Konnichiwa

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Note: I cannot upload pics at the moment, and my camera has run outta batteries, which I can't replace... read the journal. Anyway, any words I completely capitalize will have corresponding pics, when I get them up that is.

Quick update, since I am going to dinner at 7pm with a group, and it is 6:16pm now:

Plane ride on Singapore Air was 11 hours. Not bad. First thing I noticed was the crazy ELECTRONICS -- you can watch tons of movies, or listen to a ton of CDs, or play a ton of cool games! Decent FOOD -- had smoked salmon... so I guess smoked salmon doesn't really meand "cooked." Saw:
- "Motorcycle Diaries" = a must see! Esp. you Sarah Burg!
- "Closer" = (well, I missed a little in the beginning) Natalie Portman is pretty hot in this movie
Slept for maybe 3 hours.

Arrive and stood in line for "foreign passports." Randomly saw Vicky Dorward in line. Cool. Will be meeting up later with her, Jacob, and Melissa -- they went to another program at Sophia University.

First thing I noticed at airport is that it is much quieter than LAX. Almost empty I'd say. You don't see bustling and stuff.

Went to Holiday Inn Narita with no trouble by shuttle bus. Checked in, but had to pay about 9500 yen (just divide by 100 to get approximate amount in dollars), since the room wasn't charged to the travel agency. Fretted that my funds took a small hit already (came in with $500 in cash plus $2500 in traveler's checks, of which only, hopefully, 2k will be spent).

Room was decent. It was 6PM. Studied a little bit so I could sleep later and re-sync myself. No internet. Nothing good on TV and I thought it wouldn't be good to hear CNN in English while I was trying to immerse myself in Japanese. Was starving and ate some Ranch CornNuts I had brought along. Slept at about 9:30PM. Woke up at 10:30PM by E-Pal MII, who apologized for waking me up: we were going to meet at 10:30 in the morning.

Oh, and realized I had forgot my suit and a freakin battery charger... and the digital camera is out of batteries already, so no pics for a while. Plus, I don't see a USB port on this comp I'm using right now anyway...

Woke up at 6:30 AM, which wasn't cool at all, and couldn't go back to sleep. Got up to stretch and study. A.D.D. on the laptop instead. Checked out at 10AM. Sat around studying for 45 minutes before Mii came. Went back to airport to the "meeting point."

Starving still... so the first thing I eat in this country is a "chili dog" for 300 yen. Cashier was cute, so that was a plus. I think I got a hot dog instead though -- it had lettuce and ketchup with a nice kick. The sausage had crispy skin. Interesting... not bad.

Met 2 French dudes - STEPHON (forgot spelling) and CEDRIC - ad a guy from Texas, ROBERT. All cool guys.

Went to get baggage forwarded to dorm (1590 yen) I'll be moving into and staying at starting Thursday.

Paid 1100 yen for a bus ticket from the airport to OVTA (Overseas Vocational Training Association), where I'll be staying for orientation. I'm here right now. It's a pretty nice, modern building. The bus ride wasn't bad because I just chatted up with Mii -- she speaks English well, having studied in Britain for 6 years.

My Japanese really sucks (I realized this while practicing at the hotel the night previous). I've spent most of my time memorizing and saying things in my head. When I try to say it aloud at a natural pace, I stutter or get tongue-tied. It'll get better soon!

A small group of us (me, the guys I mentioned, Mii, and another E-Pal MORI) walk to OVTA once we arrive. The weather is overcast -- not the sun I was expecting. A bit chilly too. Don't see too many people walking around -- must be all at work. Good employment rate here I guess? And people all work same shifts? Empty streets. Modern though. Doesn't feel too much like I left Los Angeles. Difference is the Japanese writing everywhere and the cars driving on the left side of the road.

After dropping our stuff in the rooms, we head out to lunch. A mall down the street. Pretty nice. So many choices -- I stepped up and chose Soba at a nice "Japanese-looking" restaurant. Tempura soba and soba tea. Not bad. 800 yen. Needed something hot 'cause it was sprinkling outside.

Walked around into music shop and book store. Other guys were shy about "choosing" where to go for the group. i had asked them all earlier it they liked video games, so I declared we were going back to the Sega game place we had passed on our way to. First game I tried was the Taiko drum game I had read about -- really fun and I did pretty good, I thought. Second game was this reallllllly cool machine-gun game called "Ghost"-something -- forgot. Anyway, more on that later when I have more time.

Spent probably 700 yen there, then decided to go back to OVTA and chill. Dinner at 7PM. I think my room doesn't have electricity... need to fix that soon. More people from IES arrived, and they are having dinner with us. Wish I had batteries for my camera so I can take pics soon. Oh yea, and I forgot to mention that walking to the mall, I realized this sucks -- I'm still pretty short in comparison to everyone around me. Haha, I thought the Japanese were supposed to be short! The guys I see are always at least 5'8", but more like 5'10"... I don't get it. Perhaps it is because this is Makuhari New City, which is a place for foreign business exchange, so these guys are taller to represent the cream of the crop? Haha, I don't know. At least not *all the girls are that tall. I'm taller than a *few 😞

I forgot to look up what to dial to use my MCI phone card, so I havn't gotten a chance to phone home yet. Need to look that up online now. I'll have pics coming soon. I'm enjoying life and having a good time. I'll definitely need to have a piece of paper hanging up to see how my budget goes though -- I can see myself spending too much, espcially when these coins are 100, 500, and 1000 yen. Easy to think they're "just change." Some pretty cute girls I see though -- wish me luck!

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Photos

Food 1
mint lemon marinated prawns /w farro tabouli salad, cajun spiced salmon fillet /w garlic sauce, Haagen Dazs

Food 2
smoked salmon /w chopped salad, stir fried beef /w fried rice, American apple pie /w vanilla sauce

Electronics
I recommend Singapore Air for kids!!!

Comments

[anonymous]

Right on Duy! I'm glad to hear you made it there alright and that you're having a great time! Watch that budget tho...i can see you being all broke and homeless by the end of the month! LOL Anywho...keep us updated with what you're up to and for godsake, hook up with a geisha already! Have a blast, man! - Harlan

[anonymous]

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