I’m going to apologize to OCD people for my lack of verb tense agreement. I’m writing different things at different times, and also I don’t care. If you wonder why I use so many parentheses, it’s just because that’s how my brain works and makes it easier for you to keep track of important stuff. As a wise philosopher once said, “The inner machinations of my mind are an enigma.” -Patrick Star
Tuesday
I woke up at about 6:45 the first morning, in spite of not needing to go to breakfast until 8:30. I thought it was a lot later because of how bright it was, but I was wrong… Deciding that I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep, I just screwed around on my computer until breakfast. They served us a traditional Japanese breakfast of what I believe they called “donuts” and orange juice. Then we had an orientation where they described the super complicated trash system. You have to separate burnables, non-burnables, bottled water (but you have to put the cap in the non-burnables along with the wrapper, unless the wrapper is paper, then you have to put it in the burnables), and cans and glass bottles (which each get separate baskets). Then we picked out our bikes and awesome helmets, which are mandatory to wear ’cause it’s the law, though I’ve yet to see a Japanese person wear a helmet… Also you can’t eat, text, or hold an umbrella while riding your bike (again, something not followed by most Japanese, but they insist that we somehow stick out from the natives and will always find out if we break the rules). I’ve deemed the easiest solution to this problem to just buy an umbrella hat when it rains. Maybe also one of those harmonica neck holders, but for hamburgers… We split into groups for a bike tour where we were shown the post office/ATM, a large supermarket, and a restaurant. If you are not currently sitting down, I suggest you do so for this next part (although who stands at a computer? Weirdo. I guess maybe you’re using your phone…). I had spring rolls (not surprising) and soba noodles! That’s right, I ate noodles that weren’t spaghetti and I kind of liked it. I’ll give you a minute to recover from that… You good? Ok. Later that day we returned to the store, which is basically a Meijer and got the rest of what we remembered we needed (we forgot plenty and needed to go back the next day). I went to bed earlier that night than I have since I was like 8.
Wednesday
I woke up in the morning feelin’ like P. Diddy, assuming P. Diddy (or whatever he’s called nowadays) doesn’t want to get out of bed no matter how much sleep he got. We had our placement test that morning, and I only kind of followed my dad’s advice to “just bomb it”. Most of us ended up in level 2, which is Genki II, which might get super repetitive, but I guess we can appeal to move up a level, we’ll see. During lunch there was an… incident involving a small fire in the kitchen and the use of a fire extinguisher. Fun facts: these fire extinguishers automatically spray for 10-15 seconds and can’t be stop. Also, a giant pink cloud will envelop everything in both the kitchen and the rooms, covering literally everything (and I never misuse ‘literally’). I just left and watched some interesting game shows until the dust settled and I could get to my stuff. Later we had to move rooms, and as I was falling asleep, I discovered that the previous tenant had left five or six glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, which was awesome. We had another orientation covering the different temples and mini cruise ship (called “Michigan”) around Hikone, as well as what to do in case of an earthquake or fire and how to prevent it (just a little bit late). A bigger group of us returned to the grocery store where we had to decide what to eat for lunch since it was 4:00 and we hadn’t had much. We went to a small restaurant in the food court called Makudonarudo, which roughly translates as McDonald’s (surprisingly I was not the biggest advocate of this option, though I obviously didn’t object). Japanese McDonald’s (hereby referred to as Makku) is even better than the American one. They make the fries closer how they used to be, and the burgers taste about the same. I even ordered in Japanese! I almost laughed when she handed me this small ketchup packet (about as much as 2-3 of the normal ones). I wanted to explain that I was American and therefore needed half a gallon, but I knew she wouldn’t understand that measurement, so I accepted it. We went back and did our homework (potential form! 難しい！笑）, then watched the first half of Spirited Away (go watch it, it’s awesome. It’s like a Disney movie) before going to bed.
Thursday
At 9:10, I started my first class with Yagi-sensei. Just like my last name (assuming you’re a telemarketer and don’t actually know how it’s pronounced). It wasn’t too bad, but I have the same problems as I do in my normal Japanese class (anyone who sits near me should know EXACTLY what that means, as should anyone who is aware of how kind and patient I am when I’m stressed). Interjection: I just realized there’s no dishwasher, so now I will be eating everything with my hands (yes, including drinks, I’ll cup my hands or go find tree stars like in Land Before Time (Yes, that was a pretty obscure reference even for me)). Anyway, class is from 9:10 till 2 with about an hour break for lunch except on Friday we get out at noon! The class is broken up into four sections with 10 minute breaks in between and often a different teacher handling each section. I decided to stay in level 2 because then it’ll be a lot less stressful and I’ll get everything more solid, like educational fiber. If I have extra time, I can always check out some Tobira kanji and stuff, or I’ll learn important things when I meet with everyone (previous and future exchange students). We had a fire drill where we shouted “kajida! [fire]”, but most people were not believable at all. I was the most convincing. Then we went to Hikone castle, but it was pretty much closed, although we still got an awesome view (see the Pictures section or my Facebook/Flickr). There were tons of stairs, which I immediately regretted climbing the first few quickly. We saw a guy carrying 3 big cartons of drinks for the vending machines on his back. It was impressive, but I felt bad for him. Hikone’s mascot is named Hikonyan (“nyan” means “meow”), so there’s tons of pictures and toys of him all around. On the way back, we went to 7Eleven (which are way nicer here, and I found some Japanese Pringles called Chip Star!), a grocery store that was closer to Rogers or a small Kroger (I’ve shopped every day so far, so why stop there?). I think I’ve biked and done more cardio in these past three days than I’ve done in the past three years. At night we were told there’d be fireworks by the lake. It turns out some of the local students had just bought some sparklers and (driveway) fireworks. I think the original idea was for them to take some girls, but everyone else tagged along. Then they came back and we played some Mario Kart Double Dash (which I whooped them in).
Tomorrow I’m meeting all my friends for dinner in Nagoya, then going to another castle and other sightseeing stuff, so I’ll try to post pictures if I get Internet in the hotel. I’d also like to point out that I know nothing about my camera yet, so they’ll probably only be awesome because of what they’re of. They’ll get better (or not, they’re not that bad).
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