Update! First two and a half days

So the first two days have been a little confusing, maybe a little bit lonely (on the first day), but overall nice. Everyone is so eager to talk or hang out, whether because they are feeling the same being away from home or because they are locals wanting to know more about you. Without further ado, pics and summaries!

Arrival Day

On the day we- John(Siena peer) and I- took the flight out of JFK was actually pretty nice. The flight food wasn’t bad, I got meatballs and tater tots (the “western style meal”) and it was pretty good. Except I realized it was pork and gave the meatballs to him while I ate the tots and the cold soba noodle side dish. Also the later meal (since the first flight was 13 hours, which is still shorter than anticipated) was Chinese style beef with rice. The second flight out of Narita airport in Tokyo, headed for Osaka, was only an hour but I have discovered that I do not like airports in Tokyo. Unpleasant, hot, packed, and stinky. It might be due to us being in the domestic flights part of the airport, though, as I never saw the international area. The one in Osaka was nice tho. Once in the Osaka airport, we had to wait later than expected to leave. One person’s flight was delayed so we had to wait two hours past when we were supposed to leave (8pm, so we left about 10). We got to the school at 11 and the Resident Assistants (all local Japanese students) had stayed up waiting for us so that they could greet us! They are all so nice. My RA’s name is Nao, but I also talk to Mari and Moeko sometimes too. I went to bed soon after arriving.

Yesterday

Yesterday I woke up at 7, unpacked, took a shower, and got ready. I went to the small downtown area of Hirakata with a junior year student from Sweden, Jacob(Yakob), who I happened to run into and I didn’t have anyone to hang out with for the day before meeting with my speaking partner (at 4:30). We walked to the downtown hirakata area and got ramen. I haven’t talked with him since, but he was a nice kid. I’ve met a lot of people from the other dorms so far. My speaking partner is really nice and we are supposed to meet up tomorrow to study together. She liked the NYC hat I gave her as a meeting gift. She likes star wars too, so that’s cool. Her English is better than intermediate, a small leap better than my French, and my Japanese is still very little (I know the alphabets and Katakana words but getting by in daily life outside campus requires more).

Today

Today I went to the downtown Hirakata city again, but with two girls from my dorm area and there was a small local festival going on so I got some 300 yen (approx $3) fried chicken chunks (karage) with curry and it was really good. We went out again at 3:30 for stationary and supplies 🙂 I only bought two pens bc I have most things, but the store is like a small mall and they have an awesome food area downstairs with bakeries and everything. I didnt get anything there, but I got dinner at the festival with the girls. Shelby and I got Yakisoba (popular noodle dish for summer fests) for 300 yen and Akea and Celine got takoyaki (the octopus balls). Now I’m tired but Celine and I went to the drug store and I got some basic supplies for when classes start (some stuff to make eggs and rice on some days to avoid eating at the cafeteria all the time). So yeah, that was today. Tomorrow is a campus tour and I’m gonna go to it. I will need to know where my classes are. These first two days have been fun, but there’s also been a lot of class prep and registration stuff. Hopefully it all goes smoothly! Love you guys!

Bad pic of the campus next to my dorm at night.