Random Update

 

Here is the night time view from the 9th floor of the FIH overlooking the Fuchinobe Station. On a educational note, I was contacted by teachers that run the Japanese language program here and they want to give me a bit of a head start on my studies since I'm here earlier than the other students. Hopefully it will help me to be able to confidently speak some Japanese by the time the other students get here.

 

On a random note, everything in Japan will remind you of cartoons, and instructions on how to do your laundry are no exception. Finally, the single most frustrating discovery I have made so far. . . for months, I repeat MONTHS, I have been trying to perfect my broth for my Udon . . . and I haven't even come half as close as to the flavor of this broth, which the Japanese have convienently made into an instant meal =(.

Anne Hostel to Fuchinobe

So the trip from the hostel to the school went much better than the practice trip which resulted in me getting nice and lost on the Chuo train line. Below is a picture of the only other consistent guest at the hostel besides myself. His name is Kay. He is a very interesting individual and a fun one to talk to. In addition to keeping conversations interesting he can do it in seven languages fluently.

These two lovely ladies, Kyoko and Hagi, where my caretakers at Anne Hostel

It really is a shame that the building is as empty as it is . . .there are 240 dorms here and currently there are maybe 8 people staying here. Many of the students from last semester left after the earthquake leaving a ton of stuff behind . . . I'm hoping I can snag myself a rice cooker.

And here we have my new home. . . quite charming, 10 x 20 are its dimensions. In that amount of space I have a toilet, shower, sink, bed, desk, refrigerator, kitchen sink, stove top and microwave. Basically everything I could need except for a washer and dryer, which I have to pay to use =(.

 

First thing was first. . .get settled in and buy some bed supplies. . . I think I did this wrong, LOL!

About 15,000 yen later and its starting to feel more like a home!

I got the bed thing situated the next night. . . I was attempting to shove my futon into a cover for a kakebuton (kinda like a comforter). . . I got it in there but as you can see from above, it wasn't right. So I went back to the store today to purchase a kakebuton. I was extremely tempted to purchase the Hello Kitty kakebuton, but I just couldn't justify the additional 1,500 yen for it.

Been a few days since I've updated, there is just so much to update it is daunting. Most of my pictures you can view on my facebook since I don't want to flood the blog with pictures. Since I got here, I have been to Akihabara (The Electric Town), Asakusa, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Roppongi, Tokyo, and Machida and have visited places like Tokyo Tower, Roppongi Hills, Akiba, The Golden Poop (not really an attraction, but its suppose to be a flame), Yayogi Park, Meiji Shrine, Sensoji Temple, and last but not least of all J. F. Oberlin University. I shall start with my picture of Tokyo Tower and I'll see if I can upload my video with a 360 degree walk around the first observatory. . . I couldn't go up to the second one since it is currently shut down as well as all the lights that keep it lit up at night.

 

Above is a picture of Tokyo Tower as seen from the Kamiyacho Station. Below is the famous golden Poop.

 

Yesterday I made the Trip to Machida to take a look at my new home for the next few months and Take a look at the campus. Turned a 1.5 train trip into a 3 hour one by getting horribly lost, YEAH! I have a picture of the outside of the Fuchinobe International House, the inside will come when I get to move in. Also I have several pictures of J. F. Oberlin, but I want to stitch them together into a horrible panoramic image.

 

The big black building there is the Fuchinobe International House where I will be on the 4th floor.

Today the only thing I really did besides visit Tokyo Tower was practice writing Kana, and make my Hanko. I will be using this instead of my signature in many cases and it is required in order to open a bank account. What is written is my last name in Katakana, but i changed it some. Instead of being read as the translation from Barr to Baru (バル） it is read as Baaru (バール）. I preferred the double vowel since it helped mellow out the vertical composition of the name, lol.