Jet Lag = pretty pictures!

ごめん、みんな。I haven't posted for two days! This will be a semi-short post with pictures to make up for it, because my Wednesday was a haze of arriving and my brain shouting at me "Go to sleep, you dummy!" I was met at the 正門, or main gate, of the University on Wednesday morning by Yuki-san, who was a grad assistant/teacher in the Japanese department at Clemson last year. (It was so nice to see a familiar face!) I was then shown around town by my tutor, Marina-san. We ran around town buying various things for my room while she tried to get to know me better. I wanted desperately to make a good impression but my brain was working so slowly! As an example, during the car ride to a soba place called "Tsurutsuru" (the sound of someone slurping noodles, which is really hard to get myself to do) Marina-san asked me "誕生日はいつ？" (tanjoubi ha itsu?) To my non-Japanese speaking readers, this is the very simple question of when is your birthday, but to my jet-lag fogged brain she might as well have spoken Cambodian. My thought process was hilarious looking back, but just sad at the moment. This is how it went: "Tanjoubi... I know that word! It's like half of joudan (joke) and half of daijoubu (okay)... what does it mean?" Eventually I figured it out and answered. Thankfully Marina-san and Rei-san, Marina's boyfriend, were really cool about the fact that I was dazed the entire afternoon. After shopping I returned to my room ("before" pictures below) to try and put it together!

Some quick notes about my room: it's teeny but awesome! It's pretty much like an efficiency apartment- there is a fridge, kitchen area, bathroom and bedroom area. I do have a mini balcony too! Oh, and a big things to John Heatherington, who was one of the Clemson study abroad students here last year, and who left me so much stuff, including a bunch of dishes, a summer futon, a rice cooker, a microwave... 本当にありがとうございます！

< ごめん、みんな　gomen, minna: casual way of saying sorry, everyone 正門 seimon: main gate　本当にありがとうございます　hontou ni arigatou gozaimasu: thank you very much! 写真 shashin: picture(s)>

写真

Jet-lagged me was excited about the complimentary striped pajamas and the stuff to make tea in my hotel room.

View from my hotel window in Komatsu. Yes, those are rice fields and a church.

On the bus on the way to Fukui from Komatsu. The hardest part of riding the bus was figuring out how to buy the ticket. I watched about 10 people do it before I successfully bought one.

Room before organization and after shopping. Note the kanji flashcards.View from sliding glass door to the balcony!

84.7 pounds, jisa boke and new friends

1) Just because everything fits in your suitcase, does not mean that it will magically weigh the correct amount. Sadly.

2) Damn you, Nicholas Sparks.

3) I am charming Japan one lady at a time. Watch me go.

Would you like some explanation? Okay, let's go!

Yesterday/today/approximately 20 hours ago I embarked with mi madre on the early morning car ride to BWI. Just before doing this I sat on my largest suitcase, zipped it up, and then waited until I was practically out the door to weigh it. Which was a huge mistake (I can see you shaking your head, mother dearest) because my suitcase weighed a whopping 84.7 pounds, a full 34.7 pounds over the amount allowed. Which means that I spent the ride to the airport alternately dozing and pulling extraneous pairs of shoes out of my suitcase. When I checked in it was still 8 pounds over but after removing another pair of shoes and a huge jacket or two I got it down to 49 pounds. Nothing like starting a trip with some excitement.

As for Nicholas Sparks, there are several guilty pleasures aboard airplanes (minds out of the gutter, children). Mine are the little movie screens where you can do anything listen to J-POP from the 80s to "exercise in the small space you have" aka while sitting down, and the airplane food. I know, what is wrong with me? Airplane food is just always so cute and if not always tasty the presentation makes up for it. But getting back to Nicholas Sparks, I took the time to watch some movies that I would not pay for, like Prince of Persia (an ode the ancient Persian art of parkour) and The Last Song. Yes, the Last Song. I think the darkened airplane and the fact that 5 of the people around me were watching the newest Karate Kid made me feel better about this, but what I want to curse Nicholas Sparks for is the fact that I actually kind of teared up during the movie. And not just because Miley Cyrus was in it. I blame it on the jisa boke, aka jet lag.

めっちゃかわいいね～

And finally, my new friend! She's well on her way to Nagoya now, but she sat in the same row as me during the long flight. After I asked the flight attendant for tea in Japanese "お茶下さい” she kind of started to take care of me, making sure that I filled out forms and helping me with the food, etc. (Don't worry, she didn't have to open food for me.) We said our goodbyes on the plane but lo and behold, after I navigated around Narita Airport looking for a Softbank (a cell phone company) and asking for directions in Japanese, I looked up from my laptop in the waiting area to see my sort-of plane buddy! She sat and had a nice conversation with me, and turns out she's from Brazil. It was really nice to have a conversation in Japanese, even if I only understood part of it. Okay, so more like half. But still.

So, 2 posts so far about my adobenchaa! Aren't I feeling ambitious? Until next post, みんな。
<みんな　minna: everyone... お茶下さい ocha kudasai: tea, please>

行きましょう

今日は、皆さん！
Hey, everyone!

So, this is the start of yet another one of my travel blogs, but I'm going to actually keep up with this one! Tomorrow I embark on my ten month study abroad at the University of Fukui in Fukui, Japan, so I write this post from a room that is clean aside from the two overstuffed suitcases that hold my life for the next 10 months!

I'm going to be good about updating this blog, even if it's just posting a couple pictures or a short little story, so you, the reader, will be updated about my little adobenchaa (adventure). I plan to post in Japanese and English, but don't worry if you don't know Japanese... I'll always put a translation under the post.

I'm not much of a writer, but I'll do my best to be witty and not too long winded. Speaking of which, time for me to go minimize 時差ボケ　by catching a few hours of sleep. またね！

<行きましょう ikimashou: Let's go!... 今日は、皆さん　konnichiwa, minasan: hello, everyone ... 時差ボケ jisaboke: jet lag ....またね! mata ne: see you later!>