Orientation

Good news! I finally got the computer thing solved. I don't need an adapter to plug in my laptop and the dorm provides us with plugs that I can plug my laptop into and then plug the other end into the wall. I also discovered that my computer has a slot for my memory card so I finally can upload pictures. (I'll take pictures of the room once my roommate gets here and we organize a bit. So yesterday was orientation, and I hope this isn't an indication of what the rest of the semester is going to be like. It was so unorganised. There are 73 study abroad students here this year, which is a much larger group than they've ever had. So when we took a tour of the campus (building really) no one in the back could here what they were talking about, and we had even split into groups for the tour. When we went to Roppongi Hills, we went as that group of 73. I'm sure the Japanese who saw us didn't think such a large group of Americans existed outside the states. Some of the other students were joking around and called it the "gaijin" parade ("gaijin" means foreigner). I did meet some more people from my dorms. There are 2 other girls who have Japanese roommates that have moved in but aren't here. (I found out last night that my roommate should be coming back this afternoon). At Roppongi Hills we were pretty much just free to roam around. A group of us decided to just sit down and talk for a while (the walk from campus to Roppongi was pretty long). At about 6pm we got on a subway. None of us knew where we were going, and our guide almost got us lost because he forgot to buy the transfer ticket. We finally ended up in some area (I'm still not sure where it was) and they took us into this restaurant. We ate in what I'm guessing was the banquet room. We had to take off our shoes to enter the room because the floor was tatami (which I guess is kinda like straw) and we sat down at really low tables. The cool part though was that there was a hole in the ground underneath our tables so we could sit. So the effect was that it looked like traditional seating, but was designed so you could still sit comfortably. After dinner we took a the train back to our district. None of us had seen the area around the station and there is so much stuff there. There are a lot of shops and restaurants. We also toured a bit around the neighborhood. It's no joke that we live in one of the richest parts of Tokyo. We came back and I took a little nap. I could have gone to bed seeing as it was almost 10, but I wanted to not wake up close to 5 again. I got up when my doorbell rang and a group of us went to the park. We live near the biggest park in Tokyo. It was used when Tokyo hosted the Olympics. We hung out there and the guys shot of the rocket fireworks they had bought at the 98 yen store. Eventually a group of Japanese started shooting of their own fireworks, and we got into a bit of a competition. It was funny, everytime they shot off their fireworks one of the guys would yell something. They were just far enough that I'm not sure what he was saying, but I think it was "ii da" (it's good). There were also all kinds of people at the park, which was strange to me because we left after midnight and they were still there. One guy was playing U2 and the Beatles on his guitar while singing the lyrics. Sometimes they were the English ones and sometimes a Japanese translation. Someone else was blowing a horn. This other guy was doing this little dance routine and was later joined by a group of other people. I tried taking pictures, but it was too dark so they wouldn't come out. Well, I have another orientation outing in a half-hour, so I should go finish my breakfast of (what else) noodles. I swear one of my goals by the end of this semester is to learn how to slurp without splashing juice all over the place.

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