some other necessary evils. It was a lot of fun, and having a really kind friend who understands enough Japanese to help you be frugal is really useful. Three metres of relatively cheap LAN cable and a calculator later, we headed back home. 

My jet lag was awful. The day after, which was Thursday, heralded the first of the two days of placement exams. I had to take that test with 3 1/2 hours of sleep. Not the worst ever--I mean, I could have just not slept at all, but it was still irritating. Before that [and for a short while after], I continued to wake up at anywhere from 5:00 to 6:00 in the morning, depending on the day. Recently, I've finally been getting back on a decent sleep schedule, and that's been really nice. After the placement exams, my bunch of friends and I made another mad dash out to get out and explore, and wound up eating out again. The food has been positively delicious and I have loved everything that I have tried thus far. 

Friday there was a party during the evening for the international students to meet some of the Japanese students. During that time, I met many new people, and really re-acquainted myself with a former exchange student that I had briefly met back home. After that had ended, a bunch of people wanted to go out and do things, since it was still quite early in the evening. A friend of mine and I didn't feel like doing that much, though, so we went to my room and watched a film, instead, to wind down from the day. 

Saturday was full of medical check-up waiting and the subsequent frustration from it. Sunday involved a trip to the grocery and video games. Monday, we received the results to our placement tests. Mine turned out to be one step below where I had anticipated. I suppose it's not the worst in the world, but I had really thought I knew more than I apparently do. In retrospect, I think I was overestimating myself, and I'm probably actually in the right place. 

Today and yesterday were tours of Machida and trips to the city hall to fill out our alien registration forms. Yesterday, which was my Machida tour, was fun. The previous picture is actually from that tour, with our tour guides in front of us. Sweet people. I like them both, and they are quite humorous when put together, as they're old friends. Today was a bit boring, buuut. I did manage to take some pretty grand photos. 

Because the sakura are in full bloom at the moment.

Lovely, aren't they? 

After we finished with registration and got back here today, I really didn't do too much. A friend of mine came to visit me and we had leftovers for dinner together. It was a lot of fun.

Tomorrow classes start, and I have no idea how they're going to go. Hopefully, it'll all be swell.

So, money saving tricks so far?

-Wait until the exchange rate is good to get any money. Be careful! Money is usually the best way to go around here, but there's the conversion fee to deal with, and that can add up. If you're careful, though, it should be all right and you shouldn't need a bank account unless you want one.

-Don't be afraid to explore to find new places that may offer the same things at better prices. If you keep yourself locked up in one area, you'll never know what kinds of shops there are and how much cheaper they may or may not sell their products for. Take a friend if you don't want to go by yourself. Or several. Several friends can be fun, if not a little overwhelming.

-Make sure the laundry takes more than one specific coin before you add them to find out that it, in fact, does not. I wasted 100 yen to find that out, which is the equivalent of a buck and almost a quarter. A bit embarrassing. But, in addition to that tidbit:

-It's common and accepted to hang your clothes to dry around here. They sell many racks at various prices [pretty cheap--about $6 at the low end] specifically meant to help you hang dry clothes. 100 yen will only buy 30 minutes of dryer time. If you hang dry them, you're saving several dollars every time. 

-Make friends. You can all buy various items in bulk together, which usually gets more bang for the buck, and then you can all divide up the treasure between you. For instance, I bought dish soap, and a friend of mine bought detergent. We've been sharing. 

That's all I've got thus far, though. See you guys next week.

-RD

東京！

Wow, guys! I’m here. Can’t say it feels too real yet. Almost, but at the moment, it feels more as though I’m just in a big city in the US that they just designed to look Japanese.

I was going to make a special post on my Chicago trip, but with the way things have happened, that idea kind of flew right out of the window. Well, suffice it to say that Chicago was a blast. I got to see an old friend of mine and spend a few days with my aunt, eating the foods that I have no doubt I will be hard-pressed to find abroad.

I found the BEST MEXICAN RESTAURANT EVER. Thank you, internet reviews. What a wonderful little hole in the wall.

An enchilada plate. Only plain old enchiladas. My! It was delicious. I was sad when I couldn’t finish it all, but it was huge. They also had the best horchata that I’ve ever had. Well, everything there was the best I’d ever had, really. I wonder how the queso dip was… We forgot [or didn’t want, whichever] to order some.

All. Li. Gaa. Torrrrr.

We also went to the Shedd Aquarium, which would have been a blast had it not been wall-to-wall full of people. But, overhearing someone’s conversation, it was the first weekend of Spring Break, so of course the place was jam-packed.

We went through the Jellies exhibit. I love jellyfish~.

I woke up at 03:00 in the morning on Sunday to get my boarding pass so I could get on the plane on time. When we got to the airport, it turned out that the place where you get tickets didn’t even open until 05:30, of course. So it turned out that I could have slept for another hour or so, but alas, it was not to be. I met a really nice lady during that point, though. We didn’t decide to keep in touch, but it was nice to just have someone going the same way for a little while with whom I could speak to. My plane left at 07:00 Central Time, and I landed in Toronto at about 09:30 Eastern Time. I had forgotten Toronto was in a different time zone, so I had assumed I would have time to watch a movie [Oh my God, guys. TVs on the back on every seat. My mind was boggled.], and I decided to watch the Iron Lady, Meryl Streep playing Margaret Thatcher. Of course I only got to finish about half of it because there wasn’t enough time to watch it, because yours truly is a numbskull and forgot time zones existed. What I did see was interesting, at least, and I liked it up to the point I saw.

