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Published: April 24th 2006
My room
A quick pic of my room.I've actually had a pretty enjoyable day. So far, a lot of the trip has been uncomfortable to some degree, and I was getting nervous about how long this would last. Six months seems like an interminably long time. But a lot of the weirdness was from the regression of living here. One of the things I hated the most about being a little kid is that you have no control over your life, and lots of other people decide what you should be doing; the first few days here are the same way. I recognize this is necessary - to establish rules, show us around, and efficiently lay the groundwork for a large number of people. But today was the first day I really had fun.
I took Nana-chan (white curly-haired doggy) for a walk this morning, which was good times. I explored the neighborhood a little, smiled at a bunch of people, stopped briefly to chat with a lady admiring Nana-chan. Unfortunately, I hit the limit of things I can express after declaring his name, what I was doing here, where I lived - basic small talk. But it was kind of cool to randomly chat with people,
My room
After the futon has been set up. however briefly.
After hanging around the house until about 2, confused about what exactly I should be doing, I decided I should get an electronic dictionary. I asked my host mom where to buy one (hoping she would offer to drive). She told me where, but asked if it was urgent, so I gathered that she didn't want to take me immediately (and since I have little chance of navigating the complexities of locating a good electronic store on foot). I decided that I should head out anyway and wander around, and ended up walking quite a distance. I live pretty far in the suburbs, but decided to walk to the city proper anyway. I had fun exploring - saw lots of random things, from Engrish signs to bizarre vending machines (and vending machines really are everywhere here). I walked for a while down by the river / canal (which has become somewhat overrun with weeds now). I'll try to get a picture of it, but supposedly these rivers with walls are prime make-out spots at night. Apparently the entire length is filled with couples evenly spaced a non-intrusive 3 meters apart.
The best part of the trip,
The river
The river nearby, during the day. though, was finding a used music store. They had 50-yen J-Pop cds (like 39 cents) that are a little old. So I picked up three cds for listening pleasure (right now I'm rockin' Cranberry Soda's 'Se, Tsu, Na' , but I also acquired trf's 'dAnce To positive' and Shizuka's eponymous 1988 release. I think I'll have to establish a "History of J-Pop" section at the SJC library fueled by 39 cent albums). It was cool just hanging out, flipping through the wares that Best Limb Digital Entertainment Soft had to offer me (besides an AWESOME name). At that point, I didn't feel overwhelmed, just enjoying myself.
On the way back I decided I have to work my way through all the types of drinks offered by vending machines. I started with two types today - Mitsuya Cider (essentially Sprite) and Calpis (like Fresca, except smoother somehow. I spent the whole time trying to figure out what the extra ingredient was - I think it might be a combination of fine carbonization and possibly cream, or a sweet milk. If anyone knows, let me know - it's driving
Random Amusing Signs
The sign says student housing - I enjoy the claims made by it, though. me crazy).
~Danny
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Doreen
non-member comment
Be bright and affluent
or at least, fluent! Sounds like really rapid immersion, and horray for feet for transportation!