I arrived in Japan!
After a long 16-hour flight where I slept seven hours, ate food, and watched three movies, I arrived in Taipei for my 9 hour layover.
I had no problem exchanging money and finding the luggage lockers. Then I headed into the city to find the Elephant Mountain. It was easy to find and I hiked it, sweating like crazy in the humidity and heat and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. But, at the top I found a friendly Australian couple who snapped some dope shots of me!
I arrived in Taiwan at 7 am and was amazed by how many people were out and about. Old ladies were fast-walking all over the city and families with kids were out playing in the parks so early on a Saturday. You never see that many people out and about so early in the US.
I headed next to the famous Taipei 101 building. It was only 10 am and all the mall stores opened at 11 am, so I went to the grocery store in the basement to try some cherry blossom popcorn and what I assume was dragon fruit juice. Both were delicious.
Then I headed back to the airport for my 3 hour flight to Japan. I had a pork bun with mango juice back at the airport because I assumed no food would be served on a short 3 hour flight. Boy, was I wrong. A whole meal was served! I ate as much of it as I could.
Finally I landed in Tokyo. The customs people didn't know how to check over a student visa so I had to wait a while for someone who could. He spoke to me in only Japanese, and I was really proud that I understood it all. Then I got my bags and took the train to Ikebukuro where I was meeting my friend, Takumi.
Takumi was amazing. He helped me with my heavy bags, gave me a place to crash for the night, and helped me find which trains to take the next morning. He even went with me part of the way till we got to the Shinkansen station!
Then I was on my own. Two stops before my stop, Ueda, was Karuizawa, which is where my favorite tv show, Terrace House, takes place. I was super excited and really wanted to get off the train and wander around until I found the Terrace House. But I resisted. I did spot the huge shopping center they all shopped at in one of the first few episodes!
When I got off the train, I started the long trek to my school, Nagano Business and Language College (NBL). After a bit, I noticed two guys and a girl also carrying bags and speaking Spanish. They got ahead of me and I ended up following them all the way to NBL. There we introduced ourselves. They were all from Mexico and attending NBL as well, but only for 6 months.
After a bit, a Japanese guy came out to get us. We found out he was our RA, Sunohada san. Ari-chan, the Mexican girl, was taken to her dorm first. Her dorm is only a 5 minute walk from the school and by the bathhouse and the super market as well. But she doesn't really like it because the shared kitchen in it is super dirty. The boys are in a men-only dorm that is brand new and fairly close to the school. I am in a super nice apartment complex-style dorm. I love it, but it's a 30 minute walk from school and the supermarket and everything AND I have to buy all my own stuff since it's like an apartment. Ari-chan and the guys all have cooking supplies and toilet paper and trash bags and stuff like that.
That night Sunohada took us shopping. It took forever, but was really fun! I talked to him in Japanese a lot. And even practiced Spanish a bit with the Mexicans. But mostly talk was in English and Japanese.
Then Sunohada drove us all back to our dorms to eat dinner with the stuff we bought. I wasn't hungry though. My roommate is coming next week apparently, so I have the whole apartment/dorm room to myself for now! So I unpacked and used the hangars I bought to hang up all my clothes. Around 10 pm, Sunohada stopped by with a new student who was American. He seemed really nice but his Japanese is really beginner so I helped translate.
Then I headed to sleep.
When I woke up this morning, Monday, I took a quick walk outside and found a little shrine. It's Sports Day, which is a national holiday, so I have no school. I came back and ate cereal and a banana and OJ and then went out for a little longer walk. I made it a point to say good morning in Japanese to every person I saw. One guy started talking to me and then switched to English because he knows English after working at a resort in Glacier National Park for two months. He wants to get together and speak English and Japanese sometime, so we exchanged contact information. I made my first Japanese friend in Ueda! Here's to many more. ^_^