After we landed, I had to swing through the customs for connecting international flights. I said my good-byes to the kind lady I had met and wished her well on her trip, then went on my own way. There was a five-hour layover in which time I could have gotten food, but my numbskullery showed itself again, and I got lost in a conversation with a friend of mine over Skype and completely forgot to eat. In retrospect, it was probably a good thing, because the plane attendants made absolutely sure that we were not even close to hungry the entire time of the trip, and it would have been too much had I eaten before. The news in Canada is apparently both in English and French. I know I shouldn’t have been surprised, but my mind was blown anyway. I think, if I learned anything from the trip, I learned that I seem to be really easy to impress.

The trip from Toronto to Tokyo was absurdly long. I may have just been tired of travelling, though. The first six hours of it were easy; I met a university professor from University of Toronto, and we got into conversations about things like healthcare, feminism, and politics, as well as lighter things like silly stories about families and dream goals in life. She was easy to speak to, and we plan on keeping in touch, but after so long, even with the most pleasant company in the world, any trip can become tedious. Oh my gosh, though, flying over the arctic was amazing. It was like the Discovery Channel was playing in the window, only without the narrator to explain what’s going on during this time of year. The tundra is beautiful. I can’t say I would ever want to be on ground level in it, but from the air, it was wonderful to look at.

After a while, the attendants wanted us to close our windows, so I was left to myself and my company to provide entertainment, but I slept off and on [I was absolutely exhausted], spoke with my new friend, played a little Lost in Blue 2, watched a Charlie Chaplin film [the TVs on the seats kept me ridiculously impressed], and did the best I could to keep myself entertained. At about 16:00 Japan time, my friend and I started opening the window again, and we could start seeing the outlines of cities and rivers and, most impressively, mountains. I must say, I think the mountains impressed me a bit more than the Arctic.

I forgot to take a picture of the aforementioned mountains, but regardless, the view was lovely.

We landed at about 16:30, which was roughly a half-hour late. I said my goodbyes and tried to run through customs. The line to get through immigration was absurdly long, and they were just in the process of opening a new line. Fortunately, I got to go into this new line, but it still took about 10 minutes to get through. From there, it was baggage claims, where I waited for another 15 minutes, because my plane had been huge and absolutely packed full of people. Customs was the easy part. There was no line, and the only thing the security guard asked was how long I was staying. By the time I got out of all of that and into the main area of the airport, it was 17:15, and I had missed my pickup.

I must act far too calmly in most situations, because I stood there for about thirty minutes, looking around absentmindedly, and no one noticed my being lost. The only reason I figured out what it was I was supposed to do was because I ran into another girl going to the same place. She was on the verge of a panic attack because we had no pickup [I was just resigning myself to live in the airport until August], and had attracted someone’s attention. The woman helping us was extremely kind, and when I gave her the phone number for the International Department at Oberlin, she called to ask what we were supposed to do. After thanking her, we went to ForEx to get our money exchanged.

Look at that. I’m rich. Sort of. Uhm…

Well, in all actualities, there's about  US $10 in coins in that little bag.
I'm not used to change carrying so much weight in money!

Coin purse is ugly, don't look at it too hard. I just needed something really quickly, because I was about to have change dropping out of my pockets because my wallet just wouldn't hold any more.

After that, we went on ahead and went to the hotel that the school provided to us, and so I went, dropped my things off in my room, and then got dinner with my new friend; I was too tired, though, so I only ate a little. Then I went back to my room, took a shower, and went to bed. It was only 20:30. 

For those of you travelling to Japan from a more western country, planning on using the same mobile when you arrive [even if it's for just a moment before you get a new one], stop planning. It won't work--they changed the frequency of the Japanese mobile towers or something, rendering mine [and every other person I've met originally from a great distance] essentially no more than a glorified alarm clock. I think my Korean friend's mobile still works, but I'm not sure.

Orientation began after breakfast. I ate with my new friend and a couple of people from my school, as well as a Japanese volunteer student. My friend who I was going to meet up with the day before finally found me that morning, while I was sitting in the lobby to get internet to tell people that I was okay. After he ate, we checked out of the hotel and got on the bus that would take us to Fuchinobe and to the international house. It was about two hours away, a little better. 

A view from the bus. The cars driving UK style is still weirding me out. It has been several days and I still think I'm about to get run over at every turn.

My friend and I made a few new aquaintences and friends, and we all have since been working on orientations ever since.

Buuut. This entry carries me to Wednesday, which was where I was supposed to be.

Suffice it to say, I've been having a blast, and I already know now that I won't want to come home when the time comes. I'll have to, though. You'll find about what's going on now next week. 

'Til then, loves.

-RD

Announcement

Heyyy guys, I'm here.
But I've been really busy with orientations and struggling to get internet and a mobile phone. I'll try to update as soon as possible, this weekend at latest.
Tomorrow I have my placement test.
Oh heavens. Wish me luck!
Talk to you soon.

In the mean time, welcome to Fuchinobe and Machida. 

-RD