The Mind Dump! Purge! Some other word that I'm looking for and cannot find!

Okay Everyone! Time for what you all have been waiting for! My first post from the Land of the Rising Sun!
Well, the plane ride over on Friday/Saturday was really long but not too bad except I didn't sleep enough. I did manage to have an open seat next to me the entire way to Japan- all three trips. In the Japanese airport, I freaked out a little because I could not find where I needed to go and was almost positive that I was going to miss my next flight and then not make it to the Dorm and get my luggage and everything else that could possibly go wrong. On my last flight I took off my shoes because the Japanese man next to me did. It was nice. Those planes are really nice!!! I definitely recommend ANA. I was grateful to find people who were like me: exhausted, confused, and terrified that they would not find the Kansai Man to directus to the bus. I met a lot of cool people on the bus and we laughed a bunch in our extreme exhaustion. I don't remember much of that day- it blended together but I will upload this small blog I wrote in Narita about my flight that I cannot upload yet.

So Sunday:
My second day, I realize that I needed to bring a towel. I knew I would but no, I forgot to pack one so I planned to get one with my roommate because she knew where to go. I slept till 2 in the afternoon that day and my roomie was still asleep so I didn't want to bother her to get a towel so I walked outside the room and found some people from my crazy bus ride and they took me with them to Sanco, the 100 yen shop. It was nice and I got slippers, a towel (that's not big enough to cover my head), a pair of chopsticks (that didn't make it out of the store before getting lost), some black bowls that were adorable and useful, and some food. We didn't have anything scheduled that day so myself and the other explorers hung out and bonded over our unusual assortment of cheap food- mostly consisting of rice. Later that evening, we took a tour to the local Midori - which means green and the logo are green trees (it makes me laugh). It's like a target but there's a separate grocery on the 1st floor and it's more vertical than horizontal. That was fun and I managed to make the register girl happy and I got a pair of throw-away chopsticks for my meal that I bought so I didn't have to buy any yet.

Monday:
I had a meeting at 10 on campus so we (Lindsey (will sing songs with me from musicals and other fun things), Lauren (is the fun one who is getting lost with me a lot and trying to learn a lot since she came over with only a semester under her belt -BRAVE!), Danielle (has studied a long time and been here before and is a little crazy but fun too), Cassie (she's Australian and most likely the one who has silly comments or jokes or actions associated with her- she also is generally the translator for us)) went to the meeting -actually just Lauren & I- because it was our scheduled time. We ended up going to the wrong building thanks to wonderful directions from the lovely Lindsey but we were still on time! Then we did some important paper work and wandering and I ran into Keck-san from Miami! He showed us around and got us lunch and helped us get to places and do things. Exciting and yet mundane at the same time. When we got back to the dorms/seminar houses, I took a nap because I was sooo tired. After that I went to find Keck-san to borrow his books to review for my placement test and we chatted, made Origami cranes and met new people. That was fun until I demanded we get food since I was the only one starving! Duncan and Keck-san and I then proceeded to the conbeni (100 yen/convenience store) only to run into the girls who had just left there and said it was closed. No chopsticks (by the way, I've still managed to get meals without silverware so far).
Everyone wanted okinomiyaki (sp?) so we stopped by this cute place right next to the dorms and it was delicious. I'm not really a fan usually but I asked for no mayo (even though I tried it with the Japanese mayo but ew!) and I really liked it. The lady there was soo cute and nice and gave us 50 yen discount cards for the next time. We're so going back! I have some pictures but they'll be added later. From then, the girls went our way and the boys back to their house. We hung out more later and went to bed early because we again, we exhausted.

Tuesday!
We had a meeting this morning at 9:30 ugh! Right before our placement tests which I feel like I BOMBED but I hate big tests like that anyway- too high pressure. So the worst part about that is because I have 2-3 years of background I had to take all four sections of the test. A. B. C. and D... BAH! I hate long tests! Oh, that was besides us taking a listening section, a hiragana/katakana/basic kanji/translation section (10 mins only), and a bigger kanji section after everything else. Needless to say, I was brainfried! I went and got Curry with Danielle afterwards and wandered a bit registering my laptop (although, that was being difficult for the guy helping me), paying my bills, and going through the ever hated banking session. Ever try writing your signature 4 times the EXACT SAME WAY? Cannot have it be the slightest bit different! Japanese people cheat! They have the stamps! They always turn out the same way! I redid it about 3-4 times all four papers. Rather obnoxious and once we finished that we went to check on phones- all out, went to get Cassie after her orientation at the LL- ironically at this point we have everyone again and we go to Softbank- well we ask where it is, get something at a 7-eleven. It was really good for a 7-eleven. Maybe they're better in Japan? Well, at Softbank they run out off the prepaid cards and phones by one for me. So, everyone else gets a phone but me- they ran out of chargers for Lindsey since she got a different phone but all the cards were out. Just my luck. I've been getting the rough end of the stick lately but sooner or later, it'll get better. One pen has already made it back to me after being lost for two days! I did forget my passport in the copy machine half way across campus and sprinted the whole way there to get it. Success! No worries! Later we had dinner when I was ravenous and afterwards, my new roommate from Argentina came and we all played cards in Danielle's room. Long games of Cheat (aka BS and little different rules like in Australia since today was Australia Day). It was lots of fun and we were all a little crazy. They all want me to teach the how to solve the rubix cube now too... what have I done? I was bored and frustrated so of course I used it during the banking session. Well, tomorrow is less busy and hopefully, with any luck I'll either get a pair of chopsticks or a phone with a card or my computer with working internet. Yay!

Until then, I miss you all and love you too and I'm sooo tired, I'm going to bed!

Oh wait, the shower story!
So the showers here are really cool, they have their own doors and a handheld showerhead and you push on this lever and it only stays on for like 10 seconds but I didn't know what that was at first and I pushed it and well, the door behind me wasn't closed yet... I got my clothes that I wore to the shower wet... and since I have no robe and no towel big enough to cover even a third of my body- I had to put those wet things on and try to dry them along with my hair before going to Midori- which I held everyone up along with my RA. I also bought a liter of milk but it's really, really rich so I think it's whole milk. I'm going low fat next time. I also realized there are a lot of Australian students here.

When I met Cassie it took all of 3 seconds for me to unintentionally copy her accent (poorly) and I realized mid-phrase... she laughed and thought I sounded funny- *sigh* I didn't offend! Yay! I've been good ever since!

But yeah, not that I'm all over the place, we've got an early morning tomorrow so I'm going to bed now! Oyasumi! <3 (-_-)zzz