TheLeong.com

It looks like it’s a typhoon today or something outside.

Well today was a busy busy day. Woke up around 6:30 to the annoying ringing of my newly purchased \1000 Kamen Rider Blade alarm clock (I needed a clock!). It’s an old-school analog clock, with an actual bell for the alarm. Scared the crap out of me when it went off.

First attempt at my total 45 minute commute. It’s not bad, except for the walking in the heat and humidity. I think once the weather gets a little cooler I’ll be fine. Also lugged my laptop around all day, which I’m not going to do much, and once I get intenet in the dorm, I don’t think I’ll ever do it. Also bought a 3-month train pass (teiki) from my station at Baraki Nakayama to Kaihim-Makuhari where school is at. Since it was between two different train/subway lines, I could only pay with a View credit card or cash. I haven’t ever heard of view, so it would have to be cash. The total was \23,320 (around $200). And yes, I had that much cash with me. I was planning on paying for a cell phone with that, but it’s OK.

Class placements: we all sat in a room while Tsutsui-sensei read our names and Japanese level placements out loud to everyone. Pretty nerve wracking. No one cried (at least not in the room). I was put in JP401, the highest one they have. I’ve been studying this stuff for about…..6 years, but the test was hard and I honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if I was in 301. But ah well, I’m just that good. 7 people are in the class, including me. Fun times. Class was long, not too difficult. This begins the 2 weeks of “Survival Japanese.” You could call it a Nihongo Bootcamp. Tomorrow we’re supposed to go to some person’s house or something weird like that.

Afterwards, had a 2 hour long session where Shin-san of IES tried to explain the AU pricing plans and etc. Long and confusing. They were only allowing people to have this one model of a Sony phone, in either baby blue or yellow. That was no good. Me, Adam, and Dan Lee decided to go to another store and get different phone models. One of the Japanese girls came with us to translate and stuff. Long story short: it was a waste of time to go elsewhere, we couldn’t do it, and they didn’t have the phone color I wanted (blue). We ended up walking back to the school, where Shin-san and the AU guys still were. I signed up for the phone I wanted, but in crimson red instead. It’s OK I guess, but I wanted blue. Ah well. It’s still a better phone than the one they were originally offering. Should actually get the thing tomorrow.

If I write Blog entries about everyting I do everyday, it’s going to get really really long. I dunno…..do people even want to read about all of this, or should I just post really weird or cool stuff (I’m asking this to the 5 or so people who read this. I don’t even think my parents do. Need to tell them the address). Anyway, ate dinner at the dorm (Salisbury steak or something like that), now I’m reading e-mails I downloaded with the 10 minutes of internet I got when I plugged in at the IES center. I’ll take my computer on Wednesday again and send/receive mail and post these few blog entries. Signed up for internet and a rental TV here in the dorm. Hopefully I’ll have that soon and I can have the internet at home.

That’s all for tonight. If you read this whole entry, you deserve a cookie.

Until I get internet access in my dorm, I’m going to write blog entries and post them all later. I’ll mark them with the correct date and time, though.

I moved into my dorm yesterday afternoon. It’s pretty nice. In some ways it’s a lot like a dorm at IU, but in some ways it’s like a weird apartment complex. The age range of residents here is from 18 to 60, and people pretty much stick to themselves. There are 3 other people here from IES, and a few other American college students from California.

My room is about the size of a single at Ashton (at least I think). I’ve got a bed, a desk, a wardrobe, and a bookshelf. It’s not too bad. I think it’s going to work really well for when classes start. It’s about a 10 or 15 minute walk from the nearest train station (Baraki-Nakayama on the Tozai Line). Morning commute to school will probably be about 45 minutes.

I can write more details (and maybe show some pictures) of the dorm later on. Right now it’s 10 AM, I had a nice leisurely start to the day, woke up around 8 but went to sleep last night around 9PM. I was so exhausted from all the moving and walking that I just couldn’t stay awake.

Going to spend the day maybe shopping and buying stuff for the room. I also want to just relax before I start intensive Japanese classes tomorrow morning. Will get internet access and probably will rent a TV for the semester sometime within the next week or two. Tomorrow I should be getting a cell phone (through AU, as they have the best student discounts). That’s all for now! Hope everyone back at IU is ready to start classes also.

I’m here, I’m safe. Staying this week at the Wakamatsu Honten in Narita City, near the airport. On Saturday I move into my dorm, which is in Ichikawa City. It’s probably going to be between a 40-60 minute commute to class everyday, which seems somewhat standard among all the other IES folk (and Japanese people as well). Good thing about living in Ichikawa is that it’s also equidistant from Akihabara (and then the rest of Tokyo). So, weekends will be fun as well. I don’t have internet access right now, but as of Saturday or Sunday I should. Monday I’ll be getting a cell phone. Leave me comments here on the blog; I’ll be posting more and etc after I get internet access. Hope everyone is doing well in the states.

I’m at home in St. Louis. On Monday I’m getting on an airplane and heading for Japan. After I finally get settled into my place there (should be a dorm, but with a bunch of businessmen in it), and have Internet, I can start posting weird stories about Japan here onto my Blog. Hopefully pictures as well. Go ahead and start commenting here, if you haven’t.

All the ladies are impressed with my Hello Kitty chewable vitamins.

Isn’t that right, Michelle?