Finally in Japan!

I've been in Japan for a week now so I guess there's a lot to cover. I don't know how detailed I will be in this post but I'll try my best. I've decided to start a blog so that more people can be updated on how I'm doing. If my grammar starts deteriorating it just means that I got lazy. Hope you like this blog because I did it for all of you : )

So I flew from Portland to San Francisco on Aug 24th around 10:00AM. Then I flew from SF to Seoul, South Korea and that flight was about 11.5 hrs long. I think that was the best flight I've ever had. I'd never been on an international flight so it was awesome to have a new experience. I boarded the plane thinking I would spend most of my time studying Japanese but in actuality I spent it watching movies. I loved it. My favorite movie had to be Bunt a Korean film about a mentally retarded kid who loved being a water boy, there's more to it so you should watch it if you want to know more. Anyway, then I flew from Seoul to Osaka and I arrived at Kansai International Airport on Aug 25th ~8:30PM local time (Aug 25 ~4:30AM Pacific) I wasn't as tired as I thought I was going to be and I was happy because I had been fed three times.

Once I arrived at KIX I thought of a way to get to the Seminar Houses (dorms for Kansai Gaidai international students). I knew I could take a train and then a bus but I was hesitant because of all of my luggage. I decided to take a taxi regardless of the high prices but on my way there I remembered the Limousine bus that took me near the school. On the bus I met a man, who thankfully spoke English, who helped me find my way. Once we got off at the right stop he told me to wait there because taxis were coming. He also gave me his card and address and told me I should contact him and have dinner at his house since I'd be here for so long but I'm hesitant. I think it's sketchy and a bit strange so I think I'll wait and ask my host family what I should do. Anyway, everyone left and there was only a couple and I left. Their taxi came and I was worried I would be left alone. I approached the driver but he ignored me completely, maybe I didn't speak loud enough, but then the husband asked me if I needed help (in English, phew!) and I told him I needed a taxi but I didn't have a phone. He was really nice and called one for me. I was sooo thankful! Well, it turns out that my driver also spoke English and he knew exactly where to go, not only that but he dropped me off at the right Seminar House (there's 4 of them and I was supposed to be in 2 even though I was never informed of that). In the end my journey turned out better than expected.

I love my dorm it's 6 tatami mats (I'll post pictures later) and I had it for myself until Tuesday when my roommate, Kiara (Italy, 25), arrived. She's nice but I don't think I could live with her all year so I'm glad I'm going with a host family. People in the dorms are very nice but to be honest, I spend most of my time with the 5 other Mexicans that are here: Jose Luis, Christel, Maria Jose (all from Monterrey), Marcela, and Emanuel (from Mexico City). It kind of disappointed me to think that there were more Mexicans in a Japanese college than at my own college back home, but it's okay because I'm really glad they're here.

I took my Japanese placement exam and I ended up in level two spoken and level two reading and writing. I will also be taking Principles of Sociology: Focus in Japan, Cross-Cultural Psychology: Social Experience, and Basic Ceramic Techniques. I'm excited about school I think it'll be an awesome learning experience. Both of my sociology classes will be in English so it shouldn't be too bad. I'm a little worried about the ceramics class because we have to be in the studio like 8 hrs/week but I paid $100 for it so it better be worth it!

Next topic is my host family yay! I actually ended up in a good family, or at least it seems like it. I'll have a mom Asayo Izuka 45, a dad, Hideto Izuka 49, a sister, Manami 21, and a brother, Naoki 20. The parents want me to call them okasan (mom) and otosan (dad) I think it'll be nice because I'll feel like they are my family to some extent. I'm excited but worried at the same time. It seems that Japanese families are more strict to girls and so I will most likely end up with a curfew of 9:00PM which really REALLY sucks but I'm going to respect it and make the best of it. Another thing that sucks is that they are 45 min away from campus so I'll have to walk to the train station (15min), be on the train (15min) and then ride the bus (15min) everyday to school! It'll probably take longer than that too but it's ok. At least they're not expecting me to teach them English so that's a really good thing. The parents have lived in the U.S. before (mainland and Hawaii) before so if I really need to communicate I can use English. Moreover, otosan and Naoki like sports so maybe I'll get to play with them. Oh yeah, my room will be 4.5 tatami mats : ( I'll post pictures later. I'm meeting them tomorrow at 3PM so we'll see how it goes. This will be it for now, I'll try to make my other posts shorter. I'll write as often as I can and I will also be posting pictures and hopefully video blogs from time to time. Till next time.