First weekish: arrival, my room, orientation, etc. 8/31-9/2

As I'm sure you can all imagine, after the power outage and a flight change, I had been feeling pretty damn flustered up to the point when I finally left for my flight. Somehow, however, during most of the trip, I didn't feel sad, or particularly anxious, or overly excited, either... It all just felt a little bit surreal (and I don't doubt that coming down from that frenzied last week of summer contributed to the apathy of it, either). The first flight to LAX was fine (mom cried upon departure, of course); I slept most of the way and watched the pretty mountains of the West coast after I had awoken. Getting on my connecting flight straight to KIX, Japan - the one for which I had to turn my American phone off forever, yeah, that one - made me feel more anxious, but I've discovered that it's really impossible to feel anxious for an entire twelve hour flight. Since my iPod is experiencing some serious life struggles, I wrote a little, read a little, watch a movie or two... And didn't sleep. Which was annoying, but how can you sleep when you're on your way to Japan? The young woman next to me turned out to be fluent in both English and Japanese, too, so I had some help finding the correct bus to Hirakata City, my new home (it actually wouldn't have been that hard, anyway).

I didn't find out until a lot later, but I was technically the last to arrive to Seminar House 1 during orientation week (I was just being fashionably late?). In any case, here are some pictures of my room:

I live on the upper of two floors, room 206 with Jess! She's actually from Australia, not Sweden. That flag was just a mistake.

We sleep on Japanese-style futons. Apparently everyone thinks it's really weird that we sleep so close next to each other (it's not).

We live in an 8-tatami sized room; one tatami mat is one of those green rectangles on the floor.

Keeping with the traditional Japanese style of the room, our desk areas are behind the shouji 障子 (sliding paper doors).

I like Jess a lot. She's adorable, half-Chinese but fully Australian, and we get along really well. Though I took these pictures today, our room is actually always that clean. The only differences we have are that I always fall asleep before her and wake up earlier than she does... Womp.

And here's a picture of us with our other friend, Leila (from Finland):

Since I arrived late due to Hurricane Irene, I did indeed end up missing all of Orientation except for the last day, which was the Opening Ceremony and Luncheon. Which was all rather boring, so I don't remember much, but it looked like this:

Those are the flags of every country which is represented in Kansai Gaidai's international program this year. 32 countries, US domination in terms of number of students, followed not very closely by Australia.

That day I was also able to get a lot of housekeeping out of the way, such as signing up for classes, paying my fees, opening a bank account, receiving my ID to access the computers, and taking the language placement test (I placed into Japanese 3 out of 7, not bad!)

And that's basically about it for the first couple days. Sorry that was incredibly boring, but the weekend after this was much more interesting. In my next post I'll talk about the (first) typhoon, the humidity, the bars, and I'll introduce some more of the friends I've made :) Look forward to it!



P.S. Today (in real time, not in backdated blog time) my seminar house is celebrating American Thanksgiving together. It really makes me miss home! I hope everyone has a nice break from work and classes and a wonderful time celebrating with family. I'll be home in a month to catch the tail end of these celebrations!

UPDATE

So contrary to the fact that I haven't posted anything since I arrived in Japan, I am indeed alive and having a wonderful time!

For about a month now I've earnestly been meaning to get around to posting, but things here are just so busy, as I'm sure you'd all imagine. However, after much pestering from my mother, I'm ready to bring this blog back from the dead! I'm gonna start from the beginning of my trip here and slowly catch up to speed with where I am now. With less than six weeks of my time here left, I'm not sure it will actually be possible to publish everything before I return home, but I'm going to try. I know you've all been anxiously awaiting news from me (ha, ha).

I can't believe how much time has already passed. It's really incredible.

Here's a picture to tide you over until I write something meaningful:

LAST POST FROM AMERICA/58 HOURS WITHOUT POWER - Part 1

I couldn't decide on which title to go with, because they both apply, so I put in both. Compromise!

So much has happened over the past week that, seeing as it's also almost one in the morning, I am in no way, shape, or form capable of putting it all into an eloquent and sensible blog post at the moment. BUT I do promise that as soon as my head clears I'll put it all up for you to read.

Here's a one-sentence summary to tide you over until I can elaborate: I completed my summer job and then had a going-away party with my family, but then hurricane Irene hit and my flight got cancelled and I lost power for three days, and now I'm going to Japan two days late and I'm missing part of orientation.

