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
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