Off to Campus (Tuesday, August 31st)

So today I completed my second day on campus and my first trip to campus. I awoke around 5am and ended up falling back asleep and then waking at around 11am, which was bad considering the orientation meeting began at 9:30am. No problem though because the first one wasn’t mandatory. I still had my banking session, fee payment session, and forms to turn in and laptop pre-registration.

I got dressed and headed on out. I never again will complain about heat. I walked into the room where we keep out shoes and put them on. As soon as I stepped out the door felt sweat bead up and trickle down my back.

I then started walking back and forth up and down the road beside the seminar houses before heading off, in the complete wrong direction. Thanks to the great friendliness of Osaka though, as I walked turning the map this way and that to figure out where I was going, a pair of young girls (no older than 13) rode up beside me on their bicycles and proceeded to try to talk to me.

I apologetically told them that I couldn’t speak Japanese yet, but that didn’t bother them. They spoke to me in broken English, occasionally conferring with each other to figure out how to ask what they wanted to ask. They asked me where I was going while pointing at the map in my hands. When I pointed to the map and said Kansai Gaidai they elatedly asked, “Student?”

I said, “Yes, student.” They proceeded to wave for me to follow them and got off their bikes and walked me the entire 20 minute walk to one of the campus gates. You’d never see that kind of pure hearted kindness back home.

After making it to the gate and walking down the path to the campus itself, I made my way around. At first I couldn’t find anything. Then I saw the big golden arches of McDonalds so I went in for food. This was an experience all on its own. At first I couldn’t find out what to do until I asked another International student. Then I picked up my tray and waited.

A few moments later a girl walked up and took my order, then took me down a little further to a register where I paid about 350 yen (a little more than $3.50) for a medium vanilla shake and a plain hamburger. I was happy as a clam to have a nice meal in my tummy. The night before I had rice balls with what I found out was spinach in them (amazingly it is actually pretty darn good).

I then walked around for a few minutes before getting directions to the Shomu office where I paid all my fees except my dorm fee which I had wired over, but hadn’t arrived yet. I would have been required to go to a loan session but thankfully I got an email saying it arrived shortly after I returned to my seminar house.

After paying fees I found my mailbox in the Center for International Education building. Here I also signed up for the Kyoto tour this Friday and turned in some of my forms for insurance and such. I then attended a banking session where I killed a forest filling out each form 4 times because I kept making mistakes.

They are excessively exact on their forms. You must write your signature exactly the same 4 times in a row. If you make an error that you could just fix by going back over the letter you have to do a new form. You must print your name and addresses exactly as it is on your passport (If your name is in all caps you must print it in all caps). I ended up just printing my name for my signature because it was easier because otherwise I would have had to make sure each cursive signature was exactly the same.

After the banking session nearly stole my sanity I met up with some other girls in the common area near the McDonalds and convenience store. I ended up deciding to go to the bike store with them and then walked up to the convenience store and waited in line to try to get a cell phone only to find out they were closed and only doing pick-ups right then. Luckily I met a few of the people I had met the day before at the airport and we all walked down to the local grocery store to get some food before walking back to my seminar house. When we returned I talked to my room mate before going and taking a shower.

I talked to my room mate some more and then went into our common area to eat and drink a little where I met 2 of the other girls in my unit. We chatted and ended up deciding to hang out the next day some as well. Here it gets dark at like 5pm, and there is no day light savings time.

I got to meet my other room mate who will be actually staying after orientation rather than leaving for a home stay family. Her name is Meghan and she is from America as well. After a lot fo chaos getting everything ready for the next day I went on to sleep after showering.

Thankfully tomorrow I will have internet and be able to actually update my blog easier.

First night in Japan (Monday, August 30th, 2010)

So after a 13 hour flight over the Pacific Ocean from Dallas/Ft. Worth airport in Texas, I arrived in Narita International airport in Tokyo, Japan. I nervously made my way to customs after trying my best to fill out the customs declaration form and disembarking forms. It was tough because it felt like there was no air conditioning in this section.

However, once got to the main counter the gentleman who took my picture and finger prints was so nice. They were also very trusting. It was a very comforting moment that for a few minutes helped me forget that feeling I had originally had int he back of my mind that everyone was staring at me.

After getting through customs and immigration I headed down to check in with Japan airlines for the next leg of my trip to Itami Airport in Osaka, Japan. I made my way through, stopping briefly to buy a Coca-Cola and some pocky to help ease my stress. It was so simple getting through security. I only had to take my laptop out.

After getting down to where my flight was supposed to meet up at to get on a bus to go to the plane itself, I looked nervously around. A sea of foreign faces was all I saw until I happened to see one girl who looked like someone who might be from America. I ended up asking and found out she was going to Kansai Gaidai as well.

We both were elated to meet someone else who we could talk to. Also her name was Beth as well. We ended up meeting 3 other people. Josh, Adam, and one other girl whose name I will add to this post a little later on because I can't remember it right off. From that point until we made it to our respective seminar houses (dorms for those who can't figure that out) we all stayed together offering a little bit of comfort in this place that was a new world for us.

After a bus ride and plane ride we arrived at Itami. Once there we headed down to grab our bags and then made our way to the exits where we found the girl who would be helping us get to the pick up bus. Sorry it was late and I was tired so I can't remember a lot of names right off. We left our bags with her and headed off to hunt for food.

While walking we found a set of those little figures you can stand behind to take your picture of 2 female stewardesses and 2 male pilots. The two guys stood behind the stewardesses and us girls took turns taking pictures with us behind the male pilots so we all had our pictures.

As we stood there goofing around an elderly Japanese man walked up to us and began to talk to us. He asked if we were Americans. We did our best to translate bits of what he was saying as a group with our combined Japanese language knowledge because he didn't seem to know that much spoken english. It was as much fun as it was challenging. We ended up finding out he was a retired member of the JASDF. He showed us pictures from 1931 of him in what appeared to be a training graduation photo. It was amazing we. We were basically learning history while learning history while meeting someone new.

He had also had experience in a submarine and was telling us how while most of the men he knew were in wheelchairs he was still up and running well. After he left we had a blast chatting about the experience we had just had the luck to have.

After hunting for food we headed back to wait for the pick up service time. Beth and the other girl had a left over sweet roll and ended up offering it to the girl who was watching our bags, who in turn gave them so treats as a thank you. A little later on we headed to the bus and rode for about an hour or so to seminar house 4 and then walked to 2 and 3. Here some of us split off but most of us headed on to 3.

After checking in I took a good, well earned shower before dressing up in my PJs. I got to meet my current room mate Rose who is a homestay so she will sadly be leaving at the end of the week. From what I have talked to her about so far, she appears to be Thai and is a wonderful person to talk to. We have had a blast chatting in our room so far.

That was my first night in Japan.