I have arrived safely

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Hi Everyone,



I have arrived safely in Japan and I am now writing this in the very rainy Kyoto. I had a good flight over here. I started in Atlanta and had a short layover in LAX. My flight was delayed in LAX for about 2 hours because there was a problem with the navigational tools, however they made us as comfortable as we could be and we waited it out. In the end we were only about 30 minutes late from our original expected time of arrival into the Narita Airport in Japan. On the flight I spoke with a couple of Japanese students, who turned out to be the same year as me. They knew a little English and I knew a little Japanese so we actually had a decent conversation in our broken vocabulary. I would talk in Japanese to them, and most often they would respond in English so that was the clear highlight of my trip over here. Once I landed in the Narita Airport I stayed at a hotel close by, it turned out to be an excellent decision as it took me an additional 5-6 hours to get to Kyoto via the train system. Yesterday morning (the 18th) I left the hotel and went back to the airport where they told me that the quickest way to get to Kyoto was via train. I took 2 different lines so I did not have time to sleep on the train. Upon arriving to the Kyoto station I took a taxi to my dorm at Ritsumeikan. This proved to be the most difficult part of the journey because my driver did not know any English, however I was able to tell him the address and give him the phone number of my dorm so he could get directions. He was very kind and went the extra mile for me and I appreciated what he did because I was tired and stressed by this point in the journey. When I arrived to my dorm I was greeted by my roommates in the house. They let me know what I needed to do and they helped take my luggage to my room. Everyone has been very nice to me during this whole process, and even if people do not understand what I am saying they are more than willing to help. All of the students in my dorm can speak English, but we all study Japanese so it will be a great opportunity to practice with students who are in the same boat as me. They also said that there is a program where I can pair up with a native speaker and study with them. I know I will be using both options. Yesterday was an eventful day that was capped off by the Ritsumeikan students showing me around town to the local food market and dollar store. It was beautiful weather until it started to pour on us on the way back from the dollar store, but this is all a new adventure and we biked back quickly so it was very nice. The weather here is very similar to Georgia so it has been an easy adaption. Today I have my orientation for the school and I leave for that momentarily. It has been a great trip thus far and I am very excited for all the new things that I will be seeing over here. Talk to you soon!

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Comments

[Meg]

Good luck!
Glad you made it - love the Japanese dollar stores! Hope you have a wonderful time!

[lmwalking567]

The dollar stores are amazing. I mean they put our dollar stores on a whole new level. Luckily I am around many students who have been here all last semester so they can show me all the inexpensive places to buy things.