My first days in Japan!

Hello everyone! Thankfully, I now have internet service and can update this wonderful blog!

The flights to Japan were not what I would have called fun. They were not enjoyable and each was stressful in it's own way. The first was a very small plane which equaled turbulance. The second was alright except for the one rough patch we hit close to the end. The third, final, and longest flight ( 10 hours from San Fransisco to Osaka, Japan) was both the worst and the best. The plane had wonderful amenities but 10 hours was too much for myself. The last hour of the flight was the worst as we hit rough turbulence and I got so scared that I couldn't stop violently shaking. Luckily, there was a wonderful flight attendant called Danny, who helped me stay calm. Whenever there was turbulance of any sort he came to my seat and explained the situation or simply asked if I was okay. Because of Danny, the flight was almost bearable. But I'm still hoping to somehow ride the train home instead of the plane...

And then I was on Japanese soil. 

Suddenly, everywhere I looked were Japanese people speaking Japanese! Upon landing, customs didn’t take very long and I met with other students going to Kansai.

These two girls are Jamie and Bernice (left to right). Jamie is from Arizona and Bernice is from New Zealand. Surprisingly, there are very few students from America, most are from European countries like Switzerland and France.

We then took a long bus ride that felt as if it went around the city and were let off at a bus station. This is a picture of the ocean! It is the bay area of Osaka.

This is a picture of the city of Osaka. We drove around the city for almost an hour before getting to the train station that would take us near our dorm.

For those who don't know what this is, it is called a 'love hotel.' You can rent rooms by the hour and most are very cheesy with unusual themes. Jamie, Bernice, and I found this very funny.

 

 I then had to drag my two enormous suitcases, carry-on and purse around a mall/subway station. It was incredibly crowded, yet not very noisy. We then boarded the subway!

 

 

 After my first Japanese subway ride we then had to drag our luggage up an enormous hill to the dorms. None of this was in the information packet… But before arriving at the dorms, we stopped at a second ‘mall’ where we got groceries for dinner and toiletries at the dollar shop. 

I believe this is a shrine of some sort, but I'm not quite sure. It's outside the grocery store where we get our food for dinner.

 There is a kimono shop which I will undoubtedly try and a few restaurants that look quite good.

This picture is a display from one of the restaurants at the mall. A common occurance in Japan is to have plastic displays of your food outside for potential customers to see. This is also great for foreigners because if you can't speak Japanese, you just take the worker outside and point to the food you'd like to have.

On my first day in Japan, I wake up at 5:30am. I had gone to bed the night before at 9pm, so I had already gotten a good amount of sleep. My room overlooks a park where the young play and the old are getting their exercise. It's very pretty and in some places very rugged. I saw a few people today with professional cameras, bird watching.

The dorms rooms are about 6’ by 14’, so they are smaller than expected. My mattress is extremely firm and my mini fridge is quite big. But for me, this is special since it is my first time on my own. It’s my room, in a sense that I paid for it and own it. I’m excited and antsy and cannot wait for the day to start.

 

We then had orientation at the university in the afternoon. We had to take the train a short distance and then walk through a shopping center of sorts.

It's a lot cooler than the picture makes it out to be.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a picture of my first ever Japanese meal! We ate at the University cafeteria and it was white rice topped with sea weed and fried chicken. I normally don't like seaweed but this were a very good and cheap meal.

My friend Jamie and I went to the supermarket this evening after a short afternoon break to freshen up (and get the IT man to give me internet). This was my second meal which I bought myself at the supermarket! A few things about food in Japan: fresh fruit is extremely expensive! One peach was $4 and one 'designer' bag of grapes were $25. I stuck to the cheap items and got $2 sushi and a fruit cup that was only .79

And, as I am now very tired, this ends my first full day within Japan.

Sayonara!