So after reading my first entry I have come to the conclusion that I am terrible at both japanese and english. It was quite sad really. Ok, back to recounting everything. The first orientation we had was quite terrible really. It took forever because everything was sad in both japanese and english. At that point it might as well have been only in english. It was all about alien registration, which we will finally get our cards on monday. yay................. I just want my bank card, and idk when we get it. We finally got our book thing that we use at atms, but we cant use it in stores. Thats when we first met the people from washington. One is in my class now, matt, and I really like kate, amina, and katy. I would like to get to know them more. Then we had a campus tour where we met Mai. The canadian/american depending on her mood lol. shes nice but the type that can come and go. The tour was okay, but it was hot and people were sweating like crazy. The best part was when molly asked one of the japanese girl if she was hot in those pants. Now we know that pants means or at least refers to underwear. Lol the reaction was priceless. We also finally got our password to use the wireless. I was definitely relieved. We also met tekla that day, a cool canadian girl if she actually gets a chance to hang out. I feel her pain though, my online class will eventually catch up to me for sure.

The next day we actually had alien registration. We went down the office in the city and in one word i can describe it: intimidating. They talked to us in japanese about what there is to do in the city and everything. I think if we had that now it would help a lot more helpful since i have adjusted to hearing the language a bit more now. Anyway the registration part wasnt too hard just some simple words and nods. It was boring though.

After that we had the weekend free and we had the party at i-house. It was bad at first, having words with some people. But needless to say people loosened up some people too much as one person ended up going to the hospital as a precaution. Anyway before that it was good times. The RAs were absolutely hilarious. Meena was fun and told us that a group was going to sakae the next day. We also met sonia, rojin, and james that night and had a very interesting/deep conversation about the future and international relations. I can say that talks like that can really annoy me and tire me out, my evansville friends know that for sure, but it was nice to see that there were other people that we could relate to and have intelligent conversations with. We also had our first apple that night. They are super expensive but super big here. Like 3 times the size. They also only come in red. The other day in class we had to go around the class and say what about japan suprised us and being the intelligent person i am the only thing i could say in japanese in the time was about the apples. The teacher then proceeded to talk about her time in america and how she was suprised to see green apples and that we just bite into them without peeling them first. It is quite interesting the small differences that make all the difference.

Sakae was a lot of fun. We left in a huge group and broke off at sakae, but the majority of people stayed with doug. We decided to go to the ramen shop as opposed to mcdonalds with one of the japanese guys tatsuya and two new girls alyssa and caitlin. I like alyssa, though she can watch a bit too much anime. We had a good time at lunch though it took forever for mai to decide. By the time we left after some yummy gyoza, we had been left behind by the mcdonalds group. We eventually caught up to them at the huge and super expensive mall, pasco. There doug was simply shopping for shirts and everyone else followed him because they did not know where to go or what to do. We came just in time to make our pick, and he ended up getting the fabulous purple shirt which we had voted for. Doug has a way of getting everyone excited about his life. We left and had some bubble tea, interesting and certainly not a favorite. I can not really explain what it is but i got the coffee flavored one, and at the bottom there are little bubbles that absorb the liquid and you get them in the straw and eat them. ok yeah im done, not so interesting. We then went to Osu the main shopping district in town where everything is pretty cheap. I didnt buy anything that day, but i went back and got a necklace at one of the stores. We about killed the guys with boredom as many of the girls tried on clothes. They have a really interesting fashion style here, mostly skirts with leggings (lol beth if you ever read this), but i can only partake in the accessories but i am excited to buy a hat as some point. We were late meeting the group again but they waited for us because one of the girls had dougs wallet in her purse. We left but instead of going straight home we decided to walk to a good restaurant. When we finally got there i about died of thirst but the places were so busy we had to wait and split up. Molly and i went with the ramen group. It was an interesting atmosphere, and brooks one of the guys basically fluent in japanese reminded me that it is impolite to not slurp your noodles. So i did, quite ungracefully if I do say so myself. it was incredibly cute though when he waved and smiled to the little girl. Japanese kids are so adorable. She waved back too. But he can get away with it speaking japanese because he can reassure the mother that its all harmless. After leaving molly and tatsuya had one of the funniest conversations i have heard in my life. Some involving him being 18 and his birthday on the 18th. Hes a freshman, and as molly said, never have we been so happy to be friends with a bunch of freshman lol. Also, he apparently likes listening to the sound of the crickets which are obnoxious here lol. The hilarious conversation earned him the nickname of cricket boy with me molly and doug. In any case ill stop there, this is like a fricking novel.

My picture btw, is of Aoki supermarket where we go grocery shopping almost daily. Always good times. I have so much to say about the customs. I really am learning a lot. Anyway we took the picture because it was a pretty sunset. Enjoy, またね。(later :)