Now, that actually sounds pretty depressing when you simplify it like that, but I promise I'm still really excited about going! My flight takes off at 6:00AM from Boston-Logan tomorrow (today?), I have a two-hour layover in San Francisco, and I'll arrive in Osaka at about 2:15AM on 9/1 'Merica time. Soo.... I better get some sleep!

Look forward to my next update. I have a lot to talk about!

P.S. One last thing! Something I'm way too proud to pass up writing about:

Look! I put everything I own essential for four months abroad into TWO SUITCASES AND A DUFFEL BAG. And one suitcase is only half-sized at that!

(And yes, Alfie is coming to Japan with me. So is my small red teddy bear that's already packed inside there somewhere)

Yay!

ADD ME ON SKYPE!

Okay, Skype isn't what I want to talk about at all, but search for me anyway if you wanna see my beautiful face (and probably my little 8-tatami mat room in the background) while I'm away!

Soo... Anyone actually ever seen any Japanese Yen? I picked some up at the mall the other day, nbd.

Here's some casual fifties and tens:

これは円です。

And there's a Japanese caption for ya. Just practicing!

(P.S. Know what else I've been practicing? Earthquake procedures... Oh, too soon, too soon, jk)

Countdown: NINE DAYS

Where did my summer go!? How did the time fly by so fast?

That's right, I only have NINE (9) DAYS left before I board my 6:00AM flight, Asia-bound.

It's a pleasantly horrifying feeling.


Anyway, on to what I really want to talk about: as I mentioned in my last post, about three weeks ago I took a lovely trip into Boston to apply for my visa! (I was accepted, obviously).

It was a surprisingly sunny Wednesday when, after a supremely rushed morning, I boarded the T from Southborough with my sights set on South Station.

 

The ride in was pleasant, and the most convenient thing about the day is that upon arrival, I walked out of South Station and was AT MY DESTINATION. The Federal Reserve Bank is literally the building next to the station.

It was pretty and shiny, just like a Boston office building:

And also very tall:

But the funny thing was, the elevator skipped floors five through eighteen. Later when I went back with Jon, we figured it must be official Bank space with its own separate elevator for navigation. But in any case, I thought that was pretty cool.

The actual Consulate-General of Japan was on the 22nd floor, and unfortunately pictures were not allowed, but the view was gorgeous. Here's another picture that I took after I had submitted everything, because it was a beautiful day:

After that, I met up with my very good friend Paige for one of the most SPECTACULAR afternoons I've had all summer. Shout out to this girl because, in just those few hours, we were able to bond over frozen yogurt and Lilly Pulitzer and sisterhood, and I was reminded why she is such an important person in my life. Not only can we be girls and have a fabulous time in the city, but Paige's warmth and encouragement never fails to make me feel good about being in my own skin. Being separated from her this year will truly be a tragedy, and I cannot explain enough how important seeing her one last time before I left was to me.

Also helping to make the day great: I love Boston. As temperamental as the weather is, as much as I can't stand it when my GPS freaks out because of all the roads and gets me lost, as expensive as it is, deep in my heart, I love Boston. (How many sisters out there just read "deep in my heart" and instinctively thought "I LOVE MY A-A-"? I did. Violets to us.)

Here's another picture, because I'm bad with transitions:

SO this past Tuesday, with Jon in tow, I again traipsed into Boston to pick up my visa. And let me just say... Driving the hour in traffic, getting supremely LOST and confusing the GPS (Rhonda!) until we could have murdered her, dealing with the road rage of sixteen year old girls, paying $12.00 for half an hour of parking and then getting lost on the way home, ALL without eating yet was NOT worth the ten minutes it took to actually pick up the damned thing. But what was I to do? The important thing is, I got it:

 (Yes, this is a different picture and no, you are still not allowed to see it. Jon saw this picture and my passport picture and laughed heartily at me)

So now, the only thing standing between me and my big trip is... Well, actually a lot of things, but mainly packing (ahh!) and getting the details of my affairs in order. At this point, I no longer have any reservations holding me back, but I do have to admit saying goodbye is hard. It's only four months, so it's not difficult to cheer myself because I am honestly so looking forward to going (and my life will still be here when I return, after all), but the tearful goodbye to Jon last week hit me hard and I know my mother is going to have a hard time handling it too (and for any of you who know her, you know just how much of an understatement that is).

