Amazing!

Is the only thing I really have to say about my first week. I don’t even know where to start so I guess I’ll talk about each day.

Day 1 (Friday, September 11) Arrival

Arrived at Narita Airport. Steve came to pick me up and we took the Narita express train to Shibuya station, then took the local train to Eda station where my dorm is. But this was a huge mistake… in the pamphlet they sent us with the welcome package it says that the easiest way to get to my dorm is by taking a bus from Narita to a nearby station and then take the train to Eda, but Steve decided to ignore that =_=; So we ended up lugging two large suitcases across Shibuya station (which is HUGE). Plus there’s this huge hill of death going up to my dorm, so by the time I got there all I wanted to do was shower and sleep (which I did).

Met my RA’s on this day too, Moe (it’s pronounced Mo-Eh) and Yuri. They’re super nice

Oh, and I found out my laptop screen was broken when I tried to open it up and e-mail my mom saying I was here safely. =_=;

Day 2 (Saturday, September 12) Recycle shop, Dorm rules

Went to a nearby recycle shop (a secondhand store basically) and bought some stuff for my dorm. My room is actually pretty big, I wish I could take pictures to show you guys. Except I probably wouldn’t even if I had a working camera  ’cause it’s pretty messy

In the afternoon we had a little tour around the dorm led by the dorm manager Mr. Hashimoto, who is the only male resident here. He explained to us the general rules of the dormitory, and how to separate your trash (it’s a city law).

Some major rules at my dorm are:

1. Curfew at 11PM. But he’s nice so he really keeps the door open until 11:30 or so.

2. Changing your “outside shoes” to “inside shoes” when you come into the dorm. We wear slippers throughout the dorm, and people generally take them off inside their rooms.

3. Flipping your nametag at the front door when you’re going in and out. It’s kind of hard to explain without a picture, but we have name tags that are white on one side and red on the other. Red means you’re currently not in the building, and this is how he keeps track of who came home last night and who didn’t…

These are the major ones. It didn’t take that long to get used to, and there’s ways to get around the curfew Ate dinner at the dorm for the very first time, and it’s pretty darn good! There’s a bunch of middle-aged ladies at the dorm that cooks and cleans the common areas for us, and they’re all so adorable

Day 3 (Sunday, September 13) Lunch with family friends, Shibuya

Met up with my friend Shannon’s mom. Shannon and I played together when we were little and both living in Japan. She goes to college in the US now, so I had lunch with her mom instead. There was also Kiko-chan, who’s mom taught me Chinese (and apparently my mom taught her English in return), and Shannon’s mom’s friend who lives two stations away from my dorm. They were all really surprised at how tall I got >_<;;

After chatting for a few hours I went back to the dorm, then Talia and I decided to go to Shibuya and we met up with Steve there. SHIBUYA IS SO FREAKING AMAZING!!!! Especially at night. There’s a lot of shopping places, arcades, karaoke places and of course restaurants. I always thought clothes were really expensive in Japan but in the little streets of Shibuya and Harajuku you can find plenty of cheap places.

I already spent so much money at the arcades haha… my school is about a 10 minute walk from Shibuya station, so I’ll have lots of opportunities to enjoy myself.

Day 4 (Monday, September 14) Orientation at School, Nomikai

Went to school for the first time to attend orientation. We met with our tutors, had lunch, and went for a little tour around the school. My tutor’s name is Marika, and she’s really helpful I’m glad that AGU has a tutor/buddy system at the school, and RA’s at our dorm. I’ve been trying to do things on my own, but it’s comforting knowing that someone’s there to offer help if you get stuck.

Also took a placement test on this day, and there was an essay section where they wanted you to write about what you plan to do in Japan. I couldn’t remember how to write kanji at all, so I wrote a lot of it in hiragana. I felt so fail. orz

At night I went to a nomikai (which is literally translated into a drinking party) with a bunch of international students from my dorm and their tutors. There’s lots of little pubs that offer nomi-houdai (all you can drink) for a 1-2 hour period. It comes with food too (but that’s not all you can eat), and it cost about 2200 yen (~22 dollars) per person. Not bad for someone who can drink a lot, but I could only manage to finish one drink. ^^; The drink I had was called Aloe-Peach Sour, I couldn’t taste the alcohol at all, it was yummy.

Day 5 (Tuesday, September 15) Orientation, Harajuku, Ikebukuro

Second day of orientation. I decided to wear heels this day, and I realized very quickly that it was a stupid decision. Lots of girls wear heels here and they walk around in it all day like it’s nothing, but I guess it takes getting used to.

