Getting to the School Part

Orientation was yesterday; talk about a whirl wind. So much information to listen to, so many packets that I still need to go over. Learned I have to go back to the Nerima City office to get a certificate of residence to prove to my school that I actually live here, and am not, say, commuting back and forth to the U.S. everyday. Riiiiight. Anyway! Then there was information about clubs, and academics, and placement testing, and campus media, and counseling, and school statistics, and probably about half a dozen more that I can't remember. But, luckily we got about a million packets (no, I do not think I am over exaggerating) that will hopefully contain all the information that I need. At least that's what each speaker promised us. Except for the media center guy, who spoke so fast I don't know what he promised us.

Anyway, after that the faculty split us into groups of seven. There were three hundred of us- it took a while. Each group was introduced to two or three Japanese students who were there to answer any questions we might have. Except, nobody in my group had any questions. I feel like that's always the way- I have tons running through my mind, but the minute someone asks if I have any, they all decided to take a little vacation. Oh well, this whole trip is about the learning curve. Maybe its better to not know too many answers- where would be the fun in that?

But, because nobody had any questions, our poor mentors didn't know what to do with us. Until it was suggested that they show us the campus. Which didn't take long at all because there are a grand total of twelve buildings on campus. But, the boys in the group wanted to know where the weight room and cafeterias were, so we were guided directly to each location. FYI, the weight room is in the bowels of the basement. The mentors didn't even think that the school had a weight room!



And then, I met up again with some kids from our dorm, and we all headed back to Nerima. When we got back to Nerima, it was late. And I was cranky, and the boys decided that they wanted to find Ramen. I went along with that for about a block before I sat down and refused to move. Until they said we would find something closer (and that we knew the location). Which translated into MosBurger. Which is a Japanese burger joint. I only had the vaguest ideas of what that meant. Which means I went in blind when I ordered a MosCheeseburger. Apparently, that means you get chili placed on the burger with your cheese. How does that figure? I'm not sure what I thought about it. It was much different than what I was expecting. The beef almost tasted like a vegetarian burger, which almost makes me glad that I had the chili (to help cover the fact that I wasn't eating real meat).

 

And then I went back to the apartment and went to bed. But only after I turned on the TV and found Japanese baseball. Did you know there is a Japanese baseball team called the Giants? And that they have almost the exact same logo as the San Francisco Giants? That made me chuckle. 

This morning was a cram session for my Japanese Placement Test. But only after I used my cool new coffee maker. Turns out, my stove only works if special pots are placed on it. Guess what's not a special pot? The percolator. So when I went to go pick up my shower caddy at Life, I also picked up this awesome coffee pot. I just boil the water separately in my electric tea kettle and then pour the water over the filter. Works great!

 Then I had to go back to Sophia to take my test. My self confidence is crushed. Luckily everyone I talked to felt the same way. So I'm hoping that it's taken into account while the tests are being graded. Off to do more adventuring! Bye!