All in all, however, preparations are running along with more rapidity than I can comprehend, and every day I can feel the nervous energy that has begun to possess me build and continue to drive me towards making sure things are going as smoothly as possible.

Nine days.

Can't wait :)

Look What I Got!

In the mail last week. Apparently I officially qualify for entrance into Japan! Yay!

(Yeah you guys are absolutely not allowed to see my hideous passport photograph.)

I plan on taking a trip to the "Consulate-General of Japan in Boston" on Wednesday to get my visa.  Wish me luck!

Japan '11

I know, it's super early to be starting a blog about going abroad a month and a half before I leave, but I'm already just so excited!

Well, maybe "excited" isn't precisely the right word.  Let's try "anxious," in both the positive and the nervous sense of it.  That sounds about right.

Let me attempt to explain why.  I know, I know, it doesn't matter how I phrase it, I'm going to sound exactly like every other girl who's about to take a big step forward in her life, and every other student about to go to a non-English speaking country for four months (damn, it's nerve-wreaking when you put it that way), but here goes.

On the positive side, we have my odd obsession with Japan.  Although it's fading now (I have mainly growing up, but also Gettysburg fratiness and all that it accompanies, to thank for that), I've gone through phases of my life when I've spent hours researching, imagining, and plain breathing certain aspects of Japanese culture.  The music, the idols, the language, the food, the customs, the complexes, the commercials - you name it.  (Even the history sometimes, though I must admit I usually find it bores me to death.)  I've just finished my fifth year of language instruction to boot.  And coming from my background, it's not every day I'll be able to hop on a plane with $1250 compensation for the flight, so this may be my only chance I'll get to actually GO to Japan.  For real.  And then there's the entire study abroad aspect that comes with my program: finding your own path through a foreign country, maturing, gaining a new-found appreciation for the world and our differences as humans, etc. etc.  All in all, sounds like a super wonderful, life-changing experience that's going to be a total blast, right?  Yep, well, it will be, and there's no way I could begin to explain how grateful I am for this chance.  But it doesn't mean that the worrywart bit I inherited from my mother isn't struggling to burst forth right now.

Superstitions are silly, but right as I was about to book my non-refundable flight tickets two weeks ago - literally JUST as I was about to begin - the power went out.  I flatly refuse to believe in bad omens and all that, but it was still pretty freaky.  And, of course, there's the earthquakes.  I don't worry about what it will be like when I go, or that my trip will be affected at all, really, but it's more about my future.  Being exposed to radiation dramatically increases my chances of contracting cancer thirty years down the road in addition to my chances of having messed up babies.  I don't want that; I really, really don't.  Unfortunately for that aspect, however, I'm not chickening out now.  I've made my choice, and I'm going.

The only last thing that bothers me about going is missing out on an entire semester at Gburg.  I finally feel like I've found my place at school.  Starting with ADPi, finding joy in my classes, actually liking my teachers for once and, of course, beginning a relationship with Jon has made Gettysburg feel like a real home.  Freshman year was hell adjusting, so that plus my time abroad only leaves five semesters.  Five of eight during which I have the opportunity to be silly, make bad and make good choices, drink and cry and learn and just BE a college kid, and two of them are already gone!  As much as I will miss out on things like bonding with the new ADPi babies, random exploring dates with Lexi or Paige, date parties, finding Natty cans in random places on Sunday morning, midnight Sheetz runs/library breaks with varying members of Sigma Chi, and everything else that I could never have time to list in a million years, I have never met one person who has regretting going abroad.  So, as I've said, I'm taking my chances and leaving my home behind, in hopes that the four months I am there will be enough time to make another home, to grow, and to learn as much as my brain can possibly handle.

I've said a lot about what's on my mind, but I promise my posts from Japan will be twenty million times more interesting and cultural, and I'll put up lots and lots of pretty pictures of what I'm doing.

Can't wait!


P.S. My finishing and kind of off topic thoughts for this post: I am ridiculously excited to go shopping and send packages of really weird/random Japanese things to everyone back at home.  I think everyone will get a kick out of them, and hopefully I'll be able to keep my presence on campus and at home even while I am away.  Look forward to it!