We walked from our school through Omote-sandou street (lots of brand name shopping) to Harajuku. I loved the fashion there, it was all so unique! We went through a bunch of small streets called Takeshita-doori where they have cheap but cute clothes of different styles (gothic lolita, gyaru, everything), lots of yummy crepe shops, and idol-photograph shops XD They literally sell photos of celebrities (male and female, but more male stars from Johnny’s groups)

Btw by “we” I don’t mean Steve and I, but a bunch of girls from my dorm and I. ^^;

After Harajuku we went up to Ikebukuro, met up with Steve, and had dinner. Steve was going to buy a phone, but we ended up just looking at different models and plans at the electronic shop called BIG CAMERA (lol). The store clerk who helped us was from Matsudo, the town where I used to live before with my parents!! He was talking about how he wants to go to US sometime because he loves basketball and NBA, and when I told him Steve likes basketball too he invited Steve to come play with him in Matsudo. He was so surprised when I told him I used to live there and he was like “oh, so that’s why you can speak so well even though you just came here.” Lol. But I fail at kanji. orz

Then I went home in heels and that was a huge pain ’cause I still had to walk through the train station, stand in the train (I swear, Japan’s rush hour is from 5pm to the next morning =_=) and then back to the dormitory. Never again… >_<

Day 6 (Wednesday, September 16) Orientation, Dorm nomikai

Last official day of orientation, and we got the results of the placement test we took on Monday. I got placed in level 5 (!!!) even though I wrote it all in hiragana… ^^;; I was kinda happy about it, but also kinda bummed because the two girls that I’ve been hanging out with constantly got placed in level 4. I hope they’ll be able to come to 5 next semester, because once you’re placed somewhere there’s (supposedly) no shuffling around.

There was a welcome party for international students (another nomikai) but this one was expensive (3000 yen!!!) so I didn’t go. Instead, a bunch of girls (who also didn’t go) and I from the dorm had our own little nomikai in my room. 500 yen each person and there were enough drinks and snacks

Day 7 (Thursday, September 17) Alien registration, Bank visit, Harajuku

Went to do Alien Registration at the city hall in the morning. It took a lot longer than I expected, and even though I was supposed to meet my tutor in the afternoon I had to call her and tell her I couldn’t make it I’ll have to make it up to her next time… We ate lunch at a Mos Burger on the way back to the train station, because registration took so long and everyone was starving

After lunch some girls and I went to make bank accounts in Shibuya, but we were refused. They told us foreigners had to be in Japan for 6 months before they could open a bank account, but at orientation the previous day a staff member at the school told us specifically that there was no such law in Japan. Oh well. It was already 3pm, and all the banks close at that time so we decided to try again Friday. My mom and also the staff members at school warned me that discrimination of this kind was common towards foreigners, but it was still kind of upsetting.

So then we went to Harajuku again and tried a crepe. The first bite was delicious, but it got way too sweet at the end. x_x We also stopped by Kiddyland, which is this 5-6 floor building full of cuteness (lol). There was a Sanrio floor, a Peanuts by Charles Schultz floor, an anime/manga floor… basically all the cute things you can think of stuffed into one building. I bought some Little Twin Stars stuff to send home

Also at the dorm they had a special dinner with cake for desert because it was the company’s 30th anniversary, so it ended up being a very high-calorie day. orz

Day 8 (Friday, September 18) Bank visit, Cell phone shopping

Finally made a bank account. At orientation they recommended a bank called Mitsubishi-UFJ, so we tried that one Thursday and got refused. We talked to some international students who came during the Spring semester, and they all said that Mitsui-Sumitomo (which was on the school’s not recommended list) doesn’t refuse foreigners. And they were right. The process took some time, but we each walked out with our own bank account.

Afterwards I met up with Steve again, and we got our cellphones. We got the same model (URBANO by Sharp, and the phone company is au by KDDI)  but in different colors (me = pink, steve = white). It’s not the newest model, but it’s still amazing. You can use infrared to send information and files to each other, go on the internet, and even watch TV.

Day 9 (Saturday, September 19) Matsudo, Akihabara

Steve and I got up early to go visit Matsudo, the town I used to live in. There was a lot more buildings/houses than I remembered, but a lot of things were still the same. We spent some time walking around, and I wish I could post some pictures (like of my parents’ university and the elementary school I used to go to) but unfortunately I have no camera and Steve forgot his usb cable for the camera =_=

It was a good visit for me but I think Steve got bored ’cause it really isn’t a very exciting town XD

After we left Matsudo we went to Akihabara and walked around. There were maids (!!!) from maid cafe’s giving out leaflets. We didn’t go to any, but I’d like to sometime for the fun of it. Besides maids Akihabara had a lot of discount game/dvd, electronic and PC parts stores. We only spent a little bit of time looking around, ’cause by this time we had walked like 12,000 steps (our phone has a pedometer application) and I was gonna die =_=.

Mmm… that’s pretty much all the things I’ve done since I got here. I don’t start school until Thursday ’cause there’s a bunch of  national holidays from Monday-Wednesday, nicknamed Silver Week. Kinda like Golden Week in May, but instead of a 5-day break it’s only 3 so it’s Silver.

Thinking about trying to get my laptop and digital camera fixed in Akihabara sometime next week. I’m afraid to borrow anyone’s laptop at the dorm in fear of breaking it. I’ve been breaking electronics/machinery all summer… >_<

Sorry for the big post… I hope it doesn’t break everyone’s computers…