My first days in Nihon
First Night:
I was so happy to be off that plane from Tokyo to Nagoya. It got really windy and really bumpy. Needless to say what happened! A young man who was going to Nagoya to see his Chinese girlfriend was willing to help me get around Chubu International airport. With him, I managed to get through customs and immagration in one piece. I also found my bag easily enough.
As I exited the airport, I saw a sign for NGU and was immdiately welcomed to Japan by a girl 3 years older than me, my room mate Suika (I think...) Then a guy from the International offices ...who's name I can't remember. From there we went to a convience store or con-bi for short. I bought my first food consisting of a sandwich, some green tea (which is VERY different from US green tea!) and gelatin with oranges inside. From there we got our subway ticket which seems easy enough, but only so much harder if you don't know where you're going! I was completely enthralled by the city at night and wasn't paying a lot of attention to the conversation since I have found that my skills suck!
Then we got off at the Kanayama station which is the ward that NGU is located. From there me and Suika took a taxi and sped off into the night. Again I was looking more at the scenery than anything else. Once we arrived at the International Seminar House, I fell in love with our apartment/dorm. It was everything that manga-ka (manga artists) had created them to be. Small, but do-able. I get the room with the sliding door and it has a balcony so we can hang our wet laundry from. From there I unpacked, got an informal Japanese bath and went straight to bed.
First Day
In America, one expects to be awoken by the singing of birds or of local traffic. Ya know what I got woken up by? Crows or karasu. There was at least two of them on our balcony and three more on a nearby electric line. And like most room mates that I get this girl was also a night owl. Which means I'm the first up and dressed. Later on, Suika would take me, One Chinese girl and One Korean girl (Rim-chan and Ten-chan) out to a 100-en store. Kinda like America's Dollar General. From there I bought the assorted needs: towels, some junk food, a brush, two cups and a spoon. As well as two notebooks and a battery-powered alarm clock. I had to rely on Suika for most of this trip because the Japanese talked too fast for me and I had no idea about my new and interesting environment.
After payed and left the store, Suika wanted to know if we would like some lunch at the cafeteria at NGU. Rim-chan declined and so did I. I was whipped and I wanted a nap! (I slept for three hours!!)
I woke up just as Suika was leaving to go to her grad school (it's about twilight when I wake up) and she offers to take me to another con-bi store. I readily agree. It was about a 7 minute walk and I bought a cinnamon bun-look alike, another sandwich (it was egg), some gummies and my first Japanese ramen or Cup O'Noodles. It wasn't bad, but I'm not gonna buy another one any day soon! Before Suika left me she said that she had to work tomorrow and that would leave me by myself. However, there would be a group of kids from the Seminar House who were gonna take the new kids out on a tour of NGU and the surrounding area. To get use to Nagoya or at least one part of it! I was excited to see more students and it would give me a chance to say "Konichiwa!" to my neighbors and see more of the area.
Sadly, I have to log off now, the library is closing, but I'll be back tomorrow (maybe) and I'll try and upload some pictures of Nagoya soon.
To Aunt Jill: The weather here right now is REALLY, REALLY windy! Suika tells me that its usually like this at the end of March/early April, but the sakura are blooming right now and it's so lovely!
I was so happy to be off that plane from Tokyo to Nagoya. It got really windy and really bumpy. Needless to say what happened! A young man who was going to Nagoya to see his Chinese girlfriend was willing to help me get around Chubu International airport. With him, I managed to get through customs and immagration in one piece. I also found my bag easily enough.
As I exited the airport, I saw a sign for NGU and was immdiately welcomed to Japan by a girl 3 years older than me, my room mate Suika (I think...) Then a guy from the International offices ...who's name I can't remember. From there we went to a convience store or con-bi for short. I bought my first food consisting of a sandwich, some green tea (which is VERY different from US green tea!) and gelatin with oranges inside. From there we got our subway ticket which seems easy enough, but only so much harder if you don't know where you're going! I was completely enthralled by the city at night and wasn't paying a lot of attention to the conversation since I have found that my skills suck!
Then we got off at the Kanayama station which is the ward that NGU is located. From there me and Suika took a taxi and sped off into the night. Again I was looking more at the scenery than anything else. Once we arrived at the International Seminar House, I fell in love with our apartment/dorm. It was everything that manga-ka (manga artists) had created them to be. Small, but do-able. I get the room with the sliding door and it has a balcony so we can hang our wet laundry from. From there I unpacked, got an informal Japanese bath and went straight to bed.
First Day
In America, one expects to be awoken by the singing of birds or of local traffic. Ya know what I got woken up by? Crows or karasu. There was at least two of them on our balcony and three more on a nearby electric line. And like most room mates that I get this girl was also a night owl. Which means I'm the first up and dressed. Later on, Suika would take me, One Chinese girl and One Korean girl (Rim-chan and Ten-chan) out to a 100-en store. Kinda like America's Dollar General. From there I bought the assorted needs: towels, some junk food, a brush, two cups and a spoon. As well as two notebooks and a battery-powered alarm clock. I had to rely on Suika for most of this trip because the Japanese talked too fast for me and I had no idea about my new and interesting environment.
After payed and left the store, Suika wanted to know if we would like some lunch at the cafeteria at NGU. Rim-chan declined and so did I. I was whipped and I wanted a nap! (I slept for three hours!!)
I woke up just as Suika was leaving to go to her grad school (it's about twilight when I wake up) and she offers to take me to another con-bi store. I readily agree. It was about a 7 minute walk and I bought a cinnamon bun-look alike, another sandwich (it was egg), some gummies and my first Japanese ramen or Cup O'Noodles. It wasn't bad, but I'm not gonna buy another one any day soon! Before Suika left me she said that she had to work tomorrow and that would leave me by myself. However, there would be a group of kids from the Seminar House who were gonna take the new kids out on a tour of NGU and the surrounding area. To get use to Nagoya or at least one part of it! I was excited to see more students and it would give me a chance to say "Konichiwa!" to my neighbors and see more of the area.
Sadly, I have to log off now, the library is closing, but I'll be back tomorrow (maybe) and I'll try and upload some pictures of Nagoya soon.
To Aunt Jill: The weather here right now is REALLY, REALLY windy! Suika tells me that its usually like this at the end of March/early April, but the sakura are blooming right now and it's so lovely!