Get Real.

After being here for almost two weeks now, things are starting to settle in. I'm starting to realize that this is not just a year long vacation. There are things that need to get done while I am here.

Last Thursday, I had orientation for Sophia University. Campus is small but really compact, and accessible. It is only a minute or two walk from Yotsuya Station. I'm not quite used to riding the trains yet, but I'm feeling more confident about actually knowing where I am at any given point.

Prior to the actual orientation program, we had a Japanese Placement test. I felt really confident going in, but no so much on my way out. I know I haven't actually been in classes since last December, but maybe I should have studied more. Regardless, the class I am put into is where I need to be so I can only get better from here on out.

After the placement test and orientation, we were introduced to Monitor Students, that are essentially there to help us if we have any questions about the university or things in general about Japanese life. We then went to a welcoming party held in one of the cafeterias. My Japanese is shaky at best, but I was able to meet a lot of new people and made some important contacts for school and club activities.

After the party, I went out to dinner with 5 students from Sophia, and my friend Gordon. He is also an exchange student from Whitewater. Below is my view of the restaurant that night.












The food we ate is called okonomiyaki. Not only that, but we went to a place where you make it yourself right on the table you sit at. Since it was our first time going to a place like this, Gordon and I made most of the food.

The first one that I made turned out like this....

Each time one was finished we cut it up into pieces and then shared. I liked doing it this way because I was able to try several different kinds of okonomiyaki, and believe me, they were all very tasty.

Along with a great meal, it was nice to meet and talk with some of the students from Sophia.

Changing the subject quickly, this past weekend I had my first clubbing experience in Japan. I had a blast, but it ended up putting me in a coma for all of Sunday. Not because I drank to much, but rather because we didn't go to the club until after midnight, and then returned around 6:30 AM. The club was called AgeHA (ah-gei-haa). You can look it up if you want more information or to see what its like, but like the Vegas slogan, what happens in AgeHa, stays in AgeHa.

Well, fun and games aside, today I got a bank account and tomorrow I hope to get a cell phone. Also, the placement test results are posted tomorrow at 10AM so then I can get a feel for what my weekly schedule will be like. School starts on Friday so I have a couple more days of vacation before my "regular life" (if you can call it that) will start.

See ya.

Typhoon!?!?!

I have already had a few people ask me about the ongoing typhoon, so I thought I would say a few words about it.

Today, I was supposed to go to Sophia University for orientation. It was canceled due to heavy winds and rain from the typhoon. In Nagoya, a city about 220 miles from where I am, there was some flooding that caused damage and evacuations. Around my city, it just seems to be raining harder than usual. No flooding. No power losses.

I have already received an email from Sophia University, stating that orientation and the Japanese placement test will be tomorrow.

The rest of my day will be spent studying for that test.

Livin' the dream

I really don't know where to begin with this post. I've been here for only 3 days now and I have already experienced some pretty amazing things.

On Friday I went down to the Nerima City Ward office to apply for a foreign resident registration card. This will enable me to get a bank account and a cell phone while I am here. I also did some shopping for essentials. After I got done with my errands I made the trip to a downtown district of Japan called Shibuya. This district is filled with shopping centers, restaurants and nightlife attractions. It is also famous for an intersection where all traffic stops and pedestrians, literally in thousands, are crossing in all directions. A friend and I walked around for hours, stopped inside a few pubs and ate at a Gyudon restaurant. The trains typically run until about 12:30AM, and not being familiar with the train system yet I wanted to give myself a head start by heading back around 11:00PM. I was astounded by the number of people still getting on trains at this time. It was actually the busiest I had seen up to that point. Regardless, I made it home on time and then called it a night.

Saturday was one of the longest days of my life. Still feeling the backlash of jet lag, I woke up around 5:45AM despite not falling asleep until 12:30AM. The good thing is that I got the chance to meet some of the other Japanese tenants who had to be up early for work. About and hour before noon, I went to play some catch with a new friend Shinji Katsuno, and an American from Seattle named John. After that the 3 of us, along with 4 other people went on a walk to downtown Nerima. We visited some stores, got some green tea ice cream, and then eventually split up.

I went along with Katsuno-san, Kuri-chan, and Heiyo. One thing that I am adjusting to is an aspect of the Japanese honorifics that attaches suffixes to peoples names. When you become closer with an individual, these suffixes are often dropped. A lot of these people have nicknames, or do not expect you to use these honorifics. Most people call Katsuno-san, O-san, which I think is an inside joke that I am not aware of so I still call him Katsuno-san. Kuri-chan is actually a nickname and at this point I do not know her real name. Heiyo's name is actually Yohei, and his nickname is a joke because it sounds like the words "Hey, Yo!"

Anyway, the four of us went to Hikarigaoka Park. There were playgrounds, a bird sanctuary, and even a massive mall on the outskirts of the park that put any of the malls in Wisconsin to shame.
My favorite part about hanging out with these three is that I hardly used any English. It really helped to build my confidence for speaking in Japanese. It also enabled me to become better friends with some of the tenants that I will be living with for a year.

We got back around 7PM and then it was time for the Welcoming party. To start things off, we made our own pizzas, rolling out our own dough. Then we had a group toast, and that's when the excitement kicked off. We had a drinking contest, where the fastest person to drink a liter beer through a straw wins. To prove your victory you had to hold the beer can upside down over your head to show that no beer was left remaining.

I was the winner! Don't believe me? Someone magnificently caught the final image.

Although I am not sure if I should be bragging about being a skilled drinker, I do know that I gladly took the 3000 yen prize money. Almost instantly after this picture, the Japanese guy in the grey shirt on the left wanted to win the second place prize so badly that he held the beer over his head despite still having quite a bit left and it poured all over him. I was laughing so hard I almost puked out the liter I had just finished drinking. I met a lot of interesting people at this party and then went along with 5 people to a Karaoke bar down the road.


Forget everything you know by Karaoke. You haven't done it. You haven't even come close. We got our own private room, and unlimited drink catering. Because of my liquid confidence from drinking at the party, I volunteered first with Piano Man. I have to admit I did pretty well, and I know that I do not have a good singing voice. If you are worried about having too much attention on yourself, don't be. Whether its by using a maraca, hand-bell, clapping, shouting hoo-ha's or singing along in the secondary microphone, EVERYONE is involved in each song. We did this until 5AM until we finally stumbled back to the dorms.

This was ALL on Saturday.


This is getting to be a really long post, so I will keep Sunday's events really short.

I WENT OUT FOR SUSHI!

Not only was it sushi, but it was a conveyor-belt style sushi restaurant. Basically you sit next to a constantly rotating line of sushi and desert choices. You eat until your full and then pay based on how many plates you have. The place I went to also had a miniature train that would bring anything you desired that wasn't currently rotating around the room. You ordered it off of a digital screen and then it pulled right up to your seat. This was one of the best places I have ever dined at. Take a look for yourself.




Well, if anyone of you have actually gotten this far in my post I will now wrap things up. It is 8:00PM on Sunday the 18th, and I am actually late for another party that we are having tonight for one of the Japanese girl's birthday.

Thanks for reading and I hoped you enjoyed it!

Am I really here?

Well, I finally made it! I won’t waste your time wining about how tired I am, or that I was up for 41 hours straight. Oh wait, I just did. Anyway, I just got a full 8 hours of sleep and I feel great and ready to explore.

The plane ride was about 12 hours, which was actually pretty cool because it was 2 hours shorter than I had previously thought. I couldn’t sleep at all, but it still went by relatively quickly.

There was a student from Sophia University named Shogo who met me at the airport to help me find my way to my dormitory.

My first impression of the train system went well. Since Narita Airport is around 2 hours away from the dorms, I got the chance to see a few different stations. Some were busier than others, but I haven’t had to deal with a fully packed train yet.

Riding on the train and walking through the station felt really surreal. I felt like I was in a lucid dream. I have spent so much time preparing for this trip that it is actually hard to believe I am really here.

When we got to the dorms, I met the manager of the building and some of the tenants. I was surprised to find out that there are actually way more Japanese tenants than exchange students.

I didn’t get the chance to take any interesting pictures yesterday, so you’ll have to settle for a picture of some of the things I picked up yesterday. The green colored card is used for riding on the trains. The salmon colored card and the key are used to get into the dorms. The lower half comprises of Japanese yen, the 10,000 yen note is worth roughly $130 US.

That's all I got for you today, folks. Look for more soon!