So I'm in Japan now, the land of karaoke, electronics, and a whole lot
of weird food. Gas stations are gas stations and convenience stores
are convenience stores - they're never combined, everyone separates
their garbage for recycling, bikes have lights on the front tires that
run on the power you make while cycling, most public restrooms don't
have hand soap or toilet paper, and people wear face masks in public
when they're sick.
I'm not going to say much about the plane
ride other than that it was long, but I will say that three of the most
beautiful things I've ever seen were on that trip. One was the full
moon over Lake Michigan while approaching Chicago, another was flying
over Alaska, and the third was Mt. Fuji from the airplane.
Arrival
I
travelled from the airport with three guys who also flew into Nagoya.
We had the option of waiting another hour for a third plane to get in
and then travel with Karen (from JCMU), or to make our way to Hikone
ourselves, and so the four of us opted to have an adventure and do it
ourselves rather than wait. It really wasn't hard, since Karen gave us
specific instructions, and I'm glad we did because besides arriving
earlier, I got to sit behind this really adorable Japanese toddler on
the train who kept calling his mother "old lady" and she kept getting
mad. He also kept staring at us because we were gaijin (foreigners).
We
arrived at the Residence Hall of the "Mishigan Sentaa" (or the Japan
Center for Michigan Universities - JCMU) to find a whole bunch of drunk
people in the lobby. Apparently they were very excited for the arrival
of the new people. :D I put my stuff in my room, talked to some more
people in the lobby, then headed over to Lawsons (the convenience
store) with Jason (a returner) to get something for dinner, which
consisted of a "kariimon" or a curry-filled dough-ball thing. I also
had some Cup Noodles with Jason, and while they were cooking I met Choi
(Dan Choi, a returner), Hannah (a newb) and Travis (another newb), and
Volker (a returner), and afterward we headed out to Sound Bar.
Mishigan Sentaa
The
Residence Hall is two floors and houses at least 60 people. We have 55
in the program right now and there are also a bunch of faculty living
here. The entire building is very cold and doesn't have central air,
though our individual rooms have air conditioners that are set to heat,
so I can heat up my room if I want. There's a main hall, a laundry
room, a weight room, a TV room (which sometimes has a Wii in it, since
two people here have them - one American and one Japanese), and a room
for drying clothes. Each residence room (for students - there are
singles for faculty) consists of a kitchen/main room/dining room, a
bathroom, a little entryway, and two bedrooms. My bedroom has a futon
(which looks like a bed but doesn't have a mattress, but instead it has
a hard board with a pad on top) which I really like though some people
don't, a desk, a bookshelf and some drawers and closet-cabinets built
into the wall. It's very simple but I really like it, and since I
don't have much stuff, it's very clean. From my window I can see Hikone
Castle in the distance and some other buildings, including "Hotel
Ride." Hotel Ride is a "love hotel," where there is a rate for "a nice
rest" which is three hours long, and also a nightly rate. We think
there's a swimming pool on the top, and a bunch of us want to pitch in
and rent a room just to see what it's like and to see if we're right
about the swimming pool.
There's also the Academic Building, which has classrooms on the second floor, all of the flags from the affiliated schools (such as all the public universities in Michigan etc), a main lounge, the office, our mailboxes, and a traditional tatami room. Once classes start, we won't be able to speak any English on the second floor or risk being yelled at. We took our placement test in the large conference room upstairs, and we had the oral part of it in the classrooms. I placed into level 2, which is what I expected.
Between the two buildings is the bike-sheds, where our bicycles are stored. They provide them for us to use, and helmets, though they are taken away from us if we're caught without a helmet three times. The bikes have only one speed, though they have a light on the front. The seats are hard and my behind is already sore from riding around on it a lot.
People
My roommate is Kristina from Eastern
Michigan. We get along well and we're friends, though I don't think
we'll be best friends, but that's because her best friend is here,
Kurtis from Eastern, who is also pretty cool and likes showtunes. At
some point we're going to watch High School Musical since I
haven't seen it yet. Kristina and I are both Ai Yazawa fans, and she
likes a lot of Korean bands (though none I've heard of) and music from
various countries, so I am excited to hear some of her music. She
doesn't eat beef jerky, but that just means there's more for me! (My
parents sent me some and I am going crazy over it.)
So far I've
been hanging around with mostly guys, specifically Jason and his
brother Chris from Northern, Dieter from State, Kevin from State, Biorn
from Boston College, Choi from K College, and Pat from Texas. I've
also met quite a few other people I'm looking forward to getting to
know, including Lizzie and Danielle (who you'll read about in my next
entry), Dana, Hannah and Travis, and Annette.
It's an
interesting feeling, being here. It's like I'm thrown into a family,
and it's a feeling not too different from how it was living on 3North,
but more sudden. I guess it makes sense, as a group of gaijin in the
middle of Japan and many of us being from the same state, we kinda have
to.
Photos are forthcoming, once I download a driver for my parent's digital camera.
Next Entry: My first three nights in Japan, at Sound Bar, Paru Karaoke, and Club Pure in Osaka.
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