First Week Abroad

Well, it's been a very busy first week for me since arriving in Tokyo. I've been all over the campus filling out and returning forms. Yesterday was orientation, where they gave me even more forms to fill out. This university loves bureaucracy just as much as American ones do.

On the other hand I've gone to some fun places as well, last Sunday me and my fellow American exchange student, Jacqui, went to Akihabara together, it's a very exciting place to be, lots of stores full of nerdy things, and girls walking around in maid costumes. We had a blast, unfortunately I left my camera at home that day.

And on Monday, my tutor Haruka and I went to the Fuchu town hall and got my alien registration card, so now I can stay here for a while. After that we went to Shinjuku and bought a new cell phone and a short term plan to go with it from au, which gives great student discounts. Phones are amazing in Japan, they can be used as magic keys to pay for just about anything, just wave them over the register, and the total will be added to your phone bill. Especially convenient for trains.

Also I received my Monster TV HDUS I ordered when I arrived, however I ran into some difficulty running it, I consulted the site and performed the steps required for the error that was coming when I tried to use it but still got nowhere. So I called the support line on my fancy new phone, I forgot how much keigo support industry people use, it was tricky figuring out what he was saying. But eventually the tech support guy told me that there was no support for the device on the English version of Windows, poo. So now I've got to figure out if I should try to return it, sell it, buy Japanese windows, or look for a cheap japanese laptop that I could convert into a full time TV. Probably means a return to Akihabara either way, I'll bring my camera this time.

Well time for me to get going, my Japanese proficiency placement exam begins in an hour. This will tell me my recommended level of class, which under my program means the language class I'll be taking 5 days a week. In addition to that, I'll choose two electives that meet once a week. I'm thinking the "Teaching Japanese in other countries" and "Japanese mythology" for those. Until next time! Oh yes my cell is 080-6731-6234, so if you're in japan, give me a